Basement Fever

Show: run,WALK! / Saturday's Kids / Ono Palindromes - Kingston, 17 February

2012-02-03T14:31:00.000Z

Working again with Nathan Horrorshow Tunes under our Zeitgeist banner, we'd like to present you our third show - and our first of 2012.

We wouldn't call our last two shows tame. We enjoyed them alot. But in comparison to our forthcoming third - again taking place at Kingston pub The Cricketers, on Friday February 17, for £3 - they could seem it a little. We're taking things a little 'heavier'. Guitars will be louder, voices will be angrier, and the audience probably smellier.

Headlining the show we have noisy two-piece run,WALK, of whom Nathan says: "Probably the loudest two-piece you'll ever meet. These guys are one of the heaviest, surprisingly melodious and best live acts around and we're really pleased to bringing them in to headline the show. They'll be playing some cuts from their sure to be super-great forthcoming album."

As main support we have Saturday's Kids who are most definitely one of Cardiff's best band. Expect youthful post-punk angst. And on first, Exeter's Ono Palindromes, influences by the likes of Shellac, mclusky, and Nirvana.

Let us know you're coming on the Facebook event, and like our page to keep up to date with future stuff.

Tour Diary: Dolfinz

2012-01-22T12:55:00.000Z

Back in November, Basement Fever favourites Dolfinz headed out on a tour of the UK. Kindly, they offered to take some photos and write some words of the experience - below.

Friday 18th November
Manchester

We got stranded in the little village where Gav lives called Kinneff, outside of Stonehaven. Meaning we had 2 hours sleep before the nine hour bus journey to Manchester. This combined with a lengthy and difficult soundcheck by The Babies meant i had a huge headache and wanted to die right after we played. But then i got a beer and rocked out to Brooklyn and Manchester's finest. I also met one of the girls in No Womb, she had a cool vagina tattoo on her arm.

Saturday 19th November
Glasgow
Declining Max of Joanna Gruesome's offer to smoke us out with joints housed in a Indian sexual enhancement pill box, and sleeping instead paid off. We were awake bright and early to catch a bus to Glasgow for our second show with The Babies. This was a really cool show, our friends PAWS blew everyones minds like they always do and The Babies were beyond, also.

BLOWHOLE by DðlfinZ

Sunday 20th November
Aberdeen
Home. A weird day. We played in a tiny art studio on Market Street in Aberdeen. The room had a giant eyeball on the wall and rad visuals from M.O.C. It was pitch black, there was no room at all, and nobody could hear shit, so it decended into the right kind of chaos pretty quickly. We had fun.

Tuesday 22nd November
Carlisle
We left behind the trusty Megabus and travelled back down to England in the Tuff Wax mobile, with Shaun and Tom from the label. The entire time in Carlisle was ridiculous. We played in Gav's step-dads restraunt, got around 300 pounds worth of free food and booze and ended up in a strange nightclub, packed full of strange looking English people.

Wednesday 23rd November
Cardiff
Wales! Supporting Islet, bit of a weird show. It was packed with dudes, meaning I had nobody to give sex eyes to during 'Mean Girls'. Everyone stared and refused to move so I went to them and upset a couple of people. That night we ate McDonalds and watched the awful picture Donnie Darko at the home of Richard Scott, of Copy Haho, also from Stonehaven.

Thursday 24th November
Portsmouth
After a lot of sleeping and a Meatball Hoagie from Cardiff's New York Deli we headed for Portsmouth. We played at The Registry with Fear of Men (Bos Angeles couldn't make it). The place looked dead but soon filled out when we took to the stage. People seemed fairly impressed, apart from the unconvincing punk-bro whose drink ended up all over my back during 'Blowhole'. With nowhere to stay in Portsmouth, we drove to London that night to stay with one of our best friends from Stonehaven, Papes, who has a nice flat on Holloway Road.

Whatever, Forever by DðlfinZ

Sunday 27th November
London
Following a couple of days lounging around London with no money or cigarettes, and feeling low after the departure of Tom and Shaun for Berlin, we were ready to finish the tour. We arrived at the venue, Power Lunches on Kingsland Rd. Dalston, pretty early. I have to admit i wasn't all that excited about playing because i fell into a bit of a bummer by the end of the tour, but we played really well. We encouraged the crowd to come forward, but they claimed to be 'too scared', which made me smile. Hearing people exclaim compliments to one another during your set rather than approaching you after is much nicer, seems more legit. We met some rad girls and the ultimate party dudes that are Slowcoaches. The next day we took a 13 hour bus journey back to Aberdeen.

FIN.

Find out more about Dolfinz both on Basement Fever or on their Facebook page.

tenstoreys - Fhree

2012-01-12T11:16:00.000Z

Surprises aren't always fun. One time, I went to the shop, and I was surprised to find that they had ran out of Butter Puffs. That certainly was not fun. But what is fun when an unsuspecting email from a band/producer/artist/whatever turns out to brighten up your day. The email from tenstoreys was modest and minimal, and the artist's SoundCloud page doesn't tell us much more - but, luckily, the music speaks volumes, reminding me of the weirdo electronic charms of Mozam Beaks.

Fhree by tenstoreys

SoundCloud |

Arc Light - Balance

2012-01-02T17:00:00.001Z

It's been a while. It's apt, then, that the song featured today is from an artist who, in his own words, "tried quitting" but didn't quite manage it 'cause he likes making songs too much.

Brookylyn's Ryan Gabel has been making music under the name Arc Light for a while now, and 'Balance' is the first we've heard from him since the Megajoules EP, released last month. It's wonky and dark synth-pop fun. Keep trekking, Ryan, we appreciate it.

Balance by Arc Light

SoundCloud | Facebook | Bandcamp

Show: The Black Tambourines / Joanna Gruesome / Playlounge - Kingston

2011-12-03T12:16:00.001Z

Following the success of our last show under the Zeitgeist banner, Nathan Horrorshow Tunes and I have decided to do it all again (only this time without the lugging of a heavy drum kit across Kingston, twice).

This time we've booked three of the most exciting UK bands (as opposed to just the two last time), bringing The Black Tambourines, Joanna Gruesome, and Playlounge. All three will play at The Cricketers in Kingston on December 14 for just £2 on the door. Come along, it'll be fun.

The Black Tambourines - 27 - 25 Blues by Art Is Hard Records

Joanna Gruesome - Lemonade Grrl

Playlounge - Orange Friends

Facebook Event | Last FM Event

Playlounge

2011-11-29T11:33:00.001Z

Whether a sneaky attempt to make sure their music is listened to, or a genuine note of interest, new bands letting you know which other bands they're friends with does seem to work in some roundabout way. On contacting me for the first time a few weeks back, Playlounge noted that BF had recently covered their friend's band YRRS. How could I not listen? YRRS are ace. And so, as it just so happens, are their good old buddies Playlounge.

The two-piece from London make a loud, melodic racket - sounding a lot deeper than you'd expect from just guitar, drums, and vocals. It's catchy pop fun with plenty of noisy guitar - so all you kids too ashamed to say you listen to pop can still get away with it. Oh, and they even follow Dolfinz on SoundCloud. Maybe I should introduce them to Joanna Gruesome, too.

Playlounge - Orange Friends

Playlounge - Friendshift

Bandcamp | Facebook | SoundCloud

New: The Black Tambourines - 27 - 25 Blues

2011-11-24T11:45:00.000Z

News of a new EP from Falmouth's The Black Tambourines has been a fairly long time coming, but judging from '27 - 25 Blues' it looks like it may well have been well worth the wait. The band's third EP Chica will get a release on cassette through the ever-excellent Art Is Hard Records on 19th December, they've announced, and along with the cassette you can also get a fancy t-shirt and poster too.

Although still vaguely surfy and lo-fi, much like the four-piece's work to date, '27 - 25 Blues' feels more mature, more thought-through, and more wholesome than much of the (already very good) stuff that they've made before. The guitar lines are the perfect blend of dirty and catchy, and the harmony vocals on the chorus continue to rattle around your head long after the first spin. It's pop music, but not as most people know it - and it's bloody good.

The Black Tambourines - 27 - 25 Blues

SoundCloud | Facebook

New: Athletes

2011-11-20T11:40:00.000Z

A few weeks ago we posted about mysterious Danish artist Athletes and their song Raincoats - an excellent track mixing the sounds of The Cure and My Bloody Valentine in an unusually original and exciting way. Thanks to a tip off by Vocododo, we've now stumbled upon two new tracks from them - and they're both stunning. Anyone fond of the Blouse album out a few weeks back, or those with a soft spot for interesting, inspiring, textured pop music, pay attention.

Athletes - Nowhere

Athletes - Fall Apart

SoundCloud | Bandcamp

Le Pécheur

2011-11-19T12:58:00.001Z

The world of music blogging is an odd and fickle one. Should I care that Altered Zones blogged about Le Pécheur before I managed to? No, of course not. If anything I should be happy that a band I like are getting the attention that I feel they deserve. But I do care. I'm sorry. I do.

I suppose what I'm actually annoyed at is my own laziness to not post it sooner. Still, listen to the excellently psychedelic and interest sounds of the London/France artist now and try to forget that Altered Zones got there first, if you can. And buy their album, out through Azbin Records when it comes out next month.

Voodoo by Le Pécheur

Torture by Le Pécheur

Apocalypse by Le Pécheur

Facebook | Bandcamp

Saturday's Kids - Black Pocket

2011-11-14T11:53:00.000Z

It's been a while since we heard new material from Saturday's Kids, which makes this post all the more exciting, for me at least. The young South Wales band are due to put out a new 7" early next year, and 'Black Pocket' is one of the songs taken from it. Carrying the same kind of youthful, post-punk angst that we've grown to love in their previous work; the four-piece also continue to make massive forward strides in sound with this release. They're not content to sit still and be comfortable, and they're all the better for it. Catch them playing two live dates with Future of the Left later this month

Saturday's Kids - Black Pocket

Homepage | Facebook

New: Peepholes - Tunnels

2011-11-13T12:21:00.001Z

Peepholes have announced news of an upcoming LP - Caligula will come out through Upset The Rhythm on November 28. To anyone who has heard the dark electronic sounds of the Brighton/London duo before this will be good news. Those less aware of their work need simply to hear 'Tunnels' - the excellent lead single to come from the upcoming release.

Peepholes - Tunnels

.co.uk | SoundCloud | Facebook

New: Die Jungen - Cold Night

2011-11-09T20:55:00.000Z

Die Jungen recently promised news on album details were to come soon - and with that promise came this little free to download teaser. 'Cold Night' follows on nicely from the Southampton-based artists' work to date in its gloriously retro, fuzzy vintage-pop charms - a gentle drum patter underlying the semi-spoken word vocals and that simple but utterly delightful bass-line. This is excellent.

COLD NIGHT by die jungen

Facebook | SoundCloud | Bandcamp

New: Fear Of Men - Doldrums

2011-11-09T10:51:00.000Z

In the world of new music blogging 24 hours is an eternity and this post is probably already out-dated. Fear Of Men yesterday announced a limited-run cassette release, featuring songs recorded with Henry from Lovvers. They also unveiled 'Doldrums' from that cassette, and, as you'd expect with that kind of musical cocktail, it is excellent. Not that you need to take my word for it - listen and download below. Oh, and they're also touring with Bos Angeles, which is a no-brainer, really.

Fear Of Men - Doldrums

Facebook | Bandcamp

New: Islet - This Fortune

2011-11-08T11:00:00.000Z

It's been a long time coming, by Islet have finally confirmed the release of their debut album. Called Illuminated People, it'll come out through their own Shape Records and Turnstile on January 23rd.

Luckily for us, the Cardiff four-piece are also giving away a track taken from it. 'This Fortune' is synth heavy and whirring noise - rallying between moments of loud panic and considered calm, much like their excellently loud and energetic live shows, backed by the 'tribal' that we've become familiar with. Needless to say it's good, and the full-length is likely to be more of the same.

Islet - This Fortune

Facebook | isletislet.com

New: Gorgeous Bully

2011-11-07T10:17:00.000Z

The new track from Gorgeous Bully has slight a hint of Johnny Cash to it. That is, a slight hint of Johnny Cash behind tonnes of guitar and vocal distortion - something that the Plymouth musician has been making ace songs under for a good while now. With an EP out soon on Art Is Hard Records, and a seemingly effortless knack of writing pop songs buried below layers of noise, I'm looking forward to hearing more.

That kind of girl by gorgeous bully

SoundCloud | Facebook

Dyke Cop

2011-10-31T11:35:00.000Z

Shane from Livid Kids sent over a link to his new band the other day. They call themselves Dyke Cop, and they sound about as obnoxious as you'd expect of a band with that kind of name. Frantic and lo-fi, Shane called it "rad surf punk" and he's not far wrong. Though anyone not accustomed to listening to songs that sound like they were recorded on a phone will find it pretty impossible to bear, the rest of us losers who prefer our music rough and ready and unpalatable for most of our friends - this is ace. They have an upcoming tape through Mind Fortress Records, but you can get a sneak preview below.

Dyke Cop - Wish I Was Dead

Bandcamp

Milestones: Tye Die Tapes

2011-10-29T12:11:00.000+01:00

Milestones is a feature looking to gain an insight into the tastes of a particular character or bunch of people of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions and they kindly answer.

Tye Die Tapes are a cassette only label based near Sheffield run by two friends, and are pretty much the go-to people if you want to find a new band in the north-east of England. Putting out releases by Sealings, Bhurgeist, and Cold Hands among others - as well as putting on some excellent gigs - they do what they do for all of the right reasons and are much-deserving of some more love and attention. Check out James' and Adam's responses to the generic Milestones questions below.

The album that first got you into music:

James: I dunno really, it was probably Nimrod I think I still know all the lyrics to that album.

Green Day - Prosthetic Head

Adam: It was Offspring but not one of the good ones. Conspiracy of One. I seem to have missed all the good albums by bands by one all throughout my life.

The Offspring - Want You Bad

The band that dominated your teenage years:

James: Green Day! I had all their albums on either cassette or CD, I lost interest after'Warning but I still enjoy Dookie and Nimrod.

Green Day - When I Come Around

Adam: I really couldn't pick one. Most of it was pretty bad thrash and death metal. At the Gates blew my mind when I first heard them and I still listen to Slaughter of the Soul sometimes and enjoy it. I used to be really into their earlier stuff too. I also dug some pretty crap stuff. In Flames were pretty good, their early stuff was great. Korn until I was like 15. This really isn't cool, is it?

At The Gates - Blinded By Fear

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

James: My dad had a really 'dad' taste in music, you know Queen, AC/DC, and Thin Lizzy. I remember thumbing through his record collection and be fascinated with the AC/DC album that has Angus Young getting impaled by his SG, but I never really listened to it, because I was like 5 or 6 and didn't get records. But for an album that made a lasting impression I'd have to say it was my mother's Simple Minds greatest hits album Glittering Prize 81/92. I fell in love with the colours on the art work and I'd sit next to the Hi-Fi with my Dad's big headphones on listening to it on repeat.

Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)

Adam: I used to think the front cover to Sgt. Peppers was pretty cool. Never liked the music though. My mum has a lot of New Romantic stuff that is good. There's a Bill Withers greatest hits in there too which has a bunch of tracks off the first album and it's got Use Me pretty early on there, that's a good CD and Bill Withers is the man. I have to pick just one don't I? Bill Withers then.

Bill Withers - Use Me

The album that has dominated your last 12 month's listening:

Adam: Formlessness by The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die. Only four tracks but they're brilliant. Their record label (wish I could remember the name!) gave it out for free with a bunch of not-so-good stuff and I grabbed it on a whim. Before I got a job the 'first thing I'll buy when I get a job' was their second EP but I've still not got around to getting it. I kind of don't want to because it might ruin the magic of that first record. Whoever recorded Formlessness knows how to give a band room to breathe and it's a work of art.

The World Is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid To Die - Gordon Paul

James: URGH! So many! But if I'm brutally honest it's either the new Mazes record or Broken Dreams Club by Girls. I'll go with the Mazes record because it is perfect, I'm such a Mazes fan boy, they are real gents, and Jack writes some of the best pop songs i've ever heard, my personal favourite is 'Boxing Clever'.

Mazes - Boxing Clever

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

James: Hookworms. Without a doubt, they are easily one of the best bands I've seen and heard this year. They are so passionate about what they do, Matt J the singer runs Suburban Home, and when you spend a prolonged period of time with him, as we did when he recorded our band. The first thing you realise is how quietly proud he is of the band, and so he should be there record is phenomenal and there live show is intense. BUY EVERYTHING THEY RELEASE.

Medicine Cabinet by Hookworms

Adam: There are too many, that's why we do this. Twisted are one of my favourites but they've split up already. There are a bunch in Sheffield like Best Friends and Drenge who are ace. Kristen Ward who is Shiny Penny has started a new one called mmhmm or something like that and anything she does is great. Sealings are ace and will no doubt get picked up by some biggish label sometime soon.

Sealings - My Boyfriend's Dead

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

Adam: That's difficult, I guess some of the songs I've heard 50+ times when dubbing tapes before I got a tape deck that could do it at 2x speed. I think Rusty Arms by Ethiopians is my favourite track out of what we've put out so far. I actually know the lyrics to that one too. Ethiopians are now Captain Cult Leader and are still rad. I would say a Sealings track because I love them but I have no idea what the lyrics are; they slam everything so hard on their recordings that it's just like an excellent wall of noise. Sometimes you can make stuff out but I usually have no idea what's going on.

Black Out by Captain Cult Leader

James: Oh I've no idea. But I've been listening to Portastatic all day and fist pumping to his song 'Polaroid' so I'll choose that, because it's real nice and I hope we do real nice stuff.

Portastic - Polaroid

Find out more about Tye Die Tapes on their Tumblr, stream some stuff on their SoundCloud, or give them money in exchange for tapes at their online shop.

Show: Woman's Hour / Yoofs - Kingston, November 16

2011-10-28T16:39:00.000+01:00

Myself and Nathan Horror Show Tunes have decided that Kingston-upon-Thames could do with some more gigs, and we've taken the responsibility on ourselves - under the name Zeitgiest (feel free to go 'like' us on Facebook to be kept up to date with future shows).

Our first show will take place in Kingston, at The Cricketer's pub, with Woman's Hour and Yoofs on Wednesday November 16.

Of Woman's Hour, Nathan said: "the bordering-on-tropical melodies and subtly arresting vocals can only inspire one thing, total adoration." while of Yoofs I've previously spouted: "Ramshackle, fun, catchy, scruffy pop songs - if there's any justice in the world these will 'go somewhere'".

And if you don't believe us, listen for yourselves below.

Jenni by Woman's Hour

JOHN ACTOR IS MONKFISH by yoofs

Facebook Event | Last FM Event

Athletes

2011-10-24T11:25:00.000+01:00

What we know of Athletes is minimal. Through bandcamp and SoundCloud pages all we really know is that they're from Denmark. We don't even know if it is a "they", a "he" or a "she". But you don't need facts to fall in love with them - you just need to listen to 'Raincoats'. A song that manages to blend melodic The Cure-like guitar riffs with My Bloody Valentine-style whirring synth sounds, topped off with hushed, gruff male vocals to absolutely glorious, dream-like effect. Stunning.

Athletes - Raincoats

Bandcamp | SoundCloud | via

Mazes / Eagulls - 7" split

2011-10-24T09:41:00.001+01:00

Out today via the consistently excellent Italian Beach Babes is the Mazes / Eagulls split. 4 tracks split between two of the UK's finest, it's exciting and it's fun. Stream below or order now.

Mazes/Eagulls Split by italianbeachbabes Mazes Facebook | Eagulls Facebook

New: Dolfinz - Whatever, Forever

2011-10-23T11:00:00.002+01:00

Any regular reader of this blog will already know of my love for Scottish lo-fi grungey/garagey rock two-piece Dolfinz. They've already been the feature of two blog posts and any reason to shout about them some more is likely to be taken up - and the news of their debut 7" seems the perfect excuse. Featuring two new tracks - 'Teenage Doom' and 'Nosebleed' - it'll be out on Aberdeen's Tuff Wax Records on November 21. They'll also be touring the UK late November, so keep your eyes peeled for details.

The band have also decided to let me give away a slightly older, but as-of-yet unheard, track in 'Whatever, Forever'. In typical Dolfinz fashion, it's scruffy and melodic and ace. Listen and download below.

Dolfinz - Whatever, Forever

SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter

8tracks: Android Mix

2011-10-22T16:42:00.001+01:00

To celebrate the launch of their Android app, 8tracks invited a bunch of bloggers to make a mix - and Basement Fever was one of them. Take a listen to my attempt - featuring some of my favourite new music - below.

New: Mrs Magician - Prescription Vision 7"

2011-10-22T11:01:00.000+01:00

Californian four-piece Mrs Magician return (having been previously featured back in February) with a new 7" single, out through Grizzly Records on November 11. Continuing with their juxtaposition of noisy distorted sounds with catchy surf-ish pop melodies, it's really good stuff - and bodes well for their debut album, expected in 2012 through Swami Records.

Mrs. Magician - Presciption Vision

I KNOW WHAT GIRLS LIKE by mrs.magician

Facebook | Bandcamp | SoundCloud

New: Youthfall - Guard It Like A Fortress

2011-10-20T09:55:00.000+01:00

'Guard It Like A Fortress' is the latest dreamy and transfixing lo-fi ditty from London twin-brothers Youthfall, following on from 'Secular Child' (which we heard a few weeks back). Panda Bear-ish echoing guitar sits above synth, whilst minimalist percussion sounds click gently along to the distorted vocals - coming together seamlessly and beautifully.

Youthfall - Guard It Like A Fortress

Facebook | SoundCloud | Twitter

White Birds

2011-10-19T11:30:00.000+01:00

Coming from Philadelphia, and currently on tour with Asobi Seksu, White Birds write pop songs. Wonderful, wonderful pop songs. Pop songs built on harmonies and guitar distortion, influenced by The Beach Boys, and Fleet Foxes. And as easy as it'd be for this kind of combination to be predictable, dull, and paint-by-numbers - it's not. It's beautiful, it's charming, it's delightful - and they have a cassette out now on Grizzly Records. Limited to 100 copies, odds are it's already sold out given how ruddy ace they sound.

White Birds - Hondora

Floating Hands

Facebook | SoundCloud | Grizzly Records

The Machine Room

2011-10-18T12:42:00.000+01:00

The Machine Room shouldn't be good. They make music that could quite comfortably be labelled funk or disco, but we live in a world where things make no sense and, although your head says no, most other parts of your body will certainly be saying yes. While the Edinburgh group certainly straddle a very fine line - one where their next song could very easily cross it, quickly turning them into Nick Grimshaw-backed tripe - for now they sit on the right side of it; this is good, clean fun.

The Machine Room - Persistent Suitor (demo)

The Machine Room - Broken Love Game (demo)

Facebook | SoundCloud | Twitter | Tumblr

Altered Hours

2011-10-17T11:07:00.000+01:00

The wonderful thing about writing about bands 'these days' is that you can do a good job of exploring a city's scene at the click of a mouse. A few days ago BF featured Saint Yorda, a three-piece from Cork making some pretty interesting sounds, and through their SoundCloud appeared Altered Hours. Also from Cork, though with slightly less information about them knocking around on the internet, Altered Hours are apparently a five-piece - putting together a bunch of excellently woozy, lo-fi psychedelic sounds.

Altered Hours - Garden of Sonic Children

SoundCloud | Facebook

New: Yoofs - John Actor Is Monkfish

2011-10-15T11:22:00.001+01:00

It wasn't long ago that Yoofs first featured on BF, but the Bournemouth band don't hang around. As well giving away brand new track 'John Actor Is Monkfish' today, the band are also announcing a cassette 'mixtape' to be released on Art Is Hard in November. Bristol people can also see them live supporting Real Estate at Start the Bus, October 26. Fun.

Yoofs - JOHN ACTOR IS MONKFISH

SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter

Stacey Adams

2011-10-14T11:25:00.000+01:00

A three-piece from Toronto, Stacey Adams are everything you'd hope that a band with an EP entitled 'Soft Grunge' would be. The four-track release - available on bandcamp for free download - has a distinctively lazy, laid-back to it; its lo-fi jams (think along Mazes, Yuck, and even Modest Mouse lines) grooving coolly along as if the band don't really care if you listen to it or not. Might as well though?

Stacey Adams - Steve French

Stacey Adams - Tie Dye Ghosts

SoundCloud | Bandcamp

Pandr Eyez

2011-10-13T11:57:00.000+01:00

Dropped today via the consistently excellent Cascine is the first single of London boy-girl duo Pandr Eyez. Entitled Eyes On You, it's a captivating and fascinating piece of work - interweaving dark synth sounds with some eery electronics and hypnotic dubstep-ish bass, topped off with vocals that'd sit pretty comfortably (by no means in no derogatory way) on daytime Radio 1. It feels like biting into a crisp apple, taking a sip from a cold can of Coke, stepping off the train late at night into a dark and deserted platform. Watch out for a full EP, also out through Cascine, October 25.

Pandr Eyez - Eyes On You

Blood Sport

2011-10-12T12:51:00.000+01:00

On listen to Sheffield's Blood Sport, it's difficult to decide whether I really like them or really don't. Whilst their recordings are a bit scrappy (expect instruments to not always be in-time with each other), their sound is inventive, experimental and daring. The band are probably fully aware that a large proportion of the general public will never be interested in listening to their somewhat obnoxious-sounding songs, yet they go ahead and continue making the music that they want to make regardless.

Their sound is a difficult one to pin down, with the three-piece not easily fitting into any specific conceived genres, nor do they have many obvious musical comparisons (though there are definite hints of the care-free attitude of The Fall, whilst also having a 'math'-ish techy Battles-like sound, and reminding me too of Volcano!) - which is always a good thing. What's for sure is that it's noisy, ambitious and anti-social - yet works (perhaps surprisingly) well, for the most part at least. Download a digital copy of the cassette from bandcamp, or order a physical copy from The Audacious Art Experiment.

H.S.F.M. by Blood Sport

Blood Sport - Mayan Dance

Facebook | SoundCloud | Bandcamp

Saint Yorda

2011-10-11T11:29:00.000+01:00

Saint Yorda are an interesting prospect. With songs that range from the dark and atmospheric (some might even stick the tag 'goth' on it, in the Zola Jesus kind of sense of the word, at least) noises of 'Death Ray', to the pensive, almost Richard Hawley-with-a-synth sound of 'Yr Bones', to the guitar-meets-electro slow-pop of Sakawa Bones, to the surf-influenced sound of (ahem...) Surf Song', the three-piece from Cork are taking on a lot - and pulling it off. So they might go a bit overboard with the cow-bell at times, and not all tracks are without their flaws, but these lot are pretty impressive. I'd definitely be interested to take a peek into their record collection.

Saint Yorda - Death Ray

Saint Yorda - Yr Bones

Saint Yorda - Sakawa Boys

Facebook | Bandcamp | SoundCloud

YRRS

2011-10-10T11:05:00.000+01:00

Sitting alongside Dolfinz, Joanna Gruesome, and Bos Angeles both in their scrappy lo-fi sound (and that they are one of my favourite new UK bands at the moment) are YRRS from New Milton and Christchurch (near Southampton and Bournemouth on the south coast of England). Following on from early excellent SoundCloud tracks, the two-piece have stuck a three-track EP onto bandcamp available for free download. If there was ever a time to use the word 'rad' it'd be now.

YRRS - DON'T YOU

YRRS - STAIN

SoundCloud | Facebook

Shells

2011-10-06T10:58:00.000+01:00

Something perhaps neglected on BF - an area of my tastes not so well represented here - is electronic music, and an artist that has certainly been impressing for a good while now is Khalid Rafique under the moniker Shells. Putting together that kind of woozy, subtle, and delicately structured electronica that we hear a lot of but that few do quite so well, Arctic and Spiders are two new tracks that the London producer has dropped today.

Shells - Arctic

Shells - Spiders

Facebook | Tumblr | SoundCloud

New: Crushed Beaks

2011-10-04T10:17:00.000+01:00

Despite the fact it was only 6 weeks ago that we last posted about Crushed Beaks, the duo from London have already come a long way since then. What started out as some scrappily bedroom-recorded (but still thoroughly excellent) demos have turned into a single release proper - with tracks Close-Ups and Sun Dogs to go out through Too Pure Records, November 21. The latter - distant yet punchy, melodic and catchy lo-fi beauty - is streamable below. London people can also see them at the Old Blue last on October 5, or at the same place on November 11 for the official single launch.

Crushed Beaks - Sun Dogs

SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

Totem Terrors

2011-09-29T12:03:00.000+01:00

Let's be honest, lots of the bands that take a clear influence from The Fall are pretty rubbish. An excuse to not sing properly and be lazy musically seems to be how some see it. Totem Terrors - a two-piece from Cardiff, previously using the name Joy of Sex - take The Fall kind of post-punk and move it into interesting directions, putting their own touch on it. Two new tracks have popped onto bandcamp since the name change and both of which are very good indeed. Listen and download below.

Totem Terrors - Empty Parties

Totem Terrors - Totentanz

Bandcamp | Tumblr | Twitter

Yoofs

2011-09-28T23:42:00.000+01:00

Bandcamp is becoming a crowded place. The longer it lives on, the more bands (quite rightly) upload their music to it. But, as we know, most music is pretty rubbish. So when after hours of trawling you stumble upon something even vaguely good, the feeling is euphoric. Of course the risk is that if you find something that is only half-good, in comparison to all the dreadful rap-rock, singer-songwriter folk and nu-rave electro dance, your brain mistakes it as something excellent. Bournemouth's Yoofs (up until very recently going under the name AC SLATER), however, really is very good.

Be skeptical of me and my shattered and musically overloaded brain if you must. I urge you to be skeptical and pessimistic in fact. That way, when you finally get to clicking the play button down at the bottom of this page, you can share in my feelings of joy. Ramshackle, fun, catchy, scruffy pop songs - if there's any justice in the world (thank-you, Lemar) these will 'go somewhere'.

Yoofs - Sidewalk

Yoofs - Good Guyz Make Bad Friendz

Bandcamp | SoundCloud

New: Baaneex

2011-09-27T11:12:00.000+01:00

As if Baaneex didn't already come across as diverse and eclectic experimenters of sound, two new tracks from the London four-piece sees them moving into yet more unexplored noises. Space Wagon opens with a chomping repetitive bluesy bass-line straight out of Road Rash II before the spacey, piercing guitar interjects and moves things into an all-the-more progressive and psychedelic direction; whereas Weird Dance 8 opens with frantic, Jay Reatard-style guitar scruff only to be interrupted by repeating electro-ish bleeps - and of course both are topped off with their usual anti-social chants. And yet somehow they pull off both with style. Stream and download below.

Baaneex - Space Wagon

Baaneex - Weird Dance 8

baaneex.com | Facebook | SoundCloud | Baaneex on BF

Youthfall

2011-09-23T12:18:00.000+01:00

Dreamlike and luscious, Youthfall's distorted pop sound - laden with fluttering synth layers, reverberating guitar, semi-spoken word vocals and a lo-fi beating drum machine - feels both nostalgic and futuristic, taking influence from yesterday but moving it confidently into tomorrow. Stream and download Secular Child below, or hear more at bandcamp.

Youthfall - Secular Child

SoundCloud | Facebook | Bandcamp

Competition: Live tickets - Gross Magic, Tashaki Miyaki, Bos Angeles in London

2011-09-21T11:44:00.001+01:00

Seriously. Look at that line-up. I couldn't have wished for anything better. It's like a dream. Genuinely three of the best 'up and coming' bands around right now - the excellently shameless glam pop of Brighton's Gross Magic, the sweet and vintage fuzz pop of Tashaki Miyaki, and the vibrant lo-fi surf 'vibes' of Boscombe's Bos Angeles - on one bill at London's 100 Club, Wednesday 28 September. And we have five pairs of tickets to giveaway thanks to the lovely folk at 100 Club and Converse.

Simply send an email, titled something vaguely similar to "Gross Magic, Tashaki Miyaki and Bos Angeles competition" with your name and postal address to basementcompetitions@gmail.com before Sunday 26 September to be in with a chance to get yourself two tickets. Strictly 18+, and please don't enter if you're gonna attempt to sell the tix on, it won't work. Winners will be announced on Monday 27 September. ENTER.

Gross Magic - Sweetest Touch

Bos Angeles - Beach Slalom

Tashaki Miyaki - Somethin Is Better Than Nothin

Sealings

2011-09-16T11:54:00.000+01:00

Noisy, in your face, and totally fucking 'groovy, baby' is how I might describe Brighton's Sealings. They've been knocking around for a little while, picking up some hardcore fans along the way, but the time is now for them to get some real, proper appreciate. Well, I think, at least. Useful that they've recorded some excellent new songs then, no?

Sealings - Gutter Ball

Sealings - Rail Means Rail

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Video: yajé - Herbal Drug Clinic

2011-09-14T12:25:00.000+01:00

Cardiff two-piece Yajé are a bit odd. Their name is odd both to type and pronounce. Their music is odd. And, surprise, surprise, their song's accompanying videos are odd. There's something ultimately charming and inviting behind all that anti-social raucous noise though, don't you think?

yajé - Herbal Drug Clinic from murray s ward on Vimeo.

Bandcamp | SoundCloud

Kita Akita

2011-09-12T11:06:00.000+01:00

Although evidently still in the early stages of their life as a band, the lo-fi recordings of Kita Akita are eery and unsettling. Minimal both in sound and levels of production, with spoken word vocals sitting atop glitchy electronics and repetitive drum sounds, the music of the Bath two-piece is not one to be enjoying during social events but are more suited to lonesome late-night listens - eyes closed, fingers tapping, head whirring. I don't know quite where they're leading us, but I certainly want to follow.

Kita Akita - Another Night

Kita Akita - Cares

SoundCloud |

New: Joanna Gruesome - Lemonade Grrl

2011-09-11T13:51:00.001+01:00

Joanna Gruesome are fast becoming my favourite new band of the minute for their kick-ass 90s lo-fi sound, and new track Lemonade Grrl could well seal the deal. Expanding on their previous work, and still taking influence from the likes of MBV, The Cherry Smash, Rocketship and Beat Happening, it's twee yet 'FUCKYEAH' at the same time from the Cardiff five-piece. The distorted guitar, the harmonised vocals, the lo-fi drum noise - it all sounds right. News of new releases soon, apparently.

Joanna Gruesome - Lemonade Grrl

Facebook | Bandcamp

Video: Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand

2011-09-09T16:55:00.000+01:00

Fuck me, two videos in one day. But in fairness, I haven't been this obsessed with a song for a long time - By Your Hand, taken from upcoming fourth full-length from Los Campesinos, Hello Sadness. Quite a big change from their previous works, but they just can't stop getting better. I have this quite literally on repeat.

Video: Among Brothers - Loved

2011-09-09T12:01:00.001+01:00

It's not usually Basement Fever's "thing" to blog about new videos, but this effort from Among Brothers seems the perfect opportunity. Following on from debut EP Homes (which we waxed lyrical about back in January), the Cardiff six-piece return with Loved, a brand new single - and what progression. Using a similar formula as previous works - a delicate but powerful blend of post-rock, folk, and pop with added electronic twinkles - but, in my opinion, better than anything they've written so far, Loved is interesting, exciting, and beautiful. And the video's a good watch, too.

Burning Yellows/The Whines Split 12"

2011-09-02T15:15:00.001+01:00

It's not often I post about split releases, or even specific releases at all, but this upcoming split 12" through Palmist with Burning Yellows and The Whines is ace and deserves attention.Featuring 5 tracks from each band - both of which are from Portland - the split is out on the 12th through FatCat sister label Palmist who have been doing some ace things since they started not long back. Husband and wife duo Burning Yellows bring the 2 minute-long cutesy, jangly fuzzy pop, whilst three-piece The Whines efforts are considerably more considered, slow-paced but still along the same fuzz pop mould. Seriously though, both are ace and this is a top release. The Whines - Electric Current
Burning Yellows - False Horizons
Burning Yellows Facebook | The Whines Facebook | Palmist

The Creepy Crawlies

2011-08-29T12:18:00.010+01:00

Love at first sight, or perhaps I should say first listen - 30 seconds into Get Buried by The Creepy Crawlies and it was pure adoration from then on in. Sitting somewhere between early Los Campesinos!, Jason Schwartzman's Coconut Records and The Flaming Lips, the LA band make quirky, charming pop songs that draw you in and leave you feeling bashful. Really lovely, and I can't wait to hear more.

The Creepy Crawlies - Get Buried!

The Creepy Crawlies - Not Thinking

Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Facebook

Trwbador

2011-08-26T12:31:00.000+01:00

I have a confession to make. I have been ignoring Trwbador for the last few months on the basis of a (purely name-generated) theory that they were a dreadfully boring, entirely average, one-man-band acoustic folk act. They're certainly not that.

The duo, although certainly with folk influences, sit more comfortably with the experimental pop tag - blending electronic beats, acoustic guitar, and wonderful female vocals. This is interesting, enjoyable, and far from my silly prejudice.

Trwbador - Red Handkerchiefs

Trwbador - Sun In The Winter

Website | Tumblr | SoundCloud | Facebook

Body Wash

2011-08-25T11:35:00.000+01:00

Apparently Basement Fever is getting a little bit of a reputation for being massive fans of the lo-fi, and we're certainly not helping ourselves by posting about Body Wash. Although there is minimal production here and the recording quality is a long way from perfect, there's lots to love about the Chicago band. Beneath the fuzz and the hiss are quirky, catchy pop melodies formed from distorted vocals and basic guitar licks. It doesn't sound like much, but the subtle blend of elements of 60s surf, pop, garage rock, and even punk works like a dream. A big lo-fi dream. LO-FIIIII

Body Wash - Cool Bike

Body Wash - Record Run

Body Wash - Bike Wreck

Facebook | Bandcamp

Gum

2011-08-24T11:18:00.003+01:00

We know very little about Gum, only that there are five of them and that they are from London. Judging from the three songs available (one of which has two different names in two different places), we can probably safely assume that they are fans of My Bloody Valentine. Whether their sound (layers of reverby, bending guitar and distorted vocals) is slightly too similar to the 90s shoegazers you can decide, but I'll be keeping a close eye on these in the next few months regardless.

Gum - Grenade

Gum - Soon

SoundCloud |

New: Kutosis

2011-08-23T12:03:00.000+01:00

"Recorded with Rory Atwell" is fast becoming code for "this is fucking good". It seems everything and anything that the former Test Icicle (and current Warm Brains) is involved with is well worth blogging about, and the latest Kutosis recordings are no different.

A three-piece from Cardiff, the band wear their influences openly on their sleeves: fans of Mclusky, Liars, and Les Savy Fav will like their noisy, feisty alternative rock songs. Guitar riffs and distorted, chomping bass lines work wonderfully in unison whilst choruses soar. Satisfyingly heavy yet sufficiently catchy, single Shadows is out on Barely Regal Records on September 5, and full-length Fanatical Love will follow.

Shadows/Skin AA Single - PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW by KUTOSIS

Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter

Grrrl Friend

2011-08-22T11:20:00.000+01:00

When a band contact you saying they like pizza, weed, and noise you can hazard a pretty good guess as to how they might sound. Portland's Grrrl Friend certainly don't disappoint.

It's lazy, lo-fi, noisy rock music with definite post-punk influences made by people (2-4 of them depending on the band's mood, apparently) who sound like they don't give a shit about much - and yet, despite its hissy recordings and care-free feel, it's surprisingly accomplished. They can carry on not giving a shit about much if music like this is the result.

Their album Happening Now is out now on Gnar Tapes. Listen to some of its best bits below, or download the entire thing for free from bandcamp.

Grrrl Friend - doppelganger 12-step

Grrl Friend - Happening Now

Facebook | Bandcamp

Art Is Hard Records Compilation Reveal: Safari Park

2011-08-21T12:03:00.070+01:00

It's no secret that Art Is Hard is one of our favourite independent labels, so to be invited to take part in their latest release reveal is a real privilege.

For those who don't know, the label (based between Weymouth and Plymouth depending on university term-times) are releasing Dry Route To Devon - a compilation of some of the best (yet impressively unknown) bands from the south and south west of England. But, in true Art Is Hard fashion, they're putting out and announcing the release in a novel and unusual way.

Instead of being stuck on a CD, Richard and David have decided to release the compilation as a map. Detailing where each band come from, it's also covered in QR codes for each of of the bands that (once scanned on a smartphone) will take 'customers' to a page full of unique content, information, as well as a place to get the song relating to that band. Just like their first release, a t-shirt will also accompany the compilation, although isn't a necessity for the order.

To reveal the release, they're giving each of their blog friends the opportunity to host a song from each of the bands. Day by day, the tracklisting is being revealed (starting off with Make Believe Ballroom via The 405 on Friday, followed by Hysterical Injury via Gold Flake Paint yesterday), and we're delighted to be unveiling track number 3: Distand Suns from Safari Park.

Hailing from Bournemouth, the three-piece make gloriously fuzzy and nostalgic pop songs, with Distant Suns being no different. Understated and relaxed yet catchy, it's the type of song that people will relate to a lazy evening spent in the sun - and why not? Hear it below, and find more out about the compilation on Art Is Hard's website by clicking THESE CAPITAL LETTERS.

Safari Park - Distant Suns

Bandcamp | Facebook | Art Is Hard

Boylant

2011-08-19T12:08:00.000+01:00

As a blogger, once you've been 'sitting on' a band for a few months, it often feels like the time has passed to write about them, but Boylant's tracks have a certain appeal that continue to draw you back time and time again. Nothing groundbreaking or extravagant but simply charming, honest bedroom pop songs that put a smile on your face.

Boylant - Shades

Boylant - Crystal Shards

Boylant - Echo Hill/a>

Bandcamp |

Dead Rabbits

2011-08-18T11:42:00.004+01:00

Whereas some bands come across like they're trying to hide their influences from you in some weird way to come across original, Dead Rabbits seem like the kind of band that would gladly lend you their entire record collection just so that another person gets pleasure from the music that they love.

That's not to say that the Southampton four-piece are copycats or unoriginal, just that they wear their influences (Brian Jonestown Massacre, Joy Division, The Beatles, Jesus & Mary Chain etc) proudly on their sleeves and sound like they absolutely love making music with a nod to their idols. Tracks have a fuzzy nostalgic warmth and the band have this indescribable charm - and they're certainly not scared to stray away from the 3-minute-song rule.

Although still not perhaps The Finished Product just yet, it's been pleasing to see the band gradually improve over the last few months and I'm looking forward to finding out where they go next.

Dead Rabbits - Severn

Dead Rabbits - Better Things

Dead Rabbits - Suicide

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New: Acid Glasses

2011-08-17T11:47:00.000+01:00

Although not as in your face and obnoxiously weird as My Pale Garden, Tennessee artist Nick Burk aka Acid Glasses continues his assault on our ears with Jpeg Hoarder. It'll be released through Stroll On Records, October 10.

Acid Glasses - Jpeg Hoarder

Crushed Beaks

2011-08-16T12:47:00.000+01:00

Crushed Beaks sound is abrasive yet scrappy, a pleasing juxtaposition of sounds laden with noisy feedback but excellent pop melodies. A two-piece from London that you should be hearing lots more from soon. Listen to the chorus of Think Lucky and tell me you don't want to sing along.

Crushed Beaks - Unoriginal

Crushed Beaks - Sushi Suitcase (Demo)

Crushed Beaks - Think Lucky

Tumblr | SoundCloud

Milestones: Will Grant

2011-08-14T12:27:00.001+01:00

Milestones is a feature looking to gain an insight into the tastes of a particular character of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions and they kindly answer.

Will runs his own music PR company in Two Tap Digital and is also a writer for The Line Of Best Fit and Drowned in Sound. Affectionately known as G-Grant, and also part of the Lost Lost Lost clan, Will is an annoyingly-bloody-good writer (his review of Antlers' most recent album is good evidence of that) and is also doing a bloody good job at representing the artists he does (he was behind the latest Acid Glasses single, which received mass-blog coverage and also featured in the NME). He also supports Nottingham Forest, so go and tweet "Schteeeeeve" at him - he could do with some sympathy. Check his responses to the same old Milestones questions below.

The album that first got you into music:

There are a few actually, all for very different reasons but each pretty much essential in forming my tastes and opinions of music during different times in my life. I don't think I would have reached a semblance of understanding musical sophistication without having gone through it's pre-pubescent bretheren first - things like The Offspring's 'Americana' (yes, their 'sellout' album - urgh) and Blink182's 'Enema Of The State' kind of sated my need for snottiness when I was younger.

But there's no doubt the most important, for me, is At The Drive-In's 'Relationship of Command'. It was something that I'd never quite realised the potency of when I was first exposed to them - I have the disgust of hindsight that I saw two songs of their Reading Festival set back in 2000 when they were just hitting that point of being 'The Saviours of Rock'n'Roll'. What a horrible tag that is, as well.

I don't think there will ever be as potent or perfect statement of intent from a rock band ever again, to be honest. It's an album that could quite easily have its artwork alongside 'catharsis' in the dictionary - it's just so unrelenting in its power and putirty. Going back now and watching all of the live videos and interviews with them, you can still sense that dramatic urgency about what they were doing, knowing that they were on their final breaths of life as a band and not giving a fuck. It's just so powerful. Cedric was at his frontman finest, Omar a driving force of guitar virtuosity; they were just an encapsulation of everything a band should be. For me, no band again will come close to being as good or as vital as them at that time.

At The Drive-In - Cosmonaut

Nowadays, there's actually few bands that I've gone out of my way to listen to - I don't know why that is, apart from maybe how my head was turned by some incredible electronic stuff that was passed my way during university. That was all pretty much bred through following Warp Records - Chris Clark's Ceramics Is The Bomb and Empty The Bones Of You were especially essential in helping me to discover and explore that world further. Haven't looked back since, and Clark's still going strong to this day. I still always get incredibly excited when he does anything new.

Chris Clark - Shonny

Oh, and Daft Punk's Discovery. Sampled or not, they have a peerless sense of melody and that album is up there with my favourites of all time.

Daft Punk - Veridis Quo

The band that dominated your teenage years:

Again there were a couple - Green Day probably the most. Whilst they may be all stadium rock gods not with their rock operas and all that, I really caught on when I was handed Nimrod at like twelve or thirteen. Then I went backwards to find Dookie and ended up convincing myself that Insomniac was the best album ever made. Definitely not the case, especially given my little ATDI rant above, but it's still a wickedly cynical and abrasive piece of pop-rock.

Green Day - 86

Deftones were another. For me White Pony is still a staggering album and it still kind of grates on me (let alone them) how much they got lumped into the nu-metal thing. They completely transcended any of that with 'White Pony', I think - there's such a brilliant balance between absolutely pummelling heaviness and really jaw-dropping, spaced out beauty.

Deftones - Korea

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

I actually made a pretty concerted effort to avoid dipping into my parent's collection. I still have jokey arguments with my dad to this day comparing saying that nothing by The Beatles could even come close to the obvious genius of Oasis (obviously, I was and still am taking the piss - I mean, Beady Eye?!).

I think my dad's quite happy to see me dipping back in now though - going straight for things like Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Elton John's Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road. But if there was any album that had the most influence it was The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. My dad used to put that on for me and my sister when we were really young, and I remember feeling unbelievably sad every time Nowhere Man came on. I still do to this day, although am a bit more aware of the wanton psychedelic references in the video.

The Beatles - Nowhere Man

The album that has dominated your last 12 months listening:

As with everything else, there's never just one. Caribou's Swim from last year was an incredible record. It really was amazing to see him come to an absolute musical fruition and find his feet with a more dance driven sound. The talent's has always been there, it just always seemed a bit more deliberately confused and psychedelic, especially on Andorra. But Swim was just so special, it had such an amazing romanticism to it. The final track, 'Jamelia', was probably my favourite song from last year too - Luke Lalonde's vocals on it are heartbreaking.

Caribou - Jamelia

Then there's the inevitable runners for this year already. I don't know if it's possible to burn out digital streams of stuff, but I'm doing my damnedest to bleed everything I can out of The Field's new one at the moment, Looping State of Mind. The Antler's Burst Apart was incredible too - had the pleasure of waxing lyrical on that for The Line of Best Fit. But I don't think I can look past the Bon Iver album this year - it's just so magical. It sounds so liberated. I imagine Justin Vernon wanted it to be that way considering all the jibes about 'Hipster Boy from The Cabin' and all that. But it's a really, really beautiful album. I got it on 12" I loved it that much, going as far as to having those ridiculously cheesy High Fidelity moments of emotion when I put the headphones on for it.

Bon Iver - Holocene

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

I have the absolute pleasure of working with some great new artists, so I can't help but be MASSIVELY biased. I love Halls so, so much. I think what Sam's doing is insanely beautiful - it's wonderfully honest and really moving. He'll probably cringe his balls off if he were to read this, but I'm really excited to see where things go for him next. Those first couple of releases were really fantastic, and to see his remix on Gold Panda's Marriage EP was something amazing as well. Not to mention the Theme Park remix too - they're another band to keep an eye out for. Definitely going to go very far.

Halls - Chakra Drums

Beyond that, I really love what Cascine are doing and am a huge fan of Jensen Sportag. They just have this incredible ability to write universally infectious pop music - I don't think there's a cynic out there that can deny what they do. It's just too good. They've released the Pure Wet EP on Cascine, and I saw they'd released things like 'Jackie' (which I put on Lostx3) as well, but I can't help but feel their next step is going to be something special above special.

Jensen Sportag - Everything Good

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

Check out more from Will's Two Tap Digital, or follow him on Twitter for regular excitement about music, 'vibes', or groans about his football club.

New: Ganglians

2011-08-11T16:17:00.000+01:00

As a preview to upcoming album Still Living - released August 22 through Soutterain Transmissions - Ganglians are giving away Drop the Act. Not as apparently sad as you might expect from the opening announcement, Drop the Act is a big slice of pop, considerably less lo-fi than much of their debut release. What do we reckon?

Ganglians - Drop The Act by souterraintransmissions

Facebook |

Bare Grillz

2011-08-11T12:16:00.005+01:00

Com Truise. Joanna Gruesome. Ringo Deathstarr. Bare Grillz. Another band in a long line of excellent/awful pun names. But, although they may be part of a minor-trend in the name department - and indeed in terms of imagery they slot right in with the hip crowd - the Newcastle threepiece's sound isn't as typical as you might expect.

Although positively lo-fi, they avoid the shoegaze / surf / garage / chillwave / witchhouse / nightbus buzz-sounds, sometimes opting instead for a more "math" influenced sound, ala Foals circa 2007, and other times just making a noise pop guitar racket. Although that may not read particularly appealingly, Bare Grillz' songs have a desperation and a certain honesty to them - and they most certainly get a thumbs up here.

Bare Grillz - Lee Majors

Bare Grillz - Robert Pattinson Foot Tattoo

Bare Grillz - They Hang Tight But They Might Fall

Facebook | Bandcamp | Blogspot

Idea Shower

2011-08-09T12:35:00.008+01:00

More info and music to come from these. Until then enjoy these 'psych-rock' vibed of Time:

Idea Shower - Time

SoundCloud |

New: Gross Magic

2011-08-08T15:39:00.000+01:00

The day has come. After lots of build up, we finally get the chance to hear the debut EP from Gross Magic (Brighton-based Sam McGarrigle). Unashamedly glam and pop, Teenz Jamz is available now on (purple!) 7" through The Sounds Of Sweet Nothing - and Sam will be holding a single launch party at The Shacklewell Arms (Londno) on Wednesday.

Stream the yet-to-be-heard tracks below, or listen to it in its entirety over on SoundCloud.

Gross Magic - Teen Jamz

Gross Magic - Can't Ignore My Heart

Gross Magic - Dream Gurl

Facebook | SoundCloud

Milestones: Paul Bridgewater

2011-08-06T12:12:00.001+01:00

Milestones is a feature looking to gain an insight into the tastes of a particular character of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions and they kindly answer.

Live editor and sessions producer for The Line Of Best Fit, writer for Noisey, live shooter for The Fly and general music photographer extraordinaire, Paul Bridgewater is London based and bearded. Rather than semi-good at those three (shoot, film, and write about music) varying roles, Paul is one of those talented swines who is able to do them all to an annoyingly high level. And I still owe him a pint. Doesn't it make you sick? Find Paul's responses to the generic Milestones questions below.

The album that first got you into music:

From the age of around five I can remember being enchanted by music. Certain songs - Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill, PiL's Public Image, Talking Head's This Must Be The Place all stuck in my head as weird audio sketches as a child. I had no idea who was singing them or what they meant - something just resonated. I was a late bloomer with albums though; didn't really discover them until my teens.

Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill

Getting into new music always led me to seek what the bands I liked were listening to. The sense of discovery was (and is) part of the thrill of new music - tracing a path through history and seeing where that leads you. The blandest music is inevitably inspired by the most obvious influences I think - interesting stuff begats more interesting stuff.

Anyway, I would inevitably end up more into the influences than the influenced. So as a teenager raised on Shoegaze and Britpop, I ended up going backwards - to Bowie, The Byrds, The Clash, all that Nuggets stuff Lenny Kaye put together. Patti Smith too - the Horses record was a phenomenal part of my teenage years.

Public Enemy's first few records. 'Fear of a Black Planet' blew my mind in a massive way. Sad white boy that I am, I can recite every single line on that record. This is why I never go to karaoke. It would be too tempting to rip the nearest clock from the wall and put it round my neck on a chain....

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

It wasn't the album that really hooked me into music though - that was The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. I probably got to it via seeing Bowie in Labyrinth as a kid and Brett Anderson name checking him in interviews. Plus Bowie was always kinda just there throughout - releasing albums every few years when I was a kid, popping up at that fucking hideous Freddie Mercury tribute concert to recite the Lord's Prayer.

Fuck, I listened to that album so much - I know it inside out, every note, line, the sequence of songs. There's something so perfect about it. Even the B-sides from those sessions were incredible ('Sweet Head' & 'Velvet Goldmine' - hard to believe they weren't actually part of the record).

It's not my favourite Bowie album though - that would be either Low or Heroes, depending on my mood - although Let's Dance is getting more play these days. And I kinda like that All Saints collection of instrumentals that came out a few years back.

David Bowie - Sweet Head

The band that dominated your teenage years:

Again, I was out-of-time as a teenager. I didn't particularly like bonding with others over bands - it was very much a private relationship. I grew up largely around people who didn't see music as the saviour I did. While Bowie's record was on regular rotation, I was seeking out music by a long-split band who at that time weren't necessarily as revered as they are now.

The Smiths hadn't been the subject of any reissues at this point and so you couldn't even get hold of all of their records. The first time I heard 'How Soon Is Now' (I'd be maybe 13 or 14) it was like a bomb had exploded inside me. The fact that they'd split up left them unsullied, perfect. Like a time capsule discovered in the garden. I made it my mission to obsessively hunt down rare copies of The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs - which were almost impossible to get in my small northern town - at record fairs or via the backpages of Record Collector magazine.

The Smiths - Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

At that time Morrissey was pretty much hated by the music press - he'd just done that ridiculous flag-waving thing in Finsbury Park that had him branded a racist. I wasn't so much in to his stuff - I dislike almost everything he's done. He's a good lyricist. He's a good vocalist. But to me he's a mouthpiece for Marr's songs.

All in all, I think I listened to nothing but The Smiths for about four years solidly before the next band came along and they were forgotten for a bit.

The Smiths - Asleep

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

Not for the music but for the cover - ELO's A New World Record. Gatefold vinyl. Dudes in the desert clutching some weird glowing ELO orb type thing. Of course the record is great too but I didn't really dig ELO until much later. Here's the front:

The album that has dominated your last 12 months listening:

Hard to answer - I'm not so much an album person anymore. I guess it's either Kanye or The Weeknd though. Let's go with Kanye.

It's really a proper album eh? With a concept that comes together lyrically and musically. It's got a beginning, middle and end, some kind of narrative thread and the entire package - artwork and songs - is cohesive. I think it's a brilliant pop record and I find it hard to see where he can go from here to top this.

Kanye West - Dark Fantasy

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

I think I fall in love with a new band every two weeks. I've been this way since I first found music. I don't think there's anything wrong with that - although we have to acknowledge that the hyperbole and pomp we heap on these artistes with nary more than an MP3 or EP on import are wholly subjective judgements.

Music is about more than what's on the record though and when you have a new artist and little more than the artwork, the photographs, title and some minor biography, it can be very compelling - we create our own backstories or revel in the mystery of the unknown. And that's a good thing and I don't think it's a new thing. This whole idea that blogs are either the new A&R or blogs are killing music or blogs are being ridiculously over the top - I don't care about any of that. As a music fan, you react instinctively to what you like and sometimes you want to tell the world about it, even if two weeks later you're over it and onto the next thing. It's human nature.

I was absolutely head over heels with Keep Shelley in Athens for a while and fate transpired against me so I missed all of their London shows. We tried to get them for a session but everything came around too quickly and it never happened, which I'm sad about. We'll get them next time I hope. I still love them a lot - their first EP is a lovely, simple, geniune record. I'm excited to see what they do with an album.

Keep Shelly in Athens - Hauntin' Me by Keep Shelly in Athens

Right now though I'm kinda in love with I Break Horses, who are on Bella Union and about to release their debut Hearts record, which is this wonderful mash of disco beats, early shoegaze and glam rock. It's 9 tracks too, which I love. I think every record should be 9 tracks.

I Break Horses - Hearts by Bella Union

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

David Bowie - Always Crashing in the Same Car

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Steal yourself an ace new desktop background from one of Paul's many excellent shots on his website, check out some of The Line Of Best Fit Sessions, or just follow the gent on Twitter. Maybe if you're kind enough he'll buy you a pint too?

New: Male Bonding - Tame the Sun

2011-08-05T19:30:00.000+01:00

So we're being drip fed new material from upcoming second album Endless Now from Male Bonding and going by what we've heard so far it sounds like it's going to be fucking excellent. Tame the Sun is significantly shorter and punchier than the previously previewed Bones and perhaps a little closer to what we know of them from their debut release only without the lo-fi veil.

Male Bonding - Tame the Sun

Facebook | Blogspot

New: Fear Of Men

2011-08-04T16:10:00.000+01:00

Some bands that receive a little bit of hype fizzle out before they've even really accomplished anything, but it seems Fear Of Men might be here to stay. From an impressive early (and now sold out) tape out on Sex Is Disgusting, the Brighton/London four-piece have announced a new single out on Italian Beach Babes, August 22. Ritual Confessions sees the band making yet another leap forward, with a heartfelt and infectious chorus and at least a little hint of The Smiths.

Fear of Men- Ritual Confession by italianbeachbabes

Facebook | Bandcamp

Win: 2 tickets to Crushing Blows/Bos Angeles in London

2011-08-04T10:17:00.001+01:00

So we've teamed up with the ace Club Fandango to give one reader a chance to win two tickets to see Crushing Blows and Bos Angeles - as well as Runaround Kids and Maz Totterdale - at London's Bull and Gate, August 8. Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know just how much we love Boscombe three-piece Bos Angeles so we're pretty pleased to be running this competition.

To win, simply answer the below question.

What was the name of the first song to appear on Bos Angeles' bandcamp that originally got them loads of attention? (Hint: HERE) Was it:

a) Beach Slalom
b) Sand Kiting
c) Surfin' UK

Send your answer before Sunday August 7 along with your name and address to basementcompetitions[at]gmail.com. One winner will be selected at random and will be notified on Sunday. One entry per person. Strictly 18+. Entry will be granted with a +1 to the competition winner only. Strictly no re-selling - so please make sure you can personally attend.

I Dream Of Becoming A Girl by Crushing Blows

Days of Youth by Bos Angeles

8tracks: Best Of July Mix

2011-08-02T17:53:00.001+01:00

If you're too lazy to listen to everything posted on Basement Fever then you're in luck. Monthly we'll be posting a mix of our favourite tracks that have been blogged at the end of each month on 8tracks. Check out our July selection below. We've even linked to all the related blog posts so you can go and download the stuff you like the most.

1. The Cherry Smash - Airport Girl
2. Dolfinz - Coral Reefer
3. Hookworms - Medicine Cabinet
4. Novella - The Things You Do
5. Michael Christmas - Nada One
6. Acid Glasses - My Pale Garden
7. Joanna Gruesome - Madison
8. Water Moccasins - Stay Here

BE▲▲CH TREES

2011-08-01T12:21:00.000+01:00

This whole fascination with the sand, sea and surf is all getting a bit unbearable. Still, here's me adding to the waves. Get it?

Typically based in California - and naming both the act and the song about said topics, even with the addition of the witch-house styled non-letters - BE▲▲CH TREES seems to be the act of one man alone and Beach Sand seems to have been made in one evening, so we'll give him a bit of a break. Plus, it's pretty ace song - all laid back and ethereal sunshine.

BE▲▲CH TREES - Beach Sand

Bandcamp |

Milestones: Noel Gardner

2011-07-31T13:46:00.001+01:00

Milestones is a feature looking to gain an insight into the tastes of a particular character of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions and they kindly answer.

Noel Gardner is one rocking dude. A regular writer for Drowned In Sound, The Quietus, and the BBC album reviews site, and music editor for Cardiff independent magazine Buzz, Noel is a genuine inspiration of mine for the consistently high quality of his writing, how amazingly prolific he is at it, and his pretty incredible knowledge of such a wide range of music. Any regular gig-goer in Cardiff will recognise him, often found swaying back and forth at the front of gigs or stood to the side with a notepad in hand - or promoting them under his (and friends') Lesson No. 1 guise - and to learn about the development of his music taste is something I've found fascinating to read. Find Noel's responses to the generic Milestones questions below.

The album that first got you into music:

I guess there are about ten or 12 albums from say late 1993 to a year after which all make an equal claim for the above but I’m pretty sure the first album I bought (on cassette) with my own money was What Hits!?, which was a Red Hot Chili Peppers compilation with only one actual hit song on it. When I was 14 I thought that RHCP were just the coolest a band could be, which was a result of having almost no social context for what ‘cool music’ might be. (I grew up in Cornwall, where older people who looked, to me, like they’d figured out how to live dressed more or less like the Chili Peppers.) By the time I found out that the members of the band actually had ‘cool’ and ‘acceptable’ taste in music, eg old LA punk and Neu! and stuff like that, I found the Red Hot Chili Peppers pretty hard to listen to.

This song ‘Backwoods’ off of it is a good and typical 80s RHCP song, I think. It is quite sweet how they attempt to educate their listeners about the old music they love (see the lyrics) but do it in a completely excruciating way.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Backwoods

The band that dominated your teenage years:

Real talk: from the ages of I think 10 to 13 (until I bought the above album) the only band I liked or listened to was Status Quo. Honestly I think my mum and stepdad were pretty disappointed in me. After that however it went something like – 13-15: RHCP, Faith No More, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Blur, Portishead, Smashing Pumpkins; 16 and 17 Stereolab, Mogwai, Sonic Youth, DJ Shadow, Chemical Brothers, Radiohead; 18 and 19 Underworld, Orbital, Flying Saucer Attack (and the whole area of badly recorded drone rock in general), Tool, Fugazi, Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Godspeed! plus shit tons of old records by (mostly punk) bands that didn’t exist anymore. Almost all those bands are still AOK with me.

I feel like you can see the evolution from hapless dipshit willing himself to like grunge music so he’d be more popular at school, to NME-reading entry level alt with a small A-level student grant, to annoying indie dork who thought writing for the student newspaper would be the best decision he’d ever make. In answer to your question, there isn’t one band really.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Sonic Youth - 100%

Fugazi - Waiting Room

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

I could write, like, an essay on the music that was round the house when I was growing up. Maybe one day I will, but the long and short of it is that most of it was really good and interesting stuff that is held in pretty high regard by ‘tastemakers’ today. I don’t think my parents (and stepdad) were in any way the 80s equivalent of ‘hipsters’ or whatever so I think it’s just kind of a coincidence, and/or the result of archivist/nostalgist culture reassessing absolutely everything.

Anyway, in my preteen years there was an effort to have me (and my brother and sister) listen to stuff from their collections that was kind of wacky in a way kids would like, which incorporated singing ‘Rocky Raccoon’ and ‘Sloop John B’ in the car, and a bit later things like Ivor Cutler, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and Tom Lehrer. If anyone reading this has kids, playing all the aforementioned to them is a totally awesome idea, although there is a necrophilia joke on one of the Tom Lehrer records. I have a really high tolerance for stupid novelty bullshit music today which I think pretty definitely traces back to that.

When I finally got into borrowing my folks’ LPs, the one that jumped out as being obviously rad and made by heroic people was Vincebus Eruptum by Blue Cheer. It belonged to my dad and was definitely the heaviest thing he owned. This album fucking rules and has one of the best guitar sounds ever. Listen to ‘Parchment Farm’ which incidentally I never knew was a cover until just now.

Blue Cheer - Parchment Room

The album that has dominated your last 12 months listening:

I have a problem, albeit one that results from a situation I appreciate, with not listening to albums for long enough. This is mainly cos people send me free shit in the post/email all the time, so like I say, not complaining, but it does mean that loads of good things get short shrift. The three things I’ve probably listened to the most in the last year (with links to me writing about them cos I’m a fuckin narcissist OK) are Made Fles by Extra Life; New Brigade by Iceage and On A Mission by Katy B. The last two of those are doing perfectly well for themselves as far as I can see but the Extra Life album really deserves more love.

Extra Life - Head Shrinker

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

This would probably be Iceage again, especially if ‘exciting’ for you incorporates “this band have the potential to reach the audience their excellent music deserves”. I am completely terrible at recognising if a band has ‘commercial potential’ or is going to get big somehow, and very rarely invested in it happening, but when I first heard Iceage in January of this year that was something that really struck me about them. There does now appear to be a pathway being created for them to be successful, ie selling about 5,000 albums and having 50,000 people illegally download their album, so hats off to me and my 1% success rate of prediction.

Iceage - Broken Bone

Of other, less blogged-about stuff, I think The Lowest Form are maybe the best new band in the UK. Or my favourite because it’s not a competition, man. Anyway they just put out a 7” that will kill you if you like stuff like Void and Die Kreuzen and Double Negative.

The Lowest Form - "7.4.3"

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

Flamingods

2011-07-29T13:11:00.000+01:00

There are no two ways about it; Flamingods are weird. They make the kind of noise that is impossible to pin down to one genre alone - exploring a wide range of sounds, and creating them with unusual methods.

The London five-piece are perhaps most easily comparable to Islet - percussion-led experimental sounds, touching on 'freak folk' and 'tribal' through the use of distorted vocal samples and synths, and with an interest in a range of worldwide musical cultures. Much like Islet's are, you expect Flamingods' live shows to be an interesting and unusual spectacle, not to mention one that is difficult to keep up with.

Although their sound doesn't initially seem to be a particularly inviting one - all experimental noisy racket - it's well worth sticking with and getting lost in. Listen below, or download a full album for free at bandcamp.

Flamingods - Sun

Flamingods - If You Can Walk

Bandcamp | Facebook

Die Jungen

2011-07-28T12:15:00.000+01:00

So this is embarrassing. I live in Plymouth, which, compared to the United States of America and Germany, is very close to Southampton. Die Jungen is from Southampton, and yet blogs such as no fear of pop, Pasta Primavera, and yvynynl have all known of him far longer than I have. Yeah, soz about that.

Perhaps what makes this most sad is that Die Jungen is excellent. Largely dark, downbeat, and indebted to yesteryear, Die Jungen's minimalist and lo-fi pop compositions make the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention. They feel genuine, they feel 'real', and most importantly they sound brilliant. It's difficult to believe these songs were written amidst the hustle and bustle of modern life.

Die Jungen - I'm Sorry Bo Diddley

Die Jungen - 10-24

Die Jungen - The Way Down

Facebook | SoundCloud | Bandcamp

Water Moccasins

2011-07-27T14:15:00.000+01:00

So this is ace. New music from a dude from New Hampshire, formerly in The QC, apparently - and now going by the name Water Moccasins.

EP Broken Tone is four tracks of luscious, woozy, beautiful noise - the first half slightly more melodic and tuneful, the second more experimental and dreamy. Layers of delicate synth lay atop reverberating guitar and modest vocals to stunning effect. It's this kind of thing that makes you fully understand why some people refer to shoegaze as 'dream pop'.

This is really, really good. Listen below, or download the full EP for free from bandcamp.

Water Moccasins - Gone

Water Moccasins - Stay Here

Bandcamp | via

New: Jewellers

2011-07-27T11:25:00.001+01:00

In all the excitement (?) of yesterday, it looks like I missed some new music by Jewellers. Still regularly give the Newport duo's debut album - the excellently chilled out Sleep Education, available for free from their bandcamp - plenty of listens so it's ace to see they're working on new material.

Jewellers - Failure

Bandcamp | Facebook

Holy Fun

2011-07-26T14:45:00.000+01:00

Lo-fi garage rock from Texas, I think. If you like this kind of thing you'll like it, if you don't you'll probably hate it. Don't think it needs too much explanation. I like it for it's 'I really couldn't care less' and 'I know these demos are scrappy as fuck but meh' attitude. Yeah.

Holy Fun - Little Girl?

Holy Fun - Weak As Shit

Bandcamp |

New: Pains of Being Pure At Heart

2011-07-26T11:17:00.000+01:00

New music from the New York band. What do we think?

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Tomorrow Dies Today

dot com | Facebook

Holy Stain

2011-07-25T12:24:00.000+01:00

Amidst growing personal suspicion that - despite Stokes Croft and all its related awesomeness - Bristol wasn't perhaps as 'buzzing' as I'd previously seen it in my mind, up step Holy Stain and blow that silly suspicion away with an almighty wall of noise.

Through driving tech-y drum beats and layers of guitar - ranging from intricate and plucky to heavily distorted, droning, and in your face fuzz - the Bristol four-piece give a bloody good go at the shoegazey post-rock sound. Given that, it was probably a little bit silly to miss them play a free gig the other night.

Check some stuff out below, or download the (intermittently excellent) Sun Zoo EP for free (with permission) here.

Holy Stain - Explosion

Holy Stain - Mark E. Moon

Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

New Album: Triptides

2011-07-25T10:26:00.000+01:00

It's pretty ace seeing a band work from early demos and obscurity to getting to a point where they can put out their debut full-length, and we're really happy to see that surfy US duo Triptides are indeed releasing their first album - Psychic Summer - out through Beachtapes, no less.

We first posted about them on BF back in November so it's pretty exciting to be writing about their album 9 months on. As anyone who has listened to them in the past would expect, and given the amount of time they seem to have spent nurturing it, it sounds pretty darn ace on first listen.

Listen to and download some tracks they've made available for download from Psychic Summer, or go and buy the whole thing from bandcamp.

Triptides - Spirit Flows

Triptides - Psychic Summer

Bandcamp | MySpace

Milestones: Oliver Primus (The 405)

2011-07-24T12:49:00.002+01:00

Milestones is a feature looking to gain an insight into the tastes of a particular character of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions and they kindly answer.

Oliver Primus is the founder and editor of music and culture website The 405 and, aged 26, his dedication to keeping the site running over the past few years has been pretty darn impressive - especially coming from my personal perspective of that of a contributor to the website, ensuring The 405 is packed full of top critical reviews and ace features. More recently the radio series was a big success and, following a re-design, the site is looking really ace. Perhaps most incredibly is that that is indeed his real name.

The album that first got you into music:

I think the first record I really got into was Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins. It's a great record because it manages to stay consistent over two discs, showcasing the most brutal aspects of the band, as well as the most beautiful. I used to listen to it daily, but after killing it for a few years I took a break from it. I remember hearing it again a few years later and thinking "fuck, Infinite Sadness really is awesome." When I was younger side Mellon Collie (the heavier side) was what I really connected with. Teen angst and all that I suppose.

Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle

The band that dominated your teenage years:

Alongside Smashing Pumpkins, I listened to a lot of Fugazi, At The Drive-In, a lot of Silverchair (don't judge!) and probably a million other bands that I don't really listen to anymore.

At The Drive-In - One-Armed Scissor

Growing up in Norwich, my gig choices were pretty limited, but there was a period when Hundred Reasons / Jetplane Landing / Biffy Clyro / Hell Is For Heroes / Lostprophets used to play in Norwich all of the time. I look back at that period of my life (about 10 years ago) with a smile on my face. Biffy used to be great when they started. I know people often say stuff like that because they think it makes them sound cool, but seriously, they used to be great. What went wrong?

Biffy Clyro - JustBoy

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

I had a conversation with my girlfriend last week about this as we were trawling through YouTube looking at videos that reminded us of our youth. My earliest childhood memories in that respect came from our weekly drive to London to see my grandparents/cousins/extended family. My dad would always pick the music on the way there, and my mum on the way back. My dad would 9/10 pick blues stuff like Clapton, BB King etc but also threw in a lot of American rap stuff too (which seems odd now that I think about it). My mum on the other hand would pick stuff like Simply Red. I suppose my dad had better taste, but my Mum's poor taste as a 30 year old woman probably helped me decide what I really didn't like, so I thank her for that.

Saying that though though, her record collection (despite its brevity) is actually quite cool. Lots of Roxy Music, Zeppelin, Cohen etc. The Country Life record by Roxy Music sticks in my mind the most. Not really for the music so much, but more the album artwork.

Roxy Music - The Thrill Of It All

The album that has dominated your last 12 months listening:

Oh man, this is when I have to consult iTunes... So it turns out Baths and Kanye West have had a lot of plays over the last 12 months. They always say it's the records that you don't instantly fall in love with that will stick with you the longest. Okay, I've never actually heard that before, but it sort of makes sense I suppose.

I came to Cerulean by Baths quite late in the day really. In fact, it was a Twitter suggestion that made my pick it up. Whoever suggested it...thanks! Whenever people ask me to explain what style of music Will Wiesenfeld makes, I tend to skip the genre tags in favour of what it feels like, which is the feeling you get when someone you like gives you a hug. It's warm, homely and lovely.

Baths - Lovely Bloodflow

The Kanye West record (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) took me a while to get used to. I've always dipped in an out of his work, and felt that this was another case of 'two strong songs, a few ok tracks, rest filler'. The more I listened to it, the more I came to realise how great it is. Ok, so it has a few silly moments in it, but overall it's very strong.

Kanye West - Power

A special shout out to the Broken Dreams Club EP from Girls. They followed up a fairly solid debut album, with a perfect EP. Great move.

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

My brain is setup to breakdown the second I get asked questions like this. Let me go look through iTunes again...

Einar Stray is a pretty exciting dude. His album Chiaroscuro is a marvel and I had the pleasure of seeing him Norway last year. He was phenomenal. Another Norwegian band I like is Team Me. They have stupidly massive pop hooks.

Einar Stray - Chiarscuro

On the basis of his unreleased album, Youth Lagoon is up there as one of my favourite people on the planet right now. Just wait until you hear The Year of Hibernation. Holy crap, what a great record!

Youth Lagoon - Cannons

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

Broken Dreams Club by Girls or, if I'm cheating, the Pop Massacre compilation from Friends of Friends. Does that make sense? Basically self loathing and constantly doubting yourself, all whilst working every second of the day. Welcome to the music industry baby.

Girls - Broken Dreams Club

Check out The 405 for ace reviews, interviews and features, as well as news, videos, live photos and loads of other stuff. You should also follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook.

Yesteryear: The Cherry Smash

2011-07-23T13:42:00.000+01:00

Yesteryear is a new weekly feature on Basement Fever aiming to highlight some ace music from the past that hopefully you won't have heard of, or if you have heard of it, maybe you haven't got around to listening yet. Yeah.

The Cherry Smash seem like an apt first choice for Yesteryear, given that if I stumbled upon them on bandcamp today, they would be blogged without doubt by tomorrow. Thanks go to Reeks Of Effort for turning me onto them a few months back.

Formed in California in the mid-nineties, their only release - 7" West Coast Rip Off - is three tracks of lo-fi jangly/surf pop that I absolutely adored on first listen, which they put out in '96/'97 before they changed their name to Spectacle, toured for a little while with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and released an apparently unsuccessful full-length. Still, their 7" is pretty ace. Hear the excellent Airport Girl and Nowhere Generation below.

The Cherry Smash - Airport Girl

The Cherry Smash - Nowhere Generation

New: La La Vasquez

2011-07-22T14:44:00.002+01:00

Some new recordings from Brighton all-girl three-piece La La Vasquez... They were ace when I saw them play in Cardiff last year and it looks like they've been pretty busy since; preparing a release for Sex Is Disgusting, and putting out a split with Neonates on onec records. Like I said, they were good when I saw them in Cardiff, but it seems like they've 'upped their game' some more. Listen:

La La Vasquez - Other Side

La La Vasquez - I Will Follow

Facebook | SoundCloud

Michael Christmas

2011-07-22T13:20:00.003+01:00

The rain continues to fall during the British summertime, just as bands continue to make lo-fi surf and garage rock tunes - fronted on bandcamp with a hazy image of a beach - that I fail to resist. Again, nothing incredibly original or new from LA Florida act Michael Christmas (who were named Dali Jensen up until about a week ago), but it's just the kind of 'vibe' that I want staring depressingly out of the living room window. And that these (self confessed "sloppy and thrown together") demos were written and recorded by one dude alone, that's pretty impressive, right? New stuff is promised soon but until then listen below, or download a full EP's worth of material for free at bandcamp.

Michael Christmas - Serff Jones

Michael Christmas - Nada one

Bandcamp |

New: Kid Harpoon

2011-07-21T16:11:00.002+01:00

We all remember Kid Harpoon. You know, the one what made that folk music. Well, he's back, and he's, er... well, not very 'folk' any more. Think more Prince-meets-Beach Boys out and out pop. Listen:

Kid Harpoon - Collecting Rain

dot com | Facebook

New: Veronica Falls

2011-07-21T12:34:00.001+01:00

Ace new track from Veronica Falls, as a preview for their upcoming debut album out on Bella Union, September 20.

Veronica Falls - Come On Over

Facebook | SoundCloud

8tracks Mix

2011-07-20T18:07:00.001+01:00

So I was asked to make a mixtape by 8tracks, which is a pretty ace new website where you can... make mixtapes. Typically I went for unsigned pretty bands, and gave it a prick-ish name. Listen below if you want, or compete with me by making your own mix. Whatever.

Check out 8tracks over here.

Hoop Dreams

2011-07-20T13:55:00.002+01:00

Perhaps the biggest regret of most music bloggers is that they just don't have enough time. Given that, for the majority, blogging is something that is done in spare time - a 'hobby', according to the Job Centre - where other responsibilities (jobs, family, friends, other journalistic obligations) often take higher priority, allocating time to give every piece of new music adequate time to settle and to grow can be tricky. Naturally, and regrettably, this can lead to only those pieces of music that are immediate internal hits receiving all the blog love and those that time to grow little to none.

Hoop Dreams are a three-piece from Conway, Arkansas who, luckily for me, put their debut EP San Jose up onto bandcamp for free. Luckily in that, had they not, and had I not downloaded it, there's every chance that I would never have listened to it again. Going through browser histories and keeping written lists as to bandcamp and SoundCloud pages to revisit is a time-consuming task. A task that I and many other bloggers would love to have the time for but, unfortunately, more often than not, simply don't. Luckily that, had I not listened for that second time, I probably would 't have listened for the third, or the fourth.

Suffice to say that San Jose is a release that grows after each listen. What at first comes across a little twee and overly sweet develops, as layers and textures become more apparent - the bending, jangling, distorted guitar parts; the perfectly judged drum parts; the plodding bass; the sweet and pristine female vocals; - and as the songs reveal themselves to be more than they at first seem to be. Although tagged on bandcamp (amongst other genres) as 'surf pop', Hoop Dreams are perhaps more comparable to the sweet and jangly pop of UK band Standard Fare which is ace, obviously. Don't act like a typical blogger. Don't judge it on first listen. Download it. Let it grow. I can't wait to hear more.

Hoop Dreams - Passing Through

Hoop Dreams - Vacation

Bandcamp | Facebook

New: Dum Dum Girls

2011-07-20T13:03:00.001+01:00

Six minutes and thirty one seconds. 'Epic'. Coming Down is the lead single from forthcoming Dum Dum Girls full-length Only in Dreams, out through Sub Pop on September 26.

Dum Dum Girls - Coming Down

dot com | Facebook

Novella

2011-07-19T12:29:00.000+01:00

"Here come another all female lo-fi group," announces an unnamed blog in response to London band Novella. "just what we need hey".

Yes. Damn those women and their music-making. Don't they know we've had enough of them? It's not like women are unrepresented in music, right? It's not like the whole fucking industry is dominated by men, eh?

Fuck that. Novella are ace. And they're women, and that's ace too. The Things You Do is out August 15. Hear it below.

Novella - The Things You Do

SoundCloud | Facebook

Gross Magic - We're Awake Tonight

2011-07-18T20:18:00.000+01:00

When actually done well, there's not much better than pop music, is there? And some of the best I've heard in the past 12 months undoubtedly is from Brighton artist Gross Magic.

I posted about the excellent and eccentric Sweetest Touch just before it blew up all over the internet over on Lost Lost Lost, and it's pretty ace to finally hear some new material. We're Awake Tonight is another track lifted from his debut EP - out on The Sounds Of Sweet Nothing - and you can hear it below. So excited about this.

Gross Magic - We're Awake Tonight

Facebook | SoundCloud

Milestones: Music Fan's Mic

2011-07-17T12:41:00.001+01:00

Milestones is a new feature looking to gain an insight into a particular character of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions about music, and they do their best to answer.

From one blogger onto another, this week's Milestones throws the same questions as last week at music blogger and writer Jamie Milton of Music Fan's Mic. Jamie is 19 years old and yet is already a regular contributor to esteemed music publications such as This Is Fake DIY and The Line Of Best Fit; and his own blog - Music Fan's Mic, which he has run for a number of years with friend Gareth - is a respected source for new music and artistic critique of its own - not forgetting the excellent podcasts that he manages to put together on a worryingly regular basis. And he has a girlfriend. And still manages to squeeze in some Football Manager. I don't know how he does it.

The album that first got you into music:

Moby's Play crosses a multitude of genres. I seem to remember picking it out of some catalogue (because that’s how music was ordered in 1999…) and asking my Mum to get it. I might have heard ‘Natural Blues’ on top of the pops and so that’s what most likely led me to it. I wasn’t necessarily so keen on the straightforward chill-out stuff – I was really into the darker material, like ‘Natural Blues’, which is about a kid coming home and finding his brother dead. Those lyrics only became prominent after a few years of having the record, though! It was mainly the elements of blues and soul that made me so intrigued.

Moby - Run On

The band that dominated your teenage years:

I feel like my love affair with Radiohead is very much over. That’s a shame, considering how blown away I was by their records. It wasn’t immediate. I had OK Computer from when I was about 13 but I once sat down with Hail To The Thief and all of a sudden Thom Yorke was shouting at my ears; “You have not been paying attention!” and God damn, he was right. It span off from there.

I’m still a fanboy – I can’t deny that because I fell for The King Of Limbs like there was no tomorrow. But I’m sick of the mystery; the secret, last minute announcements – it’s all grown tiresome. I will always play their records though. Kid A remains my favorite all-time album, alongside The Knife's Silent Shout.

Radiohead - Idioteque

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

Buddy Holly – That’ll Be The Day. It’s a vivid memory: Me dancing around the kitchen to this with my Mum. It was all-out catchy and I loved it. Then, as I’ve grown up, I’ve seen this guy’s work reflected in many of today’s acts. Part of me still wishes the rock’n’roll scene had emerged around now so that I could’ve spent my teenage years in those well-lit discos you see in films like Walk The Line.

Buddy Holly - That'll Be The Day

The album that has dominated your last 12 months listening:

Portishead – Third. I suppose it’s justifiable that I came so late to discovering this band. In between their second record and this one, I’d gone from cracking my head open on the edge of a door after running around a slippery kitchen, dressed as Batman, with my eyes closed (1994 – aged 3), to getting a job and saving up for a few months away in Australia with my girlfriend (2008 – aged 17). In other words, I’d grown up whilst Porishead had gone walkies.
I didn’t get hold of Third when it first came out – my interest was numbed by the fact that I hadn’t heard any of their stuff before. Then ‘Machine Gun’ got played on the radio and I began to understand (mainly because every music publication said as much) that this was a very important band, returning to the fore like they’d never disappeared in the first place. It’s an incredible work, particularly production-wise. I don’t know if there are many people out there I respect more than Geoff Barrow, especially when you consider his recent work with The Horrors.

Portishead - The Rip

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

When I grew up, Brighton, despite being a beautiful, vibrant place, didn’t have much to boast about musically apart from Fatboy Slim and The Kooks… Now, things seem to be turning a page. There’s Cold Pumas, who I’m particularly excited about but I guess Regal Safari represent what I’m into at the moment that little bit more. It’s glimmering, visceral electronic music and because they’re a full band, there’s the potential for a wonderful live show. I’m imagining a grand stage and a dazzling visual display from these guys one day.

Regal Safari - Light

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

Because we’ve gone through more domain changes, site hacks, design tweaks than most blogs tend to survive. I feel very comfortable with how MFM is going at the moment; I think it’s only just beginning to find its feet. But of course, it’s always susceptible to change.

LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change

Keep up with Jamie's Music Fan's Mic on Facebook and on Twitter for some excellent new music tips and a soothing voice.

Video: Ghost Outfit

2011-07-15T16:50:00.000+01:00

When Matthew says that Ghost Outfit are probably the best live band in Manchester right now, given his pretty vast knowledge of anything worth knowing about going on up there, he's probably right.

It doesn't take any sort of expert, though, to recognise that Ghost Outfit might well be on to something. I Was Good When I was Young is genuinely one of the most catchy songs I have heard all year. Vibrant, fun, and most definitely a little bit silly, the video shot by Manchester Scenewipe to accompany the track is most certainly fitting. Listen - and watch, obviously - below.

I Was Good When I Was Young from Ghost Outfit on Vimeo.

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Acid Glasses - My Pale Garden

2011-07-15T12:18:00.000+01:00

Good intentions are all well and good but until they're translated into good actions, they're kinda a little pointless. It's an obvious point, but one that I apparently refuse to take notice of time and time again.

Listening to the wonderfully unusual 'My Pale Garden' by Memphis artist Acid Glasses on an iPod in a pub in London last week, I had every intention of getting home that night and spreading the e-love. Then - being in a pub and all - I drank (impressively bargainous) beer, got on a train and inevitably didn't write anything that evening.

So here I am, 8 days on, finally moving this good intention into some actual-bloody-action, and in that time the song has already been impressively (and deservedly) well covered - The Pigeon Post, A New Band A Day, The Line Of Best Fit, Music Fan's Mic, and even the bloody NME all spreading the love.

For what it's worth - which frankly isn't much right now - I really like this song. Presumably somewhat like trying describe the flavour of a Big Mac to somebody who has never eaten meat, Acid Glasses' (aka Nick Burk) experimental take on psychedelia/pop/electronica/whatever-else-it-might-be-categorised-as on is very possibly unlike much you’ll have heard before, barring some crazy remix of some super catchy pop song. That it has been compared to bands spanning from Animal Collective to The Beatles is a decent insight to its tricky-to-pin-down sound. And whilst it is odd, it's not made with the aim of being kooky.

It's due to be released on 7" through Stroll On Records early Autumn but until then have a listen and download of it in digital form.

Acid Glasses - My Pale Garden

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Still Corners: Album Announced

2011-07-14T11:24:00.000+01:00

It's been a long time coming, but London's Still Corners have finally confirmed details of a debut album - Creatures of an Hour will be released through Sub Pop, October 10.

The two-piece have been causing increasing excitement for their excellent and haunting experimental pop for a good while now, and when I (finally) got to see them live at Great Escape a few months back they certainly didn't disappoint. Really looking forward to hearing what they can do with a full-length.

Listen to and download 'Cuckoo' from their latest 7" below, and catch them live at Latitude (pretty much now), Field Day in London on August 6.

Still Corners - Cuckoo

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Dolfinz

2011-07-13T12:49:00.007+01:00

You know you hear something and immediately get hairs standing up on the back of your neck? Yep, that's how excited I was to stumble upon the SoundCloud of Dolfinz.

Ignore the acoustic guitar, ignore the Slipknot tee, this will give you the entirely wrong impression about the Stonehaven two-piece. There's no dull acoustic strumming, there is nothing anything even close to Slipknot-style screaming or double-base-drum overload. Dolfinz are excellent. Noisy, lo-fi and almost grungy-influenced yet still comfortably lumped in with the rest of the garage rock crowd, they give the slightly tired genre a massive kick - songs thrive through infectious choruses and guitar lines, satisfying and distorted shouts, crashing drums and guitar riffs, and some thoroughly enjoyable lyrics (personal favourite, given their name, being "I've got a blowhole on my head"). Songs are perfectly balanced in pop and rock measure, and have a fresh care-free feel.

Honestly, I am so excited to have found these and I honestly hope they get massive. Listen for yourselves below. Oh, and if you book gigs, let it be known that they'll be touring in August and are looking for some shows. Please book them somewhere near me.

Dolfinz - Coral Reefer

Dolfinz - Blowhole

Dolfinz - So Mean

SoundCloud |

New: Male Bonding - Bones

2011-07-12T16:11:00.001+01:00

Although we're a blog focusing on the best new bands, every so often the odd 'thing' from a not-quite-so-new band will drop along that we can't resist but share - especially seeings Male Bonding's debut album is still on a pretty much constant loop on my MP3 player.

Listen to new song 'Bones' - which will be on new album Endless Now, due to be released on Sub Pop on August 29 - below. It's great. Real excited for the full album.

Male Bonding - Bones by subpop

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Illness - Break-Up Tape

2011-07-12T15:38:00.001+01:00

It's with sad news that I write this blog post to report that Brighton two-piece Illness - featured on Basement Fever here - have announced that they'll be calling it a day.

After a few years making their scruffy math-tinged instrumental rock together - happily playing in people's kitchens along the way, as well as spreading some musical love on their blog - Emilio and Spencer will be moving in opposite directions. I'm sad.

It's not all doom and gloom though, the pair are giving away a tape-full of their last ever material to mark their fair-well. Listen below, or grab the whole thing for free from their bandcamp page.

Nathan Crayon by IllnessIllness - Nathan Crayon

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Milestones: The Pigeon Post

2011-07-10T13:17:00.002+01:00

Milestones is a new feature looking to gain an insight into a particular character of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions about music, and they do their best to answer.

Featured this week is Matthew Britton, music writer, new music expert, and the 'brains' behind on-the-ball blogs such as The Pigeon Post and lostlostlost. Any regular follower of Basement Fever will know that we're good friends so it seems only right to have Matthew as the first feature. And if we're being honest, Basement Fever probably wouldn't exist were it not for The Pigeon Post. So...

The album that first got you into music:

There are a load of contenders for this, but I've decided to go for the album that properly got me into music, rather than just being the first time that I appreciated it or felt slightly excited about it. So there's no place for the variety of novelty hits of the early 90's that I made my Mum buy on cassette (Mr Blobby, you were purely misunderstood in your genius) and there's thankfully no room for Limp Bizkit and the nu-metal crew that blighted my mid-teenage years.

It's a choice probably typical of people my age and skin colour - The Libertines cast a huge shadow over everyone who went after them for quite a while, and for a few breif years their sense of brotherhood and ability to make a nice little ditty were the central narrative to my life. I joined their forum, downloaded Pete's acoustic, solo stuff (the material of which would go on to form the basis of his entire career as a solo artist) and toyed, however shortly, with the idea of getting a libertine tattoo when I was old enough. The first album intrigued me, but the second sent me over the edge, and I spent day upon day listening to it on repeat, eking out the details of it's minutiae, desperate to get closer.

It'd be nice to look back upon the time fondly - it gave me a sense of musical identity, a sense of the broader world outside of the terrible second rate pop-punk I'd listened to before hand and gave me enough courage to try out more stuff of a similar vein. sadly, a lot of people didn't see it as such an opportunity, and have instead decided to sit upon the legend, boldly guarding it every Saturday night in indie discos up and down the land, as they get played alongside the ridiculously less exciting likes of Oasis and The Courteneers. Just like Pete himself, the chance to step up the pantheon of true greats was there, but instead it's wallowing in the gutter.

The Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now

The band that dominated your teenage years:

...and this is what it led me onto. The Libertines might've made the inroads, but Forward, Russia definitely took over my life for an inhumane amount of years. I own, at last count, about 15 of their trademark t-shirts, I went to their every Manchester show (except one where they supported Biffy Clyro, in which I got the date wrong and spent a week moping afterwards over the ticket I'd already purchased), purposely turned up late to work just to go see them do instore performances. I threw abusive messages at their roadie after learning that he'd slept with someone from their forum, of which I was subsequently banned for said abuse (taking signs with the legend 'Bentley is a Paedo' on don't go down well, apparently), and at their last show I almost broke down in tears after travelling to Leeds just for the occasion.

More than that, it's defined the years afterwards, too. A load of people who used to go to the gigs have gone on to do much more important things - Jamila, who runs Cruel Rhythm (formerly Fucking Dance) was at the front of every show, taking pictures, Cal from D/R/U/G/S once put on the singer's solo project on at his house and, more relevantly for me, it's house I first became friends with Miriam (my girlfriend).

Forward, Russia - 12

The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:

My mum didn't really listen to full albums - she just used to make these little mixes for the car. We didn't even really listen to radio that much, come to think of it, but the mixes were always present, and occasionally themed - around the time of Euro '96 and World Cup '98, she'd swap over to her football based tapes. But there was one that always seemed to be on, and the one track that always stuck with me was Crash, by The Primitives. It was largely mixed in with stuff by Blondie and other 80's pop music, so for years I presumed Debbie Harry was signing on this, but it's a pretty perfect pop song, heavily weighted towards the chorus with a load of 'nah nah nah' action to pad it out.

Famously (in the family, at least), the mix carried on halfway through this song the first time we got in the car after Diana's death. I'd be certain that my mum had got in the car to get up to that section if she didn't spent the the entire funeral crying about it all a few days later.

The Primitives - Crash (Live)

The album that has dominated your last 12 months' listening:

There are loads of good albums and then there are a few that are brilliant. Then, every couple of years, there's an album that completely redefines everything you thought you liked and utterly refuses to go away. I didn't really get on with Kanye's first couple of albums, and even the better tracks on them still felt a little bit weak. But My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy isn't anything like his past works at all. In short, I think it might be perfect.

Only Kanye could've made this album, purely due to the level of depth and complexity you have to endure as a listener. We all know about his ego, his many misdemeanours, his connections, mis-trust of the media and his background, and the joy of the album is watching them all play up against each other, the bombast and bravado having to go up against humility and self loathing - and god, does he know how to self-loath. Runaway is, without doubt, one of the great masterpieces of the decade - you're essentially listening to a man have a nervous breakdown, but he's doing it with such bluster that it never descends into the realms of emo or massive self-indulgence. Then you play it against the likes of Power, and the pure pop of All of the Lights, then consider he's got the larger than life Monster on there too - it's beyond brilliant. A man of sickening talent, he is never ever going to top this as an album, and we can only hope that he doesn't try.

Kanye West - Runaway

The most exciting new band you've heard recently:

Might not grab straight away - certainly didn't for me - but Bos Angeles have the potential to be the biggest thing to spring out of the bandcamp-combing scene, and I can only hope that they do. The fact that they're pretty much the complete package already defies belief, too.

Bos Angeles - Beach Slalom

And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:

On a loop.

Lovvers - Wasted Youth

Follow Matthew on Twitter, or read more of his stuff at The Pigeon Post or over at LostLostLost to find some of the genuinely best new music from around the world.

New: Joanna Gruesome

2011-07-09T12:23:00.003+01:00

The line between taking influence from and merely imitating is fine and highly subjective. What one person lauds as a respectful nod to, someone else will call direct plagiarism. This is an age old debate, and one that will undoubtedly never be resolved.

Indeed with acts like Cardiff five-piece Joanna Gruesome opinion will be split. Their fuzzy guitar and twee boy-girl vocal pop sound is by no means a new one - yet at the same time it's not a massively popular genre that they've decided to sound like so that they immediately shoot to fame. They're just a few kids making the kind of music that they love, and that's cool with me.

Hear a few older tracks on Basement Fever back here, or listen to the two newer ace demos below.

Joanna Gruesome - Sugar Crush

Joanna Gruesome - Madison

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Competition: Foot Village Brighton Tickets

2011-07-08T12:10:00.001+01:00

Hello all. Basement Fever are back with OUR BIGGEST AND BESTEST COMPETITION YET and all you need to do is answer ONE SIMPLE QUESTION. That's right. Go on. Read on. I dare you not to.

Once again linking up with One Inch Badge - our Brighton-based promoting and label-running e-chums - we have two tickets to give away to one lucky reader to Furballs; a live music extravaganza taking place on THURSDAY 21ST JULY at Green Door Store, featuring Foot Village and support from Bitches, Peepholes, and Negative Pegasus.

Foot Village are from LA and are noise merchants of the highest order; using strictly drums and shouty vocals to communicate their message that music just isn't weird enough. Fans of Sonic Youth, Mclusky, Future of the Left and high decibels will most certainly enjoy.

Foot Village - Lovers With Iraqis

Bitches are a London two-piece, involving themselves in anti-social and scrappy post-punk sounds, with shouty boy-girl vocals rallying back and forth and plenty of atonal guitar feedback.

Bitches - Wallett

Peepholes are London/Brighton-based and synth-led, but that doesn't make them any less punk or fucking noisy than the rest of this line-up. Female fronted and absolutely frantic, these are absolutely ace and I've been wanting to see them for ages.

Peepholes - Carnivore

And Negative Pegasus are Brighton-based and furiously noisy also, though dealing more with heavy, feedback drenched psych-rock than the reverb-punk of the rest of the line-up. Featured on NME today, these definitely won't be timid in opening up the show.

Negative Pegasus - Psychic Energy

A genuinely excellent line-up at probably my favourite Brighton venue. To win, answer the following question: Which band was Negative Pegasus' Todd Jordan formerly in (hint: HERE)? Was it:

a) Todd and the Dead Seas of Jordan
b) My Device
c) Nick Cave and the Bad Eggs

Email your answer to basementcompetitions@gmail.com - along with your name and address - BEFORE Thursday July 14, when one winner will be picked at random. One entry per person. 18+ only. Strictly no "re-selling" or any of that rubbish, and please only enter if you can definitely attend.

Best of luck.

Gardensandvilla

2011-07-06T11:39:00.000+01:00

Call it what you want, be it chillwave or even ambientelectropsychfunk, this by US-based Gardens & Villa is some chilled-out funky ass shit, or something.

Gardensandvilla - Orange Blossom

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