Listen: Cloud Nothings release nostalgic mixtape

YOU'D be forgiven for dismissing Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy as obvious influences to Wichita's Cloud Nothings, but it seems this latest mixtape - issued ahead of their Steve Albini-produced new album Attack on Memory - will shock a few of you.
Cloud Nothings' Dylan Baldi has pieced together a short collection of songs that influenced the band during the recording of the upcoming release.
Baldi said: “While I was writing the songs that would become Attack on Memory, I listened almost exclusively to music that was made before I was born. This is a pretty common practice for me, actually, but I took it to a new level while making the record. I more or less memorized every guitar solo on the best Thin Lizzy albums, listened to only The Wipers for about 3 weeks, and fell asleep to Black Sabbath every night.
"This mix condenses my listening habits into an easily digestible 'best of', songs that strongly affected what I was thinking while writing my own music. Not to say that every song on Attack on Memory sounds like Killdozer, but I do think that the influence of these particular tracks is often obvious, and hopefully sheds some light on why the new Cloud Nothings album sounds so different from any of the past recordings.”
The inclusion of Zounds - This Land was an inspired choice.

Mixtape tracklist:

1. Black Sabbath -- Supernaut
2. Nina Hagen -- Born In Xixax
3. Killdozer -- The Pig Was Cool
4. Zounds -- This Land
5. Thin Lizzy -- For Those Who Love To Live
6. The Wipers -- No One Wants An Alien
7. Bitch Magnet -- Navajo Ace
8. Swell Maps -- The Helicopter Spies
Cloud Nothings "Attack On Memory" Mix 2011 by Wichita Recordings

Live and in photos: Wild Beasts at University of Southampton's students' union (21/11/11)

SOUTHAMPTON embraced Cumbria's finest in warm fashion last night (Monday) as Wild Beasts smothered the transfixed crowd with a typically efficient performance.Showcasing the finest cuts from this year's stellar Smother and 2009's simply wonderful Two Dancers, the quartet consisting of Hayden Thorpe, Ben Little, Tom Fleming and Chris Talbot used their musical expertise to reaffirm why Wild Beasts are arguably the British band that are on the cusp of greatness.Highlights included Ben Little introducing crowd favourite All The King's Men as 'a song about fucking', a fitting retort after Thorpe was described as sexy by an over-amorous male fan.
Oh, and of course Little's torpedo-esque shrieks of "Watch me! Watch me!" in the eponymous song.
There's no denying Wild Beasts are incredible performers; entwining the experimental with electrifying guitar melodies and resonating vocal ranges. But while the songs on Smother may be their most carefully crafted and complex material to date, the album can be a difficult listen and some tracks do not translate for an entirely fulfilling live experience.We've caught Wild Beasts live a couple of times now and another negative of their live shows has to be the disregard to play anything from their first album Limbo, Panto - arguably their most exciting piece of work.
Down points aside, Wild Beasts are an inspiring act and proof classically trained musicians can create alarmingly good music for the trendy knitted sweatshirt masses.
Apologies for the photo quality, the lighting was extremely dark.

Live and in photos: Katy B, Bournemouth BIC, Sunday, October 31, 2011

URBAN princess Katy B continued her mission in slick style with a body-rocking performance at Bournmouth's BIC on Sunday.
With the audience suitably warmed-up for an energetic evening thanks to P Money and DJs Roska and Jamie George, the south London songstress breezed through hits such as Lights On, Broken Record and Perfect Stranger with powerful precision.

R.E.M run Out of Time

"A wise man once said--'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it." – Michael Stipe (21/9/11)

WE may “heart new music” here at Luminous Plectrum, but we also heart the bands who’ve inspired today’s emerging artists.
Today, R.E.M decided to call it a day – concluding 31 years of exceptional, ground-breaking music.
In tribute to Athens, GA’s favourite sons, here’s one of my favourite ever songs:

- Rory

New music: Count to Fire -- I'm the Man You Need

ENCHANTING folk rockers Count to Fire return with another nutritious fix of earthy sun-drenched blues in I'm The Man You Need.
This wonderfully filmed clip, directed by Robert Darch, provides the fitting story to the track's melancholy tale of lost love.
Musically, Count to Fire have conjured a mesmerising sound that should propel them to yet more welcome acclaim.
Comparisons to Fleet Foxes are apparent, but it's not outlandish to claim they are on par, if not better than, our bearded friends across the Atlantic.
I'm The Man You Need by Count To Fire

New music: Proof girls can make The Kut

THERE has been some good news for rising all girl rock group The Kut this week - their video for Closure was added to the NME TV Radar playlist.
The low-budget, homegrown clip - consisting of performance and drama - provides a decent overlay to the band's grunge-soaked track.
Lead guitarist and vocalist Maha said: "It's all a bit unreal at the moment.
"It's so exciting for us right now though, we know we’ve still a long way to go and we haven’t finished our first album yet.”
Keep an eye on these grrls.

Man Battles with escalator for new My Machines video

And the award for the most bizarre video of the year goes to...Battles for their twisted promo for My Machines (featuring Gary Numan).