Cougar Microbes

I woke up this morning to messages from friends back in London and a busy twitter stream referencing the passing of Amy Winehouse from a suspected drug overdose. Whilst I can not say I’m entirely surprised by the news it is saddening to lose such a talented vocalist at such a young age.

Love her or hate her Amy came to symbolize a fresh new British sound that exploded all over the world a few years back and was adored by both music aficionados and fairweather fans alike. Paradoxically it was also this meteoric rise to fame that brought a bunch of hangers on and guaranteed she was constantly in the limelight (courtesy of the nice people at News International amongst others).

Winehouse joins “The 27 Club“, or in the words of Cobain‘s mother ‘The Stupid Club“, with the likes of Joplin, Hendrix, Cobain and Morrison. Her musical legacy will be the often played tracks from ‘Back To Black‘ as well as a bunch of stellar guest performances for the likes of Mark Ronson.

The sad thing being that if you cancelled out external influences we had every right to expect her to be ever present in our lives offering fresh cuts and collaborations over the years with that gorgeous voice.

We chose to remember her looking young and fresh eyed like in the video above, fresh and somewhat naive, before the fame tornado hit her life.

Rest in Peace Miss Amy Winehouse, hope the after party is great.

TRACKS:

I caught East London‘s Tigercats live at the Barfly in Camden supporting Magic Kids and ‘Allo Darlin. I had read some great things about the band but only heard a handful of tracks available through their myspace this was a chance for them to win me over.

The 4 piece hit the stage and I was immediately struck by how much bigger their songs sound live. Despite occasionally veering into twee territory, and certainly not in a bad way,  on record from the stage the different components sound beefier and harder hitting.

Appearing to mix Pavements rare ability to turn even a relative simple riff on its head with Sky Larkin‘s British exuberance the band were sounding are tighter than a Chilean mine shaft. The best weapon in their arsenal has to be frontman Duncan Barrett whose distinctive nasal vocals, occasional falsetto and hazy lyrics lend a uniqueness to the band’s sound.

Tigercats have two singles available now through Haircut Records and are on a bit of a promotional round at the moment. They’re playing some London dates in early december, I’ll be there and you should too.

TRACKS:

Tigercats – Nude With Dogs

Camden artist Leelou is bringing us a powerful slice of post- punk pop with her debut EP ‘Kiss. Death. Love. Come’. After working and touring with French legendary cover band Nouvelle Vague she’s made a welcome return to her solo roots and has meet her musical match in production partner Paul Simm’s.

Her first Single ‘Burn Your Houses Down’ (written about the MP housing scandal) is a catchy piece of unpretentious socio-political pop, believe it or not. With the pop accessibility of her tracks and her rich tremulous voice you could be fooled into likening Leelou to modern day artists such as Marina and the Diamonds but with her dark and charismatic sound comparisons to iconic artists such as Siouxsie would be far more fitting.

Of all the tracks ‘Gasoline‘ is less punchy than ‘Burn Your Houses Down’ and is probably the most indie of the EPs outputs but still manages to maintain some punkette percussion and edge. In contrast, ‘Kill For Your Love‘ and ‘Kiss Like Carnivores’ are stripped back, slower in pace and overlaid by a soft vocal drawl and that sees her move towards a more grunge inspired sound reminiscent of her cited influence Nirvana.

There’s is something very powerful about Leelou’s voice and indeed her song writing skills and in a market where post punk female artists are not common place I hope her offerings will go someway to filling the vacant void.

LeeLou’s debut EP ‘Kiss. Death. Love. Come’ is released on Enso Records on the 8th of November

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Post by the Clark Kent-esque Ruby

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TRACKS:

Chapel Club release new single ‘All The Eastern Girls‘ this week and end their October UK tour with a glorious date at Camden‘s Koko this thursday.

‘All The Eastern Girls‘ has been given the remix treatment by Cougar Microbes darlings RAC (Remix Artist Collective) as well as a smash and grab approach by Flux Pavilion who gave the track one hell of a kick.

TRACKS:

Chapel Club – All The Eastern Girls (RAC Remix)

At this years Camden Crawl I was asked by Vitamin Water to capture the vibe of the festival and given a festival goodie bag. ‘I was tickled by the contents of the pack which included a tent light, a poncho, an inflatable guitar, some frisbees and plenty of drink bottles amongst the many goodies. Considering I was only heading a few minutes down the road from my house I was impressed with how many bases had been covered.

With this in mind I decided to take a drastically different approach to enjoying The Crawl. In the past I had been too preoccupied with catching as many bands as possible whilst getting stressed out by the disorganised schedule thus missing out on any notion of experiencing the atmosphere. This year I would take it easy dropping in on a few bands and generally checking out my favourite local boozers and their impromptu gigs.

This sounded like a great plan until I set out on Saturday afternoon to collect my passes. Following a week of warm weather a familiar drizzle and cold chill descended on Camden and I bloody wished I had remembered that Poncho. Despite it only being a short walk by the time I had arrived to Koko I was already soaked to the bone. Tickets in hand I resolved to head back home to dry up and grab a bite whilst waiting for the rain to die down. After a quick stop at The Camden Arms I finally set out again to catch a part of Shy Child‘s and New Young Pony Club‘s performances.

Having seen Shy Child a few years back as main support at Shepherds Bush Empire I recalled that, despite playing to an empty room, the duo were entirely likeable. A few years on and they are touring in support of their second release ‘Liquid Love‘. I definitely liked the progression they’ve demonstrated with songs taking on a hard to place dreaminess that is far more “pop“, in the best possible sense of the word, than their previous output. It’s hard to believe there are just two members making this grand sound and tonight tracks from their two albums blend to great effect.

New Young Pony Club are a band that have benefitted from  an incredible wave of hype upon their debut. The followup up ‘The Optimist‘ is probably a more consistent effort brimming with confidence, just look at the album title. Singer Tahita Bumer is bursting with personality and constantly appears to have a bee in her bonnet which makes for interesting viewing; it doesn’t matter because the new material is captivating. Predictably the crowd goes mental for ‘Ice Cream‘ but the band set the bar high by playing so many songs from the new release.

On Sunday I fared considerably better seeing a few artists and generally enjoying the vibe with some good friends. Firstly I caught Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip in the large outdoor stage on Hawley Crescent. Despite the adverse weather conditions Pip had the crowd eating from his hands before he even said a word. Like some sort of political rally from a parallel universe everybody leaves pleased. Not too far away Norway‘s brilliant Casiokids gave another top performance at the Jazz Cafe later on. leading the crowd with their infectious sound there is an abundance of spontaneous dancing and crazy grins in the room. The band had energy to sell and on the live stage this translates brilliantly.

I also catch a part of Dev Hynes, AKA Lightspeed Champion‘s set at the Electric Ballroom and am positively thrilled. Despite having played ‘Falling Off Lavender Bridge‘ hundreds of times when it was released, I had almost forgotten how good these tracks sound. I still need to take in the new songs but generally enjoyed his energy and delivery. If there is any justice Lightspeed Champion should go supernova soon.

In between visits to the Lock Tavern and The Pembroke Castle I still managed to catch We Are Scientists close the night. Though I have enjoyed the band over the years if I am to be honest I have not really delved much into their material since the release of 2005′s ‘With Love And Squalor‘.

To the outsider their performance can sometimes feel like an in joke for them and their fans. The band speak a crazy slang when talking between themselves and the fans literally go ballistic for each and ever track. However, looking at the ensemble of odd balls in the room, both in the audience and on stage, it is impossible not to crack a smile.

This year’s Camden Crawl proved to be more enjoyable than past editions for me largely because I decided to take it easy only catching a few selected artists and a handful of street performances whilst soaking the atmosphere. Despite the weather doing its best to sabotage the weekend Camden and its multiple venues embraced the music. Thanks to Vitamin Water for sending me along.

TRACKS:

Shy Child – Disconnected (Ocelot Remix)

New Young Pony Club – Chaos

Casiokids – Toggens Hule

We Are Scientists – Nobody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt

Hot on the heels of playing the festival circuit, The Dub Pistols crew descended on Dingwalls, in Camden on a wet and windy Tuesday night. Neither the mid week slot nor the weather did anything to dampen the mood however and the band lived up to their now legendary reputation for live performance and delivered a set which had the crowd roaring and jumping!

The band, famous for their collaborations with the good and the great of the music scene, Rodney P, Terry Hall, Gregory Issacs and Lindy Layton, have been touring with their new album ‘Rum ‘n’ Coke’ in recent months showcasing their unique brand of skank. Drawing on influences of punk, ska and reggae, The Dub Pistols are a dub, dance, reggae, hip hop, outfit who are rightly regarded as genre-defying.

They played a set which took in tracks from both old and new albums including, the sun-soaked delights of “Ganja“, the seminal “Westway” and atmospheric “You’ll never find“, as well as current new single “I’m In Love” with sublime vocal pairing from Rodney P and Lindy Layton set against a big beat. Bruising baselines mixed with horns and guitar to create a mashed up sound personified at one point by front man Barry Ashworth, colliding with the floor during a particularly energetic dance move!

The Dub Pistols never fail to deliver and this gig lived up to all expectations. A band that are recognised for their spectacular live events, the energy and excitement they incite was in evidence on Tuesday.

Mine’s a Rum and Coke!

TRACK:

The Dub Pistols – I’m In Love (Foamo Remix)