Thursday, December 01, 2011

BOTM December 2011 - REAL ESTATE

Real Estate was formed in Ridgewood, New Jersey in 2008. After issuing singles on the Underwater Peoples and Woodsist labels, the band's 2009 self-titled debut received critical acclaim. Tours followed supporting acts such as Girls, Kurt Vile, Woods, and Deerhunter. In 2010, Real Estate performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona.

In 2011, Real Estate signed with the Domino Recording Company and on October 17th 2011 the band released Days, their second album and first for Domino. A coming of age moment for childhood friends Martin Courtney (Guitar and Vocals), Matt Mondanile (Guitar) and Alex Bleeker (Bass), Days was recorded over the course of five patient months in a remote New Paltz, NY barn-cum-studio with the help of Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, The Walkmen).

Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs.

Several songs, like the album's rousing first single "It's Real" were written by Courtney in the way he wrote some of his first songs, laying out their architecture first on a bass rather than a guitar, allowing him to evolve the song's basic melody. Lyrically and melodically part of what makes Real Estate's music so vital are the moments where the disarmingly simple is made unexpectedly profound.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Air To Release New Album: Le Voyage Dans La Lune

Air are set to release their new album 'Le Voyage Dans La Lune' on February 6th. The French duo have completed an eleven track album, which expands on the themes of the recent soundtrack for the classic 1902 short film 'Le Voyage Dans La Lune'. 

The album features vocals from Beach House's Victoria Legrand, who contributes to 'Seven Stars'. Meanwhile, members of Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone constructed the lyrics for 'Who Am I Know?'.

'Le Voyage Dans La Lune' Tracklisting:

1) Astronomic Club
2) Seven Stars
3) Retour sur terre
4) Parade
5) Moon Fever
6) Sonic Armada
7) Who Am I Know?
8) Décollage
9) Cosmic Trip
10) Homme lune
11) Lava.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

BOTM November 2011 - WU LYF

WU LYF (World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation) are a band from Manchester, England that originally became known for creating a mystery about themselves by declining requests for interviews and not releasing much information to the press. The band describes their music as "heavy pop". Their manager, Warren Bramley, has previously worked with Tony Wilson at Factory Records.

Go Tell Fire to the Mountain is their debut album, the band declined all offers from established record labels and released the album on 13 June 2011 on their own label L Y F Recordings.
The album was recorded live in a disused church in Ancoats, Manchester and mastered in Glasgow by Paul Savage (Mogwai), Mr. Dave Jay kept the babys boys on the beat and played additional drums on L Y F and D i R T, the result of which is 10 tracks of huge uncompromising Heavy Pop.

Singles: 'Heavy Pop' / 'Concrete Gold' (12" single, 2010)
'Dirt' (7" single, 2011)
'We Bros' (12" single, 2011)