PS I Love You featuring Diamond Rings -- Leftovers

CAN it get any better than this? PS I Love You teaming up with Diamond Rings? No friends, it cannot. This powerhouse packs a guitar-driven punch to the cranium. A sound akin to the result of a Cribs-cum-Vaccines affair, Leftovers is proof beautiful partnerships lead to gorgeous creations.

Artist spotlight: Pop/Rock/Punk/Electronic

Name: Pop/Rock/Punk/Electronic
Based: Gloucestershire
For fans of: Mirrors, Human League, Kraftwerk, Gene

WITH a name like Pop/Rock/Punk/Electronic, you’d hope young Finlay Shakespeare had the technical ability, and cajones, to pull off what is essentially a one-man-band for the 21st century.
Thankfully, the Gloucestershire-based musician/producer/all round top guy pulls it off with ease and manages to merge all the genres in his act’s abstract name choice into a pulsating package.
James Blake is 2011’s golden boy for his rather special self-titled genre-bending debut – primarily for producing it all himself – but there’s no reason not to suggest Pop/Rock/Punk/Electronic can follow the same route.
Luminous Plectrum took time out to talk a little more with Finlay about his influences and where he sees himself in five years time.

Luminous Plectrum: Who do you sound like?
Pop/Rock/Punk/Electronic: An amalgam of indie rock, synth pop and abstract electronica. Foals meets Travelogue-era Human League. Laser-injected guitars cut against shortwave radio. Tape loops played alongside digital drum machines.

LP: What are/were your influences?
P/R/P/E: A lot of the typical late 70s/early 80s New Wave and Synth Pop acts - Associates, Japan, OMD, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, Public Image Limited - but also a lot of current bands, especially those pushing the boundaries of what can be considered commercial. Battles, The Redneck Manifesto, Metronomy, Tortoise and LCD Soundsystem spring to mind.

LP: Have you ever considered to expand the act into a band, or are you most comfortable performing as a solo artist?
P/R/P/E: There have been attempts, but the musical result is always so far away from what was originally intended that it becomes another project within itself, not that that's a bad thing however. It's difficult to find people that have the same musical ideas, influences and attitudes to how music can be written, performed, recorded, etc. though.

LP: How did you come up with the name P/R/P/E? Is it a fair description of the music you produce?
P/R/P/E: I had recorded the first few tracks for the debut album and needed a name for this new project - I was aiming to draw from all the areas of music that I personally enjoy listening to and approach each area equally within the writing and recording process. "Pop/Rock/Punk/Electronic" was written on a box of records I had been sifting through earlier that week and I decided the name was perfect. It instantly states the manifesto for the music I create, and the visual angularity fits well enough to my sound too.

LP: Do you play live often? Have you got any future gigs lined up?
P/R/P/E: I've played live a handful of times and it's something I'd love to do more often, yet local gig promoters never seem to be 100% committed to what they're doing. The last gig I was set to play was cancelled weeks before the show itself due to ticket sales, though the promoters didn't seem to realise that most of their audience would be paying on the door. Unfortunately nothing in the near future is scheduled performance-wise, though I'm constantly looking for new outlets for gigs.

LP: You're based in Gloucestershire - what's the music scene like in your area?
P/R/P/E: It's alright, typical small city music scene really. There's the local festivals - 2000 Trees, Walk The Line, Cheltenham Jazz - but nothing brilliantly diverse. Bristol had some brilliant inner-city festivals a few years ago, but alas they've all been wiped out through financial difficulties, etc. The venues themselves are quite diverse however, if not the acts they put on. Gloucester Guildhall and Cheltenham Town Hall have had quite a few big names playing over the last few years, while the indie venues like The Two Pigs and The Night Owl in Cheltenham give local bands their chance to play. There's some big things coming in the next couple of years though.

LP: Where would you like to see yourself in the next five years?
P/R/P/E: I'd like to be working with other people, helping to create something a little different for the mainstream music scene.

Listen to P/R/P/E: Myspace

We at Luminous Plectrum HEART new music and are always interested in promoting the freshest new talent. If you would like to be featured like P/R/P/E, e-mail luminous_plectrum@hotmail.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @luminousplectrm

Album covers recreated using Lego

WE spotted this in The Guardian on Wednesday and thought it was too good not to share with everyone.
If you missed it, the daily ran a small article on 21-year-old Aaron Savage's genius idea to recreate his favourite album covers using £100-worth of the iconic toy bricks.
Here are a selection:

Muse -- Absolution
Dizzee Rascal -- Boy in da Corner
Queen -- Queen 2
For more, visit Aaron's Flickr page.

Gauntlet Hair announce tour with Neon Indian and....SLEIGH BELLS

LUMINOUS Plectrum favourites Gauntlet Hair have announced they will be touring with Neon Indian and current fad act Sleigh Bells in May.
Details are a little sketchy but the Colorado-based duo, whose I Was Thinking... was our favourite song of 2010, announced on their Facebook page today that the tour would be going ahead.
Great news, and this should mean Gauntlet Hair are a shoe-in for heightened exposure in what should be a fantastic 2011.

Album Review: The Go! Team -- Rolling Blackouts

LISTENING to The Go! Team’s Rolling Blackouts is like going to a fireworks display in the pouring rain – a brief flash of excitement before fizzling out into a damp squalor of despair.
The Brighton-based collective’s third outing does little to distant itself from its predecessors – the stunning Thunder, Lightning, Strike and the stop-start Proof of Youth – but fails to better them either.
It’s as if the sextet sets a goal to be as garish and wild as possible with each release, throwing an Arabian bazaar-full of samples, noises, beats, and screams into a defective blender.
Opener T.O.R.N.A.D.O is a headache inducing spelling lesson and it doesn’t get much better with the over-frenetic and off key The Running Range and schizophrenic hip-hop of Voice Yr Choice.
There are some exceptions, however. Buy Nothing Day is a cherished embrace with sickly sweet girl indie and the warmth emitting from the bubbly Ready To Go Steady is the perfect remedy for the headache T.O.R.N.A.D.O erupted earlier.
The Go! Team can learn from this. They are much more alluring outfit when they try to create simplistic pop rather than piling the entire buffet onto one plate.

Cold War Kids -- Mine is Yours (Passion Pit remix)

War, what is it good for?
COLD War Kids, the slightly insipid four-piece that had a couple of God-inspired hits back in 2006, are back this year with new album Mine is Yours.
Thankfully, Passion Pit have stepped in to give its title track a true 80s teen romcom make-over jam-packed with theatrical synths and electro drum beats.
You’ll wish John Hughes was still alive to feature it in a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off remake.

British Sea Power stream new album Valhalla Dancefloor

What a happy start to the new year!
BRIGHTON art-rockers British Sea Power have been kind enough to allow free streaming of Valhalla Dancefloor - the follow up to 2008's marvellous Do You Like Rock Music?
Luminous Plectrum cannot wait to put our ear goggles on and immerse ourselves.
Click the links below to enjoy:
Valhalla Dancefloor streaming at The Guardian
Valhalla Dancefloor streaming at The Onion