Left of the centre...

Three things you should know about Middleman. They're from Leeds, they're on the Bad Sneakers record label, and their new single Good To Be Back is ahwicked, what?

The track is released on 7", CD, and digital download on November 26th and there just so happens to be a launch party happening down at the Faversham, Leeds at 7.30pm on November 28th.

Middleman - Good To Be Back (YSI)

Everything Could Be Light Green did a wee expose on Bad Sneakers last month, check it here.

Good To Be Back is just the sort of thing i've been looking for in the indie world, and will brighten up your day with its sentiments and singalongability.

Middlespace
Bad Sneakers

The Monday Chiller #24 - Johnny Flynn...

Johnny Flynn is one of those annoyingly multi-talented people who seem to be good at everything, especially when it comes to making music. Along with his band The Sussex Wit he creates good old-fashioned folk/pop music with no hint of pretension that serves as a complete antithesis to the current trend in certain scenes (i'm looking at you, Hoxton).

New single 'The Box' is getting a good push on 6music at the moment, get on down to Flynnspace to hear it in all its 96kb/s Myspace glory.

MP3: Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Oh, To Eat An Apple (Thanks to The Daily Growl)

And in case you missed it first time around, Brown Trout Blues is one of my favourite songs of the year and is well worthy of a re-posting.

MP3: Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - Brown Trout Blues

'I could be somewhere else,

I should be someone else but,

I guess i'm happy as I am.
Sometimes I find it hard to be a man,
and it's easier just to play the same old game,
of trying to forget my bloody name.'

With lyrics like that at age 24, you know the guy has a future in music.

Flynnspace
The Box is out 12th November on Vertigo

Super Turbo bonus material:

The Black Cab Sessions Chapter 1: Johnny Flynn

The Black Cab Sessions, Chapter 12: Langhorne Slim and Johnny Flynn

Sons & Daughters are back...

I just heard the new single today on 6Music and it's safe to say that they've still got it, it never went away! (Note to self: tone down obscure Bo Selecta references).



Here's the blurb:

GILT COMPLEX is the first single to be lifted from Sons And Daughters' Bernard Butler-produced third album THIS GIFT (out early-2008). GILT COMPLEX is released on 7-inch vinyl and digital download on Domino Records on 29 October 2007.

Video directed by Forest Of Black (.co.uk).

The Monday Chiller #12 - Tunng...

Tunng have a new album out August 20th. From it, here's 'King', a killer song containing a rambling grip of melodies combined with an ominous vocal delivery and the usual array of intriguing glitches and samples.

Tunng - King (Removed at the request of the Web Sheriff and Tunng. Buy the album!)

Pre-order 'Good Arrows' from Amazon.

The new single 'Bricks' will be released August 13th (my birthday) on Ltd Edition 7", featuring remixes from Dntel (aka Figurine / The Postal Service member Jimmy Tamborello) and Daedelus. Download it from Bleep.com on August 6th.

Dancing monkeys...

So the debate rages. Is it dance? Indie? Post-rave industrialised pop with a bleeding heart and a shank in its pocket? Don't ask me. Alls I know is it's good music. Well no, it is dance. All you Chemical Brothers fans (no thanks) will be dissapointed with the album's lack of crossover appeal but anyone who likes a good old mashup party will be dribbling with excitement about the veritable buffet of tunes on offer.

With all the attention Simian Mobile Disco have been getting from the bloggers I was a bit worried that there wouldn't be much fresh stuff on the album. Not to worry though, the ex-simian team of James and James throw up plenty (good) new tracks alongside the likes of future classic Hustler and the SMD alternative to Justice's D.A.N.C.E., It's The Beat.

Plenty of thumping bass sets the tone on opener Sleep Deprivation, maybe an odd choice for the first track but it definitely sets the Simian stall out early - this is heavy stuff, better get some good speakers. Other standout tracks include I Believe, a premium hands-in-the-air banger that is gonna be a favourite on the festival circuit this summer. Continuing the hippy vibe from this weeks Monday Chiller, Love is a twanging bass mission that spells (s.p.e.l.l.s.) out that really, love is all you need. Aww. Maybe SMD haven't quite left their indie roots behind completely. A special mention goes out the speaks, squelches and squawks that infest this record. Thankfully i'm a big fan of synth madness, otherwise it could get annoying.

All in all I really like this album and I think the boyos have done a good job in treading the thin line of classification that sees other groups relegated into pigeonholes like new-rave. (Damn, so nearly got through without mentioning it).

The tracks here do a good job of getting across what the album is like, and hopefully haven't already been posted to death.

SMD - Tits & Acid
SMD - Hotdog
SMD - Love
SMD - I Got This Down

Attack Decay Sustain Release was released yesterday, so why haven't you got it already?

There's a ghost in my cherry what am I gonna do?...

What's going on with Cherry Ghost? I first heard of him via the Jools Holland last year but now the song People Help The People is being fired at the wall all day on BBC radio, someone's really hoping it sticks. Check out the performance and this obligatory myspace link to find out more.

The Monday Chiller 6#...

Lavender Diamond - Like An Arrow

I get sidetracked easily. I was supposed to write about Lavender Diamond's debut album 'Imagine Our Love' last month before its release but, as with other post ideas, I never quite got round to it. But wait... Aha! The Monday Chiller, perfect.

If you really wanted to get into what Lavender Diamond are about and what their manifesto is, you would find out plenty about the 'friendship revolution' and all sorts of talk that owes a heavy debt to the vibe of the 60s and 70s. However if you're all about the music then you would do right to think of words like uplifting, heartfelt and charisma to name but three.

Led by golden-voiced singer Becky Stark, this Los Angeles four-piece have crafted a beautiful album full of pop songs (chamber-pop is a bad name for a genre), full of shimmering tambourines, deep drum beats, soaring melodies and lyrics about love, peace and friendship. It's good to see that the hippies never died out completely. It's not all flower-power though, Like An Arrow is a hypnotic piece of music with layers intertwined with layers and a P.H. phat beat.

Two other songs off the album for your listening pleasure:

Lavender Diamond - Oh No

Lavender Diamond - Here Comes One

Find out more about the LD on myspace or at their offical website