best for guests. the deddingtons

The Deddingtons is a band that started in 1988 in the UK and by 1992 was no more (I won't get into details here, the band explains their story below). I was exposed to their music via the amazing 6 volumes collection The Sound Of Leamington Spa, released via Firestation Records.
Their song 'Last Day' was, by far, my favorite song of that compilation. Happily, I wasn't the only one...
This year, Cloudberry Records released an album featuring songs recorded between the period the band was active. A collection of 10 songs filled with a DIY aesthetic, Sarah Records echoes and jangly pop melancholy...
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR!!!                            
                                                                                                            site     twitter
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"2012 has been a year of comebacks, resurrection, even. From the mighty Stone Roses to the more modest album we put out on Cloudberry, everyone seems to have risen like Lazarus. That sounded really simple, " the album we put out....". As though it was an straightforward act, an easy offering.

Let me explain: The Deddingtons disappeared around 1992, having been together for just under 3 years. Those 3 years crystallized a great deal - from barely being able to play our instruments confidently, to writing and recording. Excitement when the A&R man from WEA in New York called and said he, "loved our stuff.." through to the disappointment of the same guy seemingly disappearing from the planet, after we'd recorded a new bunch of songs. This was an age of being home-spun: not merely an affectation, quite simply there was no other way we put our demos together. Second-hand gear and "letraset" press packs; hands sore from hand scoring and folding cassette inserts only for the next batch of record label rejections to arrive, neat (and not so neat..), polite (and not so polite..) but nonetheless resolute in their messages. Slowly our dreams of being, "nearly as good as The Sundays" ebbed and faded.

Roll forward to 2010 and a cold autumnal Sunday when I absent-mindedly tapped "The Deddingtons" into You Tube and up popped "The Last Day" which a guy called Greg had uploaded, being a favourite track from the Leamington Spa series of compilations. Well this was a surprise to me, and the other Deddingtons (once a Deddington, always a Deddington....) as we had no idea that this track had snuck its way from our cosy Loft into the big wide world. People got in touch in many ways. Roque from Cloudberry sent me a note via YouTube introducing himself and we became friends. He interviewed us for his blog and from there suggested we might like to release some tracks. What a great idea. But where were they? Well, the original masters are probably in a landfill site somewhere after a helpful housemate of Chris King's decided to declutter their shared cellar. It might be argued that we were the original "Indie Landfill", but we'll leave that to the academics. What is important though, is that back ups had been taken by the ever-diligent Matt Wright and languished, unheard for many years on a DAT tape. We individually listened back to our younger selves (there was even a rehearsal recorded, which acts as a very personal timecapsule..). Something started to re-kindle and, to paraphrase Paddy McAloon, if you fan the embers long enough...

Throughout 2011 and early 2012, mixes were passed back an forth across the Atlantica as 1s and 0s over the ether, photos found and scanned and in June and Cloudberry Kitchen records (of New York, by coincidence) released "The Deddingtons" in a beautifully presented digipak. Four (much older and, in my case, more 'well-upholstered') friends got back in touch and, in the safety of  a secret location, even managed to rehearse again. Our songs could now be heard. 2012, we raise our glasses to you.

Our TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012, in no particular order, but of which at least 5 are old flames....:

LIGHTSHIPS Electric Cables
LINDEN Bleached Highlights
DYLAN MONDEGREEN S/T
DIIV Oshin
BILL FOX One Thought Revealed
BILL FAY Life is People
THE SHINS Port of Morrow
THE WEDDING PRESENT Valentina
NADA SURF The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy
THE DEDDINGTONS S/T (well we wanted to be in at least one top ten....)

Come say hi on twitter at @TheDeddingtons

best for guests. high safari

High Safari is a duo - James and Nigel -  from London. Their debut album Skylight is a collection of songs craving for sunnier days while experimenting with catchy melodies... mixing rock and pop and referencing almost every indie rock movement from the past 20 years.

Skylight was released last January and it is available for free on Bandcamp.


facebook     bandcamp     soundcloud     twitter



HIGH SAFARI'S FAVOURITE TRACKS OF 2012
Whatsaaaap playahs!? 2012 has been an exciting year for all kinds of music, and although the charts have been dominated by non-guitar based acts, the constant nonsensical murmurings about the demise of rock music have been unfounded and untrue, loads of brilliant rock ‘n’ roll albums were made this year and many more will be for years to come.  Here’s our favourite tracks of the year:

-------- JAMES
BEAT CONNECTION Further Out

JOEY BADA$$ Waves

TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS Tapes & Money

DISCLOSURE Any Disclosure tune of this year

DANNY BROWN Grown Up



-------- NIGEL
KID CUDI, KING CHIP Just What I Am

TAME IMPALA Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

PAWS Sore Tummy

SUMMER HEART I Wanna Go

IBERIA An Ending (Ascent)

best for guests. danny (february records)

Danny is the founder of February Records, a label based in Connecticut with a Do-It-Yourself aesthetics and a vast sense of pop, with artists going from acoustic, folk and twee to powerpop and punk pop.
The catalog features artists like Brilliant At Breakfast - an awesome mellow indiepop band from Indonesia, Secret Charisma - from Brad san Martin (member of One Happy Island), Birds of California (with members from Lunchbox) and multiple projects by Tyler Trudeau (The Cavemen Go, Women's Basketball and The Tyler Trudeau Attempt).
Awesome label if you're into obscure bands from all over the world.

site     facebook     twitter     bandcamp


TOP 10 MOST-LISTENED-TO ARTISTS OF 2012

This is not a Best-of-2012 list. I didn't buy or listen to enough new music this year to even begin to put together a best-of list. It seems, that in 2012, I revisited a lot of favorites, discovered a couple new ones, and got nostalgic for my high school days a bit. These artists dominated my playlists in 2012 and at any given time, one of these albums  was in my car, on my turntable or playing on my computer. These are my personal Top-10 Most-Listened-To Artists of 2012:

1. LUNA Lunapark (1992)      Bewitched (1994)      The Best of Luna (2006)

"The Best of Luna" had a permanent place in my car in 2012 and I'm sure my constant playing and singing along to "Bewitched" and "Lunapark" annoyed my neighbors to no end. "California (All The Way)," "Tiger Lily" and "Anesthesia" are some of my favorites on these albums.

2. THE LEMONHEADS The Best of The Lemonheads:  The Atlantic Years (1998)
For me, The Lemonheads have always been one of those go-to bands when I don't really know what I want to listen to. This compilation from Atlantic contains so many of the band's best songs. This album was also in my car for most of 2012.

3. PAUL SIMON GRACELAND (1986)

I love pretty much everything about this album and after scoring it on vinyl from a used record store, I listened to it constantly. "You Can Call Me Al" has been one of my favorite tunes since I first saw the video with Simon and Chevy Chase in the late '80s. "I Know What I Know" and "Crazy Love" are also a couple of album highlights.

4. ALLO DARLIN' Europe (2012)
Here's a band that, in my eyes, can pretty much do no wrong. Their self-titled release was one of my best-of-2010 picks. "Europe" is the perfect follow-up and "Capricornia" might be my favorite song of 2012. It was also great to see Allo Darlin' live again this year. They put on such a great show.

5. CAT STEVENS Harold & Maude (1971)      The Very Best of Cat Stevens (1990)
I've seen the movie "Harold & Maude" many times and love the soundtrack. However, after watching it again this past summer, I sought out more of Stevens' music and had this best-of compilation on repeat for a number of months.


6. EUX AUTRES Hell Is Eux Autres (2004)      Cold City (2007)     Sun Is Sunk (2012)
I pretty much love anything put out by Heather and Nicholas Larimer. They had me hooked with 2004's "Hell Is Eux Autres." 2012's "Sun is Sunk" is a great addition to the band's catalog and had me revisiting a lot of their older stuff. I also really love their 2012 WIAIWYA 7", but that came out so recently, it couldn't really be included on this list.

7. DONOVAN What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (1965)      Sunshine Superman (1966)
Donovan's "Catch The Wind" is one of my favorite songs and I've always loved "Sunshine Superman." He got a lot of time on the iPod in 2012.

8. THE 6THS Wasp's Nest (1995)
This might be one of my "desert island" albums. I'm a huge fan of the guest vocalists on these tracks, with Dean Wareham on "Falling Out of Love (With You)" and Mitch Easter on "Pillow Fight" up at the top.

9. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND/NICO The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)    Chelsea Girl (1967)
Yes, I realize that one of these is a VU album and one is a Nico solo album. However, this is really all about Nico. I really enjoy the songs she's featured on on "The Velvet Underground & Nico" and that led me to listen to more of her solo work. "These Days" and "The Fairest of The Seasons" are a couple of gems.

10. OASIS (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
I had this album in high school. For some reason, I sold it in a massive purge of a lot of pretty bad '90s alternative I had accumulated. Feeling nostalgic, maybe, I found it again and it has been on repeat a lot over the last few months. This is one of a handful of "high school-era" albums that got a lot of play this year, including Better Than Ezra's "Deluxe" (1995) and Gin Blossoms' "New Miserable Experience" (1992).

best for guests. tear talk

Tear Talk is a band from Liverpool. After spending long hours listening to the C86/Sarah Records scene, Black Tambourine and - specially- Beat Happening, they decided to start making music.
Their debut EP Port Sunlight - released via Bleeding Gold Records last January - is a testament for melancholy made with layers, reverberations, sun and fog.

Among my favorite new artists of the year.

facebook     soundcloud     interview (may, 2012)   


TEAR TALK'S 10 SINGLES OF 2012

SAVAGES Husbands Pop Noire
A band that have owned the latter half of 2012 off the back of this single and a run of brilliant shows. I saw them live before hearing them on record and I was sceptical as to whether or not they would be able to transfer the intensity of their performances onto record. Low and behold they have been able to, and suddenly the future of British music looks gloriously doom-laden.

MONEY Who’s Going to Love You Now Sways Records
An overtly intellectual group, and the jewel in Sways records crown, their debut single is drenched in loneliness and insecurity (our favourite subject matter). Personally, I think the b-side (Goodnight London) offers far more than the single. It’s poetic, articulate  and the kind of music I wish Morrissey still made.

NAKED ON DRUGS Death Dance Sways Records

The latest addition to Sways records, they’re one half The Louche (another great Manchester band) and the other a French clarinettist.  This is the single taken from their debut EP. It’s a sleazy, obnoxious snarl, sort of what I imagine Mark. E Smith and Roland S. Howard would have conjured up should their paths have crossed sometime around the mid-80s. The video also features some of the best dance moves of 2012.

THE TWILIGHT SAD Another Bed Fat Cat Records
The lead single form what is probably my favourite album of the year (No One Can Ever Know), is a synth-driven , disco ballad which are the three words I never thought I would be able to associate with The Twilight Sad. This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone tackle the subject of infidelity in such a frank and disturbing manor. It’s a shame that James Graham continues to be the most underrated lyricist in Britain.

BROWN BROGUES Anyone But You Italian Beach Babes Records
In the last two years they’ve relentlessly released brilliant singles and this one is no exception. It’s raw, energetic and it’s impossible not to sing-a-long to, even though the majority of lyrics remain a mystery. Most importantly, it has an absolute ear-worm of a riff. This is garage rock at its finest.

THE WILD EYES I Look Good On You Holy Are You Recordings
A brilliant, energetic two and a half minutes of 60s garage rock, the immediacy of the whole song makes it difficult to not to love. If Iggy Pop fronted Crystal Stilts then this is what I imagine they would sound like. An excellent debut single.

BY THE SEA Eveline The Great Pop Supplement
The best band to come out of Merseyside in quite some years, this the first single to be taken form their excellent debut album. It’s always nice to hear a band from Liverpool who sound nothing like any other band from Liverpool. It’s always a massive bonus when they sound like they could have been on Sarah Records.

RICHARD HAWLEY Down in the Woods Parlophone
It was a brave move on Richard Hawley’s part to leave behind his Teddy-boy balladry but, it’s a testament to how good a songwriter he is. It was also great to hear someone make a comment on the state of Britain at the minute, without reverting to lad-rock tactics. It’s a travesty that he wasn’t given the mercury prize.

INDOOR VOICES So Smart Bleeding Gold Records
A brilliant three minute pop song. Apparently, it took years to craft it into what it is now, but it was most definitely worthwhile. Their isn’t one second that goes by, that doesn’t seem absolutely necessary, which I think is a rare find particularly in shoegaze tinged pop such as this. It’s songs like this which makes us proud to be on Bleeding Gold.

FEAR OF MEN Mosaic Too Pure Singles Club / Rough Trade
I think this is hands down the single of the year. It’s short, quick and catchy, everything a good single should be. ‘Bring me to pieces to feel safe/ Just like I’m normal’ has to be the most heartbreaking lyric of the year. A perfect pop song.

best for guests. johan angergård (labrador recs)

Johan Angergård is the founder of swedish sweetheart label Labrador Records. Apart from that, he's the mastermind behind The Legends; part of Acid House Kings; half of boy-girl pop act Club 8 and half of electronic duo Pallers.
His prolific work is also known for the wide range of styles, mixtures and combinations of musical genres and references... giving to each of his bands a very unique aesthetic.

Next April, a new album from Club 8 called Above The City will be released.

labrador      facebook     acid house kings     club 8     pallers       

"... here's my Best Songs of 2012 list. Labrador bands excluded and only one song per artist:

1. Dusted All comes down

2. Generationals Lucky numbers

3. Beachwood Sparks Forget the song

4. Jessie Ware Wildest Moments

5. A Place to Bury Strangers I Lost You

6. Crystal Castles Plague

7. Lightships Sweetness In Her Spark

8. The XX Missing

9. Perfume Genius Normal song

10. Love Dance Bergen, Again

11. Chvrches The Mother We Share

12. Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny Dodecahedron

13. Brandy So sick

14. Vince Clark & Ane Brun Fly On The Windscreen

15. Jim Ruiz Set Allison

16. Chromatics Back From the Grave

17. Solange Losing You

18. Lana del Rey Ride

19. Diiv Human

20. The Raveonettes Bad Ghosts