London five-piece The Murder Act are set to release their debut EP Traum this week. Sounding like a marriage between The Birthday Party and NEU! gone wrong, the Murder Act create a very dark, almost sinister wall of noise. Think distant vocals, drones and hypnotic synths. The band started out because they were getting bored with the music they were hearing and wanted to create something new. I must admit they accomplished that goal. The Murder Act do not allow themselves to be labelled and put in a box. Rather, they seem to bring an exciting mixture of krautrock, post-punk, minimal and no-wave.
The EP will be released on April 25th, on hand numbered limited edition 12″ vinyl and digital download. The Murder Act are also having a launch party on April 20th, at The Victory. They will be playing alongside Old Forest and Dogfeet (ex Stavin’ Chains), while ECC and Dee Sada will be spinning some records. Make sure you come down! This is a free party, which will allow you to spend the money you saved on Traum, a must-have vinyl for everyone who likes their music flooded with feedback and distortion.
You can stream the album and pre-order your copy here, while a free download of R.A.P.E. can be found here.
Tuesday evening, London town. The infamous streets of Soho were as bright and frenzied as usual, even this early in the week. People spilling out of bars lined with neon lights, failing (quite badly) to dodge oncoming taxi cabs. Smokers packed onto the sidewalks in between sets. Burly doormen looking for reasons to bar anyone who looks at them the wrong way. Kids trying to sneak drinks in and out of anywhere they can.
This could all well describe the atmosphere outside Madame Jo Jo’s, where White Heat hosts their parties each week. This night in particular was to celebrate the release of R O M A N C E’s first single, Another Place.
Upset The Rhythm put on another great night yesterday, as The Lexington played host to talked-up experimental darlings Mi Ami, a band formed from the ashes of legendary Dischord band Black Eyes.
Friday 24th and Saturday 25th April will see Camden once again become one giant party with the arrival of this year’s Camden Crawl. For those that have never been the premise is simple - one tickets gets you access to over 40 Camden venues and over 30 hours of live music, comedy, spoken word, theatre and much more…
Moody scousers Echo and the Bunnymen have been confirmed to headline this years Camden Crawl. As The Roundhouse has now been added as a venue, chances are you might actually get a chance to see them too! Other acts include The XX, Ipso Facto, Wire and Little Boots.
Hatcham Social are nearing the release of their long anticipated debut LP, “You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil”, due out on Fierce Panda Records. To celebrate, the band will be playing a special performance at Brick Lane’s Rough Trade East. They will be joined by Wake The President, as well as Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) who will be on hand to DJ. This all happens on the day of the album’s release, March 16th. The event will be free of charge, but limited to only one wristband per person on a first come, first serve basis. It all starts at 6pm, with wristband collection one hour prior to the gig.
Beatcast TV have impeccable taste when it comes to who they film, and here’s something to perk up your Thursday afternoon - a full set from Good Shoes.
One man blues band Bob Log III has a new album “My Shit Is Perfect” out Feb 20th in Europe. You can listen to a few tracks from it on his (eurgh) myspace, which also reveals he is playing the following dates in the UK:
1 Apr The Lanes, Bristol
2 Apr The Farm House, Canterbury
3 Apr Cold Rice, Birmingham
4 Apr Class A Audio, Liverpool
5 Apr The CLUNY, Newcastle
6 Apr The Shakespear, Sheffield
7 Apr Engine Room, Brighton
8 Apr Not The Same Old Blues Crap, London
Until then check out this video of Bob struttin’ his stuff live. Aww yeah.
