3-4-FREE - Los Campesinos!, Trips & Falls and @Peace

Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand
http://t.opsp.in/14Iz6





Los Campesinos! return in November with new album Hello Sadness and they've made lead single 'By Your Hand' available to download for free. And it's brilliant. Really, it's a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same - the opening salvo has a very Vampire Weekend / Harlem Shakes / Dale Earndhart Jr Jr feel about it and Gareth's vocals take on a level of affectation unheard of on previous LC! recordings, certainly sounding miles away from the scratchy rawness of his singing on tracks like International Tweecore Underground. But the theme of a deteriorating love affair racked with mixed emotions is very familiar, and lyrics such as "I'm not sure if it's love any more, but I've been thinking of you fondly for sure" and "I have been dreaming you've been dreaming about me" are classic Los Campesinos! And there's those reassuring hand-claps as well. So the lyrical content that's made them one of the most interesting and affecting bands of recent years is still here, while the band is also trying new things - all in all Los Campesinos! look to be on course to make a corking 3rd album.

Trips & Falls - Marginally More Than Annoying
 Trips and Falls - Marginally More Than Mildly Annoying by Song, by Toad 


With more than a hint of The Vaselines about it Trips & Falls dreamy lo-fi Marginally More Than Annoying bounces and lurches along its fantastic path for a little over two and a half minutes and raises my anticipation still further for their new album, People Have To Be Told, which will be released at the end of this month on Song By Toad records.


@Peace - @Peace
http://thepopcop.co.uk/2011/08/music-alliance-pact-august-2011/

And finally, it's my pick from the August edition of the Music Alliance Pact - @peace by @peace. The hip hop collaboration from Auckland, New Zealand have released their debut album (unsurprisingly also called @peace) and this chilled out meditation on nature, poverty and politics is a definite highlight from it. Sparse piano, violin and sounds of nature back tight, thoughtful flows from the various collaborators as they "bang beats from the soul". Other highlights from the MAP this month include tracks from Holiday Shores, Klak Tik, Oh Minnows, The Areola Treat, Possimisle and Tim Neuhaus.

LEND THEM YOUR EARS - 16/05/2011 - THEY'RE HEADING WEST

Hello! In that age old blogger's tradition I haven't posted for several weeks, and for no particular reason. I've been busy - working, feeling an almost violent apathy towards the royal wedding and getting a haircut. But enough about me, here's They're Heading West.

This is why indie kids make awful police sketch artists.

I first discovered Portuguese band They're Heading West through the April edition of the Music Alliance Pact's free downloads. If you're unaware of the MAP it's a collection of 36 blogs from around the world, each from a different country. Every month each blog recommends one track by a band from their homeland and all 36 tracks get put together as a download giving you a brief snapshot of what's happening around the musical world. Find Aprill's selection here - http://thepopcop.co.uk/2011/04/music-alliance-pact-april-2011/ .

Anyway, They're Heading West's song My Case Is A Different One was recommended by the good people at Posso Ouvir Um Disco. Well, I imagine they're good people, I can't actually understand anything they write, given that it's all in Portuguese. But they can't be that bad as they like the chilled, multi-vocal sounds of THW. The quartet consists of three singer-songwriters and a drummer and with each singer-songwriter contributing individual songs the band's repertoire is nicely varied. Some songs feature delicate ukulele strains, others nod towards a more relaxed version of Blur's 13 era, whilst still others sound like Laura Marling slightly channelling the Mummers.

 my case is a different one by theyreheadingwest 

Although the band only formed earlier this year, and the members all appear to have slightly different musical outlooks, they already seem to be working well and it's not hard to believe that they "all enjoy playing each other's music immensely", as their Myspace states. All in all, despite the various inputs and variations THW make a wonderfully relaxing, bouncy sound that is perfect for summer listening, for tapping flip-flop encased feet in sunny parks and for listening weights from shoulders. 

You can download their self-titled 6 track EP for $5 (about £3) from www.theyreheadingwest.bandcamp.com and, if you happen to be in Lisbon, you can catch them at Bar A Barraca on May 31st. More information can be found at www.myspace.com/theyreheadingwest