Sons & Daughters - Silver Spell

You may already know that the new Sons & Daughters is due out in June this year. Produced by JD Twitch, the band are taking quite a different approach to this album. I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but the first snippets bode well.

Not quite as country as before and with less guitars than you might expect, they still manage to sound like the same band on a different trip.

The still-not-dead-yet NME quotes Adele as saying "If any film represents this record, it would be like Dario Argento's Suspiria."

God, I can't wait.




Domino shared this track three weeks ago:

Sons & Daughters - Silver Spell by DominoRecordCo

More Ari Up

The tributes to punk legend Ari Up of the Slits keep coming.

Ari, who died last week at the tragically young age of 49, is eulogised by none other than DJ Twitch of Optimo over at the Dummy magazine website, including the story of the first time he met her.

Melody Maker/Plan B editor Everett True has also posted his own tribute at Collapse Board. It includes extracts from some interviews he did with Ari, some videos, and best of all a link to download the "official" Slits bootleg record from 1980, jointly released by Rough Trade and Y Records.

More Free Mount Kimbie

New EP, touring the UK, playing at Optimo etc etc. More info on Mount Kimbie was posted earlier this week, so let's skip it and go straight to the free track they've given us from their performance at Berghain back in July. Nice stuff.

The Green Door Kids - Moody

The Green Door Kids - Moody (ESG Cover) by Optimo Music
What's not to love about this? Hell yes.

Mount Kimbie - Blind Night Errand

Mount Kimbie - Blind Night Errand - Hot Flush Records
Yeah, so they're hyped beyond belief, but Mount Kimbie's new EP is pretty good actually. Whilst recent album Crooks and Lovers was mostly home-listening electronica - all spiky percussion, wonky synth lines, and reverb-heavy guitars - new EP Blind Night Errand has three tracks distinctly tailored for DJs. The title track, one of the more dancefloor-friendly from the record, maintains a storming bassline and shuffling rhythms reminiscent of Flying Lotus or Lukid, with their trademark vocal snippets flaring up across the mix. Before I Move Off kicks off with an array of bleep-bloop pixel melodies and muted cymbal crashes, steadily building up a 4/4 kick until eventually cracking wide open in a flurry of vocal manipulation and taught handclaps. William (Dayglo Mix) is similarly reductionist dance music, brimming with weird syncopations and soft-distortion reverb.
Still definitely in the far left of dance music, the final track Maybes (Live at Berghain) solidifyies Mount Kimbie's offbeat appeal, coming across like Mogwai jamming with Fox Gut Daata. It neatly sums up their genre-androgyny and the ability to fuse the best elements of post-rock, electronica and garage/dubstep. They play at Hung Up next week. Awesome.

Free Mount Kimbie for shallowrave.com readers.
Hung Up details

Optimo Turbo Rave TONIGHT!!

"This Warehouse Party will feature a massive custom 80,000 Watt Sound Rig, Full-Moonflower Lighting Installation, Turbo Strobes and Chill-Out "Environment". This party is NOT an exercise in nostalgia!!! Rave On!"

I think all of Little Rock went to the last one of these, which was truly awesome. And now there's another one - TONIGHT! Facebook page.

Mixmag Greatest DJ Poll feat Optimo

So Mixmag are currently doing a poll of the greatest DJs of all time. The cynic in me says it's a waste of time (as my personal faves aren't on there) and also a clever Facebook marketing ploy (you have to "like" Mixmag to get to see the shortlist of DJs and to vote).

However, our chums Optimo are in there, and I reckon by the ammount of feedback left, doing very well. They sure beat Armin Von Tranceypants or whoever is likely to win. So if you DO fel like voting, then first stop is this here page:
http://www.facebook.com/MixmagMagazine?v=app_4949752878

Oh, and if you're not on Facebook, don't even bother. You're fucked.

Chrome Hoof @ Sub Club

So, Chrome Hoof played at the Sub Club on Sunday night, as part of the new post-Optimo club night called "Hung Up".



They rocked, they progged, they disco-ed, they even doomed - in short it was fucking awesome! I haven't seen a band who have combined so many disparate genres and made it really work in a loooong time. There was eight of them on a small stage dressed in matching silver spangly capes (except for the singer Lola who was uber-glam, and the drummer Milo who had his own special black getup) - the usual drums/bass/guitar/keys scenario but with added electric violin, saxophone and trumpet. It shouldn't be a surprise as to how good they are though - they count among the band members of other groups like reknowned house act Spektrum, doom legends Cathedral and Dissident faves Binary Chaffinch.



They have just dropped their new album Crush Depth and it comes highly recommended. They manage to pull off the trick of being musically all over the shop but tied together with unique focus and vision. Being that the band was formed in 2000 by brothers Leo and Milo Smee, also the rhythm section, that would make sense. There's definitely a whiff of Goblin to the proceeding, which makes even more sense and endears them to me even more. So, if you have a chance to see this band live this summer, do it, and if not (or even if so) go out and get Crush Depth RIGHT THIS BLOODY MINUTE!!



Chrome Hoof Myspace

Optimogeddon

This is what the last moments of Optimo looked and sounded like:

Optimogeddon: The Chain from Mike D on Vimeo.

Optimo Playlist

It's the last ever Optimo tonight! Sob!! But hey, now you too can relive the glory days from the comfort of your own home, with this handy "Optimo Playlist" on Youtube.

You will now never have to leave the house on a Sunday night. But, always remember kids, it's just not as good as it used to be.

Supermax @ Che Camille

Big up to everyone who turned out on Saturday night for Supermax's Fashion/Disco party at Che Camille, and big up to the organisers Camille, Billy and Lisa. A wicked time was had by all, despite the fire alarm and the six floor trek downstairs to smoke a cigarette. Excellent disco music was spun by Billy Woods and Jonnie Wilkes, there was a catwalk show and it featured the first public performance by local pop-sensaitons to be Culture & Leisure. Avin it mate! If you wanna check the nick of the punters who turned up, then hop on over to Style Scanner. Hopefully there will be more of these parties in the future...

The News.

“So, there are 7 Optimos left. Hopefully we will see some of you before the end. We absolutely intend to go out with a bang.”


Other people talking about it.

Optimo Turbo Rave classics

BIg up to the Optimo massive - here's some classic tunes that got played at last week's most excellent Turbo Rave. Is a rave revival on the horizon?










Moby - Go on MUZU

Thrush for the 'Mo

Ultimate Thrush have been booked to play Optimo, which makes us smile an awful lot, as we've been pushing them into everyone's CD players for as long as possible. We love them. The Steinberg principle hate them. Optimo have booked them.

That is this Sunday. These guys incite moshpits among electro-clash hipsters. They crucified Jackson. They made a 10 track album that is ten minutes long.
Download it from Winning Sperm Party here
They are going to utterly kill it. And I will be the one in the middle of the pit, detonating full force. When Den Haan play, men get naked, when Ultimate Thrush play, girls do THIS:

Asakusa Jinta

... Are absolutely awesome. Big up to Keith and Johnny at Optimo for getting these guys to play Glasgow. For want of a better description, I'd call it Ska. At times, it's heavy, thrashy, poppy, offbeat and rhythmically complex. They absolutely rocked Optimo, and I'm now the proud owner of their album. I'll get a track up later today.

They're one of the most engaging live acts I've seen in a long time - weird, but with a pure fun outlook. The frontman spent most of the evening balanced on his stand-up bass, the guitarist has the most sickeningly heavy riffs, the saxophone/ clarinet player is thoroughly beautiful. The crowd applauded the singer simply for managing one sentence in English.

Their music takes in a lot of traditional Japanese music forms and folk influences; a melting pot of Japanese culture, from the traditional to contemporary. This video gives some of the flavour of what they're about. Awesome.