To quote Green Day, and I’m pretty sure this is exactly how it goes in the song; “Summer has come and passed, the innocence can never last, and I’m dressed up like Colonel Gaddafi in a muddy field dancing away the last vestiges of the 2011 festival season”. Yes, Bestival came and went last weekend in a flurry of fancy dress, frolics and Fatboy Slim (is there any festival he hasn’t played?), and brought the curtain down on the summer in typically heart-warming fashion. Due to the threat of a Sunday night storm that never quite materialised ...

Newgrass is a term that is used to describe some of the music that is coming out these days. It is mostly acoustic music, and it uses instruments that are often found in bluegrass: acoustic guitar of course, but also banjo, fiddle, stand up bass, dobro, mandolin, and so on. That all sounds specific and vague at the same time. You can use some of these instruments and not others, and still be newgrass. You can incorporate a variety of musical influences. So I thought it might be helpful to listen to some of the different traditional musics that newgrass ...

Australian rock icon Tex Perkins plays it safe on new albums with The Dark Horses and The Band Of Gold, writes DOUG WALLEN . Two albums cut in different studios with different players (save shared bassist Steve Hadley). One all originals, the other all covers. Yet these new works from lifer Tex Perkins don’t present reverse sides of the man so much as confirm where he’s at right now: a dark crooner and reflective songwriter who’s long since graduated from dive bars to swank theatres. Well-mannered and soft of step, these twin outings may be best absorbed after ...

Broad of accent and fuzzy of beard, Glasgow’s Admiral Fallow are kicking up a royal fuss on the city’s folk scene. And all of its other scenes besides. Their debut ‘Boots Met My Face’ was recently re-released to a flush of praise from the most hallowed of corners. Produced by Paul Savage, this glorious noise set frontman Louis Abbot’s lovelorn lyrics against a backdrop of enough multi-instrumentation to make Fire">Arcade Fire want to pull their socks up. They’ve continued to develop as one of Scotland’s finest live bands. Influenced by sounds from Midlake to ...

Welcome to the sixth edition of New Music by Region . Every fortnight we aim to present the best new music in 8 major cities and regions from across the UK. With the help of regional correspondents, we plan to present our shortlist of new music in Brighton, Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Oxford. New Music by Region #5 can be found here ! Name : Chris Simmons – ‘The Watchmaker’ Website : Myspace Correspondent : Gary Scattergood Brighton-based singer-songwriter Chris Simmons packed-out one of the city’s bigger venues for his album launch gig earlier this month. Backed with a string quartet, the partisan ...

It's still summer, but for some reason the ClashMusic office has taken on a wintery atmosphere of late. Perhaps it's due to Swedish duo I Break Horses . Eschewing the Scandinavian reputation for wholesome indie pop, the duo instead aim for something rather more ethereal. Debut album 'Hearts' layers effect upon effect, with I Break Horses crafting vast swathes of sound. In essence a shoegaze album, in reality the Swedish group have far more going on than any genre tag could describe. Out now on Bella Union, the album is an ambitious, involving piece of work which never allows ...

PropertyOfZack sat down with Daniel and Chris from The Devil Wears Prada about a month or so ago at Warped Tour for a brief interview. Daniel, Chris, and I discussed how Warped treated the band, their new album, Dead Throne , the recording process for it, and the future. Read up and enjoy! For the record, state your name and role in The Devil Wears Prada? Daniel: I’m Daniel, and I play drums. Chris: I’m Chris, and I play guitar. The band has been on Warped for a month or so now, how have the dates been? Chris: It ...

The Robert Mitchell 3i0 open the Brecon Jazz Festival on Friday at 6.30pm with music from their as yet unreleased album The Embrace, due next month. Playing the Roland stage at Christ College in the Powys market town the concert marks the beginning of a busy series of concerts spread over three days. Across town on Friday evening – this time at Brecon Cathedral – Robert Hokum’s collaboration with Sam Kelly and Mehoob Nadeem plus Paul Clarvis dubbed Blues Sans Frontieres gets underway also at 6.30pm while other Friday acts include (in Christ College) The Outlaw Collective , a group ...

Attack the Block Dir. Joe Cornish [Big Talk Productions; 2011] by Andrew Eastwick Rating: Don’t be surprised if a modest British import wins more love (if not money) than those costly 3D robots and alien-fighting cowboys and becomes the sci-fi thriller of the summer. Despite its drab title, Attack the Block may also be the summer movie of the summer — the witty, inventive, jump-out-of-your-seat popcorn pic Hollywood frequently promises but rarely delivers. Amid the fireworks of Guy Fawkes Night in South London, a strange creature falls out of the sky, interrupting the mugging of a nurse (Jodie Whittaker) by ...

Global is reliably one of the friendlier festivals out there, whether its the chemicals, music or the diverse demographic present, and this year was no exception. Right from the off the tripped out bonhomie on display was a joy, complemented with fantastic beats from the most surprising of sources. Unfortunately too often this was despite, rather than because, the efforts of festival organisers. The key challenge was the Main Stage. Dance music is born of the clubs, and the outdoor stage has always struggled here. There was some effort made to rectify the obvious problems – the sound system was massive ...

MP3: Boogie Time #1 by Nu Rave Brain Wave Today, Fuck yeah! Go team! launches BOOGIE TIME , our mix tape series curated by us and made by people who aren't us (and maybe sometimes us). Our inaugural mix is by Brianna Saraceno, the genius behind one of my fav music blogs Nu Rave Brain Wave . Here is how she tells it: "I compiled this mix of 12 songs that are new ones currently soundtracking my summer 2k11, or ones that I've consider gems from the past year or so that mostly remind me of summer. Fuck yeah!" It ...

Just in the knick of time, and with Tomorrowland 2011 looming large, homegrown superstar siblings Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike join forces with Grammy award winning Afrojack , and irresistible Aussie twins Nervo – the production duo behind the likes of Kylie Minogue, and Britney Spears – to deliver this year’s official Tomorrowland anthem! Entitled The Way We See The World , this eagerly awaited festival smasher is finally upon us, so keep your ears to the ground and feet ready to move, because this one’s insanely good! WATCH THE VIDEO! Following on from the unprecedented success and popularity of last year’s ...

Accolades have been adding up for SBTRKT, the recording moniker of London-based DJ/producer Aaron Jerome. SBTRKT's self-titled debut album, out last month, could be the 2011 equivalent of the xx's 2009 breakout effort, a sexy but dark, beat driven collection that permeates late-night parties all summer long. Chart-topping rapper Drake has touted the project's brilliance, and even popped up onstage to rap during Jerome's DJ set in Toronto last week. But as with loads of electronic acts, the transition from studio wizardry and DJ nights to some form of "live" performance isn't an easy ...

There have been a few bands over the past decade or so who have adopted the motto of "the more the merrier." Broken Social Scene were once nineteen members strong, Polyphonic Spree boast twenty-one, I’m From Barcelona take it to the extreme with a staggering twenty-nine (although I’m sceptical about the input of at least two-thirds of those guys, surely tambourine doesn’t count!). We Aeronauts don’t quite achieve double figures in terms of personnel, but the spirit of their music is very resonant to those aforementioned bands who would rather share the enjoyment of making music ...

We’ve reached the start of Super Ball IX , the ninth Phish festival since 1996. The three-day concert takes place at Watkins Glen International racetrack in Watkins Glen, NY and kicks off with two sets this evening. [Dusk after Soundcheck, Photo by Patrick Jordan ] Sam Davis of Dog Gone Blog will be reporting live from the event for @YEMblog , so be sure to follow along. You can also listen to tonight’s show on over Bunny Radio which will be simulcast over Sirius/XM’s Jam ON. READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny for Night One of Super ...