So we've pretty much reached the mid point of November and people are starting to think about Christmas presents and all sorts. Lucky that we have so much new music being released this month, it'd be impossible not to find a present for someone amongst all the releases!




HOOKWORMS - THE HUM
Their debut record Pearl Mystic was really interesting. I remember listening to it last year and thinking that they sounded like nothing else I'd really heard before. This is how I felt with Alt-J's debut but their sophomore couldn't match up. Now let's see if Hookworms are up to task on the 10th of November.






FOO FIGHTERS - SONIC HIGHWAYS
FINALLY! The album is finally here and I can stop writing and blabbering on about it for a while. One last time though - I don't think that this is Foo's best album but I love the idea behind the writing. Always thinking of unique and inspiring ways to produce music! Get your hands on it on the 10th of November and check out the TV docu-series too.







CHERYL - ONLY HUMAN
Well Cheryl is officially back then. I didn't think she'd actually put out anymore music after her big hit "Call My Name" but here we are. I didn't really like the first single from this album - "Crazy Stupid Love" but I think that I can still be swayed. This hits the shelves on the 10th of November.

 




JON HOPKINS - ASLEEP VERSIONS
To be honest, I don't think that I've heard any of Jon Hopkins solo material before but I see his name around A LOT. I can't believe that it's taken me this long to get round to it but it might finally be time for me to check him out. Albums hits shelves on the 10th of November.







TEMPLES - SUN RESTRUCTURED
Well Temples are releasing this album of remixes from their debut record Sun Structures. If it's anywhere near as good as Django Django's version of theirs, this might be a good shout. Their debut wasn't half bad so it'd be interesting to hear it remixed. Have a listen on the 10th of November.







PARQUET COURTS - CONTENT NAUSEA
The Brooklyn rockers are back after their critically acclaimed Tally All The Things That You Broke EP last year. Again they've released it under the pseudonym "Parkay Quarts" and again it's sounding good. I like "Uncast Shadow Of A Southern Myth" taken from it, will definitely give it a gander on the 11th of November.






CULT OF YOUTH - FINAL DAYS
I actually found out about this band on soundcloud because of free downloads of their songs "Man And Man's Ruin" and "Lace Up Your Boots". I really liked "Man And Man's Ruin", listened to it for a while and then pretty much forgot all about them. Would be nice to revisit them as a band with this new album out on the 11th of November.

Late last month (25/03/14), I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to the NME Awards Tour at The Institute, Birmingham and even luckier to get an interview with one of the supports - Circa Waves (which will be up soon). I'd been thinking about buying tickets myself a while back but never had enough money to justify a ticket. I'm glad that I did get to go in the end because this was not something to be missed.

First up was Circa Waves, a new Indie Rock band recently signed to Transgressive Records - if you're into bands like Two Door Cinema Club and The Strokes, you should probably give them a listen. Anyway, the downside of being on first is that you have the smallest crowd. They played the kind of set that needs a few thousand people there screaming and getting riled up, it was a complete show and only a couple hundred people were there to witness it. However, by the end of the set, the crowd had grown and the cheers and claps grew louder. All in all, they did what they set out to do because I'm sure that I few people who came there that night not knowing who Circa Waves were, left that place with their name printed in their mind. Job done. 

Next up was Royal Blood! Since writing about them here as a "new discovery", I've been waiting for my chance to see them but I definitely did not think it'd be this soon, and also didn't think that it'd be this awesome!! They absolutely slayed the set. Experiencing them live really made me realise just how talented both of them are as musicians, every drum fill was perfect, accompanied by equally perfect gritty and dirty bass riffs - the crowd wasn't sure what to do with themselves. Their singles "Out Of The Black", "Come On Over" and "Little Monster" were immense! The only thing that I can fault the set on is that Michael said half way through "HOW'RE YOU DOING NOTTINGHAM?!"..... no no, this is Birmingham.

It was a huge change when neo-psychedelic Temples stepped on stage next. Having seen them already, I pretty much new what to expect but some people seemed a little taken aback by the sudden change in genre and I feel like this might have calmed down the crowd's hype a little too much. Nonetheless, they played a very together set... everything was so tidy. Perhaps everything was a little too perfect if I'm honest but there's no mistaking that it was a good set. I had a chat with the drummer, bassist and their merch guy afterwards and they are all extremely lovely guys - I wish that people had been able to get more into their set.


Finally was the night's headliners - Interpol! MY. GOODNESS. I mean, I thought that they'd be good but they were phenomenal! Better than I could have ever imagined. I only went into the gig knowing about five of their songs, but they had me dancing and headbanging throughout as if I'd heard all of their songs a billion times. The drummer was ridiculously good, it was actually silly. Everything was so technical but he executed it with near perfection; therefore I'd say I was pretty excited when I caught his drumstick at the end. The guitarist was very entertaining - a complete showman - whipping his hair and smiling at the crowd. This was the polar opposite to the bassist who stood in the back, quietly skilled, just dropping in awesome, technical riffs every now and again.Of course, Paul Banks was the ultimate frontman getting the crowd worked up, particularly some smitten middle-aged women near the front. I definitely feel obligated to acquire their entire discography after that performance! I feel like I'm missing out. Fabulous all round. Just a top quality night!

Overall Rating - 9/10


Here are some pictures from the night...

A band that I'd actually not heard of until recently when I saw them support Loom here, but I'm seriously glad that I found out about them. It would seem that a lot of good music is coming out of Birmingham lately and these guys in my opinion are definitely ones to watch. Check out their new music video/single...

JUICE - Sugar

Quite a few new records came out last week here and this week we still have a few - not as many - but a fair amount. Next week will definitely be better for album releases but until then, here is what we have coming up this week...



KATY B - LITTLE RED
It's been a long while since I've heard anything from Katy B. Since her "What Is Love Made Of?" single last year it has been pretty silent on her end - I didn't even know that she was recoding a new album but she has done and it's available to listen to today. I just hope that it's as good as 2011's On A Mission.


CHEATAHS - CHEATAHS
A band that I've only recently heard of but am definitely quite interested in. After listening to their single "The Swan", I've been interested in getting a hold of some more of their material and now my chance has come. The self-titled record was made available today.






TEMPLES - SUN STRUCTURES
I've spoken about Temples several times. A lot of their songs dominated my iPod last summer and hopefully after this new album (especially if we're going by the title) it'll be dominating my iPod again this summer. This record also hit the shelves today.