Headsound: Balloon Ascents - Cutout

Sofar sounds made a welcome debut in Cambridge at the weekend. The global movement curates monthly gigs in living rooms and other unconventional venues in 86 cities worldwide with more being added all the time.

Oxford group Balloon Ascents were an uplifting opener, harmonising dreamy pop melodies and helping the 20 odd audience members squeezed onto the living room floor to forget the cramps and backache.

The band have previously played Sofar in Oxford and are set to play more dates around Europe in the Summer. Cutout is one of several songs on their Soundcloud page.

Headsound: Half Japanese - In Its Pull

Half Japanese are strong contenders for the best new old band of the year. Brothers David and Jad Fair started making music in 1974 and have been influencing the great and the good in alternative music ever since as seen in the mini documentary below. Contributors include Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, the Velvet Underground's Moe Tucker, Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner and more.
They are returning after a 13 year break with album 'Overjoyed'. The first song to be shared 'In It's Pull' is a snappy manifesto.  Jad calls on you to 'Refresh the life you have and be the best that you can possibly be,' over a mutilated bed of rock and roll. It's uplifting, visceral punk rock with a distinctive twist. 

The album is out in September giving a couple of months to catch up on their back catalogue. 

  

Headsound: Tom Adams - All is Lost

My guest on next week's show on 8th July will be Tom Adams. Adams' music regularly features on the show but it's been too long since he joined me in person. He will be playing some songs and talking about new film The Knife That Killed Me which he has done the soundtrack for including this song, All is Lost. The film is released on July 15th.

Headsound: Kate Tempest - Lonely Daze

I've been so caught up listening to this album I almost forgot to feature it on the blog. Everybody Down is a standout album of the year so far. It's a musical, literary masterpiece by Kate Tempest, a young poet, performer and writer bursting with energy and creativity. Lonely Daze opens with a killer hook but listen to the lyrics and the vivid characters they portray, then listen to the rest of the album to hear their stories in full.

I was looking forward to seeing Kate Tempest this weekend at the Hammer and Tongue national final due to be held at the Albert Hall loading bay. It's been postponed till September now but hopefully Kate will still be joining us.

Buy 'Everybody Down' on

Headsound: Moulettes - Lady Vengeance

Moulette's new album, Constellations, out next month has been getting played quite a bit on recent shows and now the band have launched a video for Lady Vengeance, a spectacular song that covers the band's vast emotional and instrumental range. The band were in great form at a recent gig at The Junction and I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty more from them this year.

Moulettes at Cambridge Junction

Headsound: Mouth - Blood Beat

Here's another local act I hope to feature on an upcoming show. Blood Beat is a piece that tries to achieve a lot all at once and succeeds. Dark bass lines and distorted guitar meet melodic pop vocals. Mouth is the moniker of Theresa Elflein who will not be local for much longer as she is moving to London in the summer. Make sure you catch her when she plays ARU Academy this Thursday.

Website: www.mouthuk.com

Headsound: The Pastafarians - ACPD

Magic Phil of Spaghetti Faction returns with more satire and political angst. Marc adds the music, building up beats and loops that complement but never overwhelm the vocals which have the attitude and lyrical ingenuity of Gil Scott-Heron.
It was only a matter of time before these two prolific contributors to the city's left-wing arts scene collaborated and the results are proving fruitful.
Phil and Marc will be live in the studio on Tuesday to play more Pastafarians tracks, some of their solo work and other favourites.

Headsound: Luka Lesson - 5th Season

Australian artist Luka Lesson blends music and spoken word on this track from his new album Exit. He recites lyrics assuredly over an abrasive mix of loops and beats on 5th Season the first track on the album out on 1st of May. Sounds like Australia's answer to Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip. I look forward to hearing more.

www.lukalesson.com.au

Headsound - Ethan's Bucket - Crown Me King

David and Goliath and Lord of the Rings were the influence for this electro-pop track from Dublin's Ethan's Bucket. You can download this song and hear more of Ethan's songs on Soundcloud.

Headsound: Gaze is Ghost - Untitled

A treat for the eyes as well as the ears as Irish singer-songwriter Laura McGarrigle aka Gaze Is Ghost previews a new song in The Leper Chapel. Harmonium, ambient guitar and McGarrigle's haunting vocals creep up and engulf the listener for a few beautiful dreamy moments.


In the session for Brother Bear she also performed this cover of David Bowie's Heroes.

Headsound: The Prisoner of Mars - How Can You Boycott a Rainbow?

How Can You Boycott a Rainbow? is the lead track from the latest album by The Prisoner of Mars,  Lavender Larceny and the Dusty Pellet. Lo-fi punk with 60s rock and psychedelia under pin the sound of the Cambridge's Bryan Shore who has slipped beneath the radar up to now. He has a few other Cambridge musicians as ad-hoc band mates and is a favourite on Cambridge 105 show Sonic Delights. Here he explains the song title and illustration:

"This song was inspired by middle-America’s threatened boycott of Oreo cookies, simply because they were planning on bringing out the cookies with rainbow coloured cream filling in support of gay rights. In a Facebook conversation on the subject, someone quite reasonably asked “how can you boycott a rainbow?” 

Headsound: Fenster - Mirrors

Fenster provide a window onto a fairy tale world brimming with tremolo guitars, soft vocals, abstract melodies and atmospheric sounds. Their second album, The Pink Caves, was recorded in a cabin in East Germany. The whole house was wired up so each room contained different elements resulting in a set of recordings with a unique sound and feel.
Mirrors is typical of the album's mixed textures and emotions. Looped vocals and warped birdsong create a dreamy intro from which a melancholy song gently unfolds.

The Pink caves is out now on Morr Music.



Buy on iTunes:

Headsound: Korean Drama - Jimmy

 Toronto band Korean Drama deliver a rousing 1 minute punk song full of passion and energy that some how comes from a simple arrangement of drum, guitars and vocals. According to the band: "It imagines a world where Drake takes revenge on a world who won't stop confusing him with his character from Degrassi: The Next Generation." It's a great tune whether you get that reference or not. It has the same vitality as the Girl Band track featured a couple of weeks ago.

The band is led by Justin Kinch with a rotating live line-up and that's about as much as I know. I look forward to hearing more.

Headsound: Nick Mulvey - Cucurucu

Nick Mulvey's music first appeared on Headstand six years ago. Now his latest single Cucurucu can be heard everywhere. From a softly spoken intro a multi-textured song builds interwoven with African rhythms and South American melodies. He offers the discerning listener a far richer sound than the average singer-songwriter. Cucurucu is released on 3rd of March and his debut album comes out on 4th May.

Buy on iTunes:

Headsound: Idiot Songs - Villages of Ether

Cambridge-born singer and multi-instrumentalist Justin Grounds plays a homecoming gig at CB2 on 18th February with his new project with Pearse McGloughlin, Idiot Songs.

Strings, pianos, angelic vocals and warped spoken word come together on the epic Villages of Ether. The hi-definition video takes you flying, floating and falling through a surreal world full miniature people and giant crows where unexpected doorways lead from dim lit warehouses to vast open plains. The basement of CB2 could easily be a set from the video and the duo are sure to create a magical atmosphere.

They will be supported by Tom Adams who played a phenomenal set at Shindig last Friday. I was one of the first to pick up a copy of his new EP 'In The Constant Noise' which includes former Headsound Migration.

Details of the gig are on Facebook. Be sure to get there early.

Headsound: Girl Band - Lawman

The four lads in Dublin's Girl Band confound expectation with their distortion drenched lo-fi rock. The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Jesus and Mary Chain and many more can be heard on their debut release Lawman. The band can deliver hardcore mayhem as well as a sharp lyric to a steady beat. They never go into overdrive just for the sake of it.
The summer is already looking busy with tour dates and festivals including a gig at The Portland on June 10th.
A limited edition 7" of Lawman has already sold out but the single is available as a free download from Bandcamp. Your new favourite girl band comes with added testosterone.

Headsound: Heart of a Dog - HOSS

Shindig returns to St Philips Mill Road on Friday 14th February. Readers of this blog will be familiar with Wooden Arms and Tom Adams but sandwiched in between are Norwich duo Heart of a Dog.
HOSS is four minutes of weightless melodies and rhythms unexpectedly shifting under different currents. It fades halfway through then returns with twice as much power. Vocals echo over pounding chords. This is acoustic pop that keeps you on your toes and you can grab this song as a free download.

Headsound: Will Varley - Weddings & Wars (An 8-Bit History Of The World)

Check out the history of the world according Will Varley and Nintendo in this terrific 8-bit video. Varley created the video using 90s software and his lyrics ingeniously sum up mankind's occupation of the planet with observations like 'Now instead of hunting we go to Tesco / Instead if talking we wear headphones.'
It's a brilliant piece of English folk that leaves us wondering if we can or even deserve to make it to the last level.

Headsound: Sound Menagerie - Stay With Me

Cambridge duo Sound Menagerie release Stay With Me on Oh Mercy Records on February 3rd. Singer Abi Parker is the perfect vehicle for songwriter Stephen C Wilson's lyrics. The duo released the album 'Far or Through' in 2011 and are currently working on new material.

Headsound - A.F. Harrold - The Plankton Party

Since starting this feature I haven't included much spoken word. I wish more poets released recordings of their work. Recently I discovered Cats are Better Than Fish by A.F. Harrold, a whole album of wonderfully weird words with a dash of abstract music for good measure. Enjoy the opening track below then click through to listen to, and purchase, the rest of the album.