King Charles is Starting the Fire

Kings Charles, the guy behind Love Lust did this re-make of Bill Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire some time ago. Watch the video or listen to the song and it'll make sense why he was the winner of an international songwriting competition unanimously voted for by a panel of judges including Tom Waits, Kings of Leon, Timbaland, Black Francis and Jerry Lee Lewis...


Charles took up guitar when he was 17 after falling in love with folk music. After leaving Durham without a degree in 2007 he formed Adventure Playground, a band who toured with Noah and the Whale and Laura Marling. The band later split and King Charles started working on his solo material. Last year he joined Mumford and Sons on their sold out US tour and has received vast amounts of online interest and support. He is currently recording his debut album, due out this mid-year.

Noah And The Whale - Last Night On Earth

So I jumped on this album a bit later than everyone else but was really surprised and pleased with the development in this bands sound. Not to say that their first 2 albums were by any means bad, on the contrary I enjoyed them, but there is clearly a musical progression in Last Night on Earth. Noah and the Whale are probably most famous for 5 Years Time when the catchiness of whistling and the ukulele were discovered in what most thought would be a one hit wonder. In fact, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down had plenty of great material on it and was followed up by The First Days of Spring, a collection of depressingly written songs of heartbreak, sung by someone with the rock-bottom emotion of a fresh break-up.

These two albums and their differing sounds left me guessing as to what the third LP would be like and it was a fresh burst of the optimism at new beginnings and the rediscovered joys of life. Musically it is far more upbeat with a busier percussion section and faster tempos. There is also the introduction of synth, a trend also noticed in the new Bon Iver album. Tracks to watch are: Tonight's the Kind of Night, Wild Thing, Waiting for My Chance to Come and L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N

Download the Soundcloud track here

Noah And The Whale - Tonight's The Kind Of Night

Thurston Moore - Benediction

Thurston Moore's latest album Demolished Thoughts landed on shelves last month and a few weeks later on my iTunes library. I'd never heard of him before but it's similar to Elliott Smith, Swell Season and the like. The first single off the track, Benediction is a 50-something year olds love song with the repeated phrase "whisper I love you a thousand times in his ear"... Moore was rated the 33rd greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone in 2004. The album is a whispered collection of memories, sweet nothings and pocket size love songs which are great to carry into any candle lit evening or sunset orchard. Not an album I'll rave about, but a nice addition to your singer/songwriter collection.

Download it here

Jon Swift - No 100 Miles

So you've probably never heard of Jon Swift. You should know he's one of the best unknown songwriters out there. You've probably never heard of Signatures either. It is the best sports film I have ever watched. I discovered Jon Swift through the Signatures soundtrack and purchased Pathways, his 2009 album off iTunes. It is amazing. Jon's engagement and descriptions of the wild are as refreshing as the waves and wonderings which he so effectively traps in his songs. The way he likens women and love with the wild transports the listener to another world.
Below is his song No 100 Miles, an eery guitar piece with powerful  and enigmatic lyrics. It is on the teaser for Signatures. The movie will appeal to any music lover, ski or board-sport enthusiast and those fond of fantastic cinematography. Get hold of both if you can.
Check out his website


The geese have flown from the fields,
and I met nobody in the mountains.
There's a moonlight on the meadow
and warm sulfuric fountains.
And the cavalry is running on broken legs.

There's a wind out on the hill
with an old harmonica swaying
down to the afterhour days
where the motion pictures keep playing.
Can that old feeling come back another way?

There ain't no 100 miles away

Can't you see me when I'm moving?
Do you remember why you give?
These lovers are left to wondering
why they cannot have what makes them live.
I've only seen broken treasures inside a cage.

Our fingertips are calloused.
The moths are flitting on the screen.
Our eyes are still focused on a palace
somewhere deep inside our dream.
Although my hands are tied, I was not born a slave.

The Cults

So that album artwork must make you wonder if the music will be as much a vibe for you as it is for them. It's pleasing. You might not be able to rock out to Cults as much as their hair does, but this is an album with enough xylophone and floating vocals for you to enjoy. Start with Outside to get a pretty good idea of the chilled out, hipster sound that is Cults. This San Diego couple Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion wear their hearts on their sleeves as they float together on a mixture of bass lines and Follin's cotton-candy voice in the clouds. The outcome is a naive and nostalgic approach to gushy pop which has been novacained into a slower state of love than artists who sing about the substance which isn't in their hearts.

Friendly Fires - Pala

So I have been anticipating this album ever since I fell for Friendly Fires' first self-titled album back in 2008. When the album artwork was released months ago, I liked it so much that I had little doubt that the album would be anything less than spectacular. I have listened to it about 3 times now and I hate to say that I don't have the same romance with this album as with the debut. Granted, with only 3 plays under the belt it may grow on me, but the fact that I have only wanted to play it thrice and no more, speaks volumes. It is a good album and clearly the same group developing their sound, but it just doesn't have the spark which Friendly Fires so blatantly did. Nonetheless, it is worth getting hold of and will give you some listening pleasure. Just don't hold your thumbs too much for this one...

Sleeper Agent - Get It Daddy

Kentucky-based band Sleeper Agent are set to release a debut album Celebrasion in August and by the sounds of their first single Get It Daddy there is something to be followed here. The track is electric in it's wake-up frenzy of ah-ah-uh-ah-uh-ah-ooh and clearly has a beating pulse all the way from start to finish. Hit repeat and get bouncing.
Download it here

The Generationals - Actor Caster

So this album has been out a few months and I snapped it up on its US release date. After going crazy over the Trust EP and then getting hold of Con Law and praising it, I had high expectations. A truly stellar album has been produced, but unfortunately, after Con Law, they set the bar too high to match it. Their first single Ten-Twenty-Ten is an absolute winner though, with massive plays going on day and night. Other notable tracks are You Say it Too and Greenleaf. This band has become an absolute favourite since they first blipped on my radar last year October and I have been screaming their name to mostly deaf ears. The few who have picked up on it are screaming it back. Get into it, get hold of it. If there is one band I can recommend that won't disappoint it's this New Orleans duo. Get your hands on Ten-Twenty-Ten here.

And tell me that doesn't make you happy...

Bon Iver - Come Talk To Me

Speaking of Bon Iver, I've also had this song on repeat for ages. Justin turns Peter Gabriel's Come Talk to Me in to something quite beautiful. The guitar has a bit of Eddie Vedder in it but as soon as Vernon's vocal chords grace the track, there's no looking back.

Check it out here...

The video is a nice explanation with interviews of Peter Gabriel and Justin Vernon talking about their covering of each others songs.

Bon Iver - Calgary

Bon Iver just released Calgary, the first single from their new LP Bon Iver due out in just under a month, on June 21st. People are expecting great things, but at the same time nervous that no follow-up to For Emma, Forever Ago could ever match the eery and harrowing emotion from the groups debut album. However, if Calgary is anything to go by, fans will not be in for disappointment. I've got it on repeat with a constant smile. The track has all the makings of a great song, and Vernon's voice is nothing short of its usual goosebumps standard. Sean Carey's percussion is also a lot more noticeable than in the first album.

Or get it here