Special Feature: Tristan Clopet

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Having recovered from the SOS4.8 hangover, NME-Europe gets back down to business with a special feature from an artist from across the pond. The son of an Englishman, Tristan Clopet is based in Miami, but the worldwide web is rapidly turning him into a global product. This one-man band, who produces music with the uumph of the Chili Peppers and the lyrically power and vitality of a certain Jeff Buckley has just released a six-track EP titled Purple, which is available for download á la radiohead at the following link.

Suitably impressed by what was on offer, we decided to find out a little more about the man himself and his album.

NME-Europe: Hi Tristan. You're known in over 50 countries, where do you hail from?
Well, I was created by a chemical spillage on the brinks of Prince Edward Island. I sing and play a bunch of instruments too.

Another case of "blame Canada" perhaps...

NME-Europe: What do you sound like? Who has made you want to sound like that?
TC: Sounds like if a bunch of carrier honey bees spilled all of their collective honey at once onto a gramophone and then went to the kitchen and added bits of Heath bar.

Erm.... Think I'll stick with my Pepper-Buckley crossover....

Yeah, when I first heard 'Sir Psycho Sexy' I felt something special. It changed my whole disposition.

Now that makes more sense. You get a good impression of where this young man is coming from if you watch some of his cover version videos available on his YouTube channel. 'Cousins' (Vampire Weekend) is my pick of the bunch...



NME-Europe: You've just released Purple. Is this your debut?
TC: No, I previously released another EP, Duende. Duende and Purple are brother and sister, though I can't tell which is which. I think Purple has the perfect balance of songs – from those that are ideal for sitting back and relaxing, to those that make you want to get up and dance.

NME-Europe: Apart from your internet coverage, have you got any promotional gigs lined up?
TC: We're touring the east coast this July. Tour dates can be most accurately found on my website. We'd love to be supported by the Jonas Brothers. We heard they could bring a few people to the show in Savannah.

That must be the first time Jonas have been mentioned on NME-Europe!

NME-Europe: And what's on the agenda for the near future?
TC: We'd like to be touring full-time (preferably with the Jonas Brothers, but not a deal breaker) and we'd love to release a full-length and perform it over and over for new people of every shape, color and creedence.

Thanks Tristan, what say we have a little glance at your latest EP, Purple?
TC: Cool. I know time is scarce, but if you could give it a review, I’d love to read it. Even if it’s negative, I really respect your taste, and would be interested to hear what you think.

Last 5 NME-Europe interviews:
The Pin-Ups (Manila, Philippines)
Buzzradio (Liverpool, UK)
The Manse (Liverpool, UK)
A Number Of Fires (Liverpool, UK)
My Raining Stars (Lyon, France)


Read all NME-Europe interviews

Tristan really knows how to sweet talk a man! How could I refuse him a review?!

1. Proximity Bomb
2. So Alive
3. Etheral Evidence
4. Superficiality Is A Sin
5. Love And A Question
6. Black Panther Party






It's often difficult to assess an artist on the basis of an EP - they tend to be too short and rely too heavily on 'likeable' tunes - but you get the feeling that Tristan Clopet is a little different. With his second release, Purple, Clopet clearly lays his cards on the table and offers a well-crafted mix of catchy rock and captivating ballads. Tracks like 'Proximity Bomb', 'Superficiality Is A Sin' and the closing 'Black Panther Party'  clearly support Clopet's claim that 'Sir Psycho Sexy' "changed his whole disposition" - the hint of the Chili Peppers is plain for all to hear. In between, Tristan has the opportunity to manifest his lyrical and vocal skills, an opportunity which he grasps with both hands, in particular on  'So Alive', my personal favourite.

Purple is a well-produced EP and Clopet shows he has the potential to take his prowess one stage further, should the opportunity to cut an album arise. NME-Europe looks forward to it.

NC

The EP is available on "a radiohead" at http://tristanclopet.com/, so you can pay what you like for it. If you're feeling the financial pinch, NME-Europe is giving away 3 copies, along with a Tristan Clopet t-shirt. All you have to do is visit our Facebook page, become a fan and add a comment to the Tristan Clopet note. There'll be a t-shirt on the way to our favourite comments.


Before you do, have a listen to the EP on our player.

Last 5 NME-Europe reviews:
Los Planetas: 'Una Opera Egipcia'
Cybiont: 'Angels And Demons'
Two Door Cinema Club: 'Tourist History'
The Soft Pack: 'The Soft Pack'
Los Punsetes: 'LP2'

Read all NME-Europe reviews

Album Review: The Golden Filter

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The Golden Filter: 'Voluspa' (Brille)

1. Dance Around The Fire
2. Hide Me
3. Look Me In The Eye
4. Moonlight Fantasy
5. Solid Gold
6. The Underdogs
7. Stardust
8. Frejya's Ghost
9. Kiss Her Goodbye
10. Nerida's Gone
11. Thunderbird
12. Here We Go Again






It would appear that 2010 is the year of electro-pop. It started with Delphic, continued with Two Door Cinema Club and Chew Lips and now The Golden Filter have gatecrashed the party. This New York duo have being playing hard to get ever since 'Solid Gold' first started drawing attention back in 2008, but there is no doubt that it has been worth the wait.

From the opening string chords on 'Dance Around The Fire', you are aware that this is not just another debut album. Penelope Trappes' delicate, captivating vocals - recalling Elizabeth Fraser - coupled with Stephen Hindman's gripping arrangements make for a quality piece of work - for once the hype is justified.

Whilst it is only natural for 'Solid Gold' to be focal point - and let's face it, it's hard not to get hooked on it - there are numerous other tracks on the album which are worthy of mention. The aforementioned 'Dance Around The Fire', together with the bouncy 'Hide Me' and the infectious 'Look Me In The Eye' form a cracking opening to the album. The tempo is lowered on the spacey 'Moonlight Fantasy' before the synths kick back in for 'Solid Gold'.

What an opening half to the album! And it's not all over there. 'Stardust' and 'Frejya's Ghost' still keep the engine ticking over, whilst the thunderous 'Thunderbird' will surely be a dancefloor hit this summer. In between, moments of intricate detail on 'The Underdogs' or 'Nerida's Gone' prove that this is duo aren't just a one-track band.

As someone who likes a guitar, I find myself blown away once more by an electronic sound. The synths are back in town and by God they sound good!

NC

NME-Europe rating: 8.5/10
Top Track: 'Hide Me'

Watch a vid...



Last 5 NME-Europe reviews:
Los Planetas: 'Una Opera Egipcia'
Cybiont: 'Angels And Demons'
Two Door Cinema Club: 'Tourist History'
The Soft Pack: 'The Soft Pack'
Los Punsetes: 'LP2'


Read all NME-Europe reviews

NME-Europe Live: SOS 4.8 2010 - Primer día

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Jueves, 4 de la tarde y un sol de justicia cae sobre Murcia. Empieza el SOS4.8 con el acto inaugural de ponernos la pulsera, una pulsera que será nuestro distintivo durante los próximos dos días y la que, al mirarla, establecerá ese aire de complicidad entre los "sosers" que llenamos Murcia por unas horas. Un vez iniciados en el rito, con la caña gratis incluída, ya empezamos a entablar esas conversaciones que enriquecen un festival y que, como dice la parte inglesa de este blog, hay que estar en la arena para poder disfrutar de los conciertos y de todo lo que hay alrededor, aunque algunos pierdan la perspectiva desde la zona VIP.

The Sunday Drivers. Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

El viernes llegamos temprano, demasiado si quieres aguantar hasta el final, pero disfrutamos de uno de los mejores conciertos, en cuanto a la calidad del sonido, del festival: The Sunday Drivers. Los manchegos, una de esas bandas que nunca falla, sonaron excepcionalmente bien, muy limpios, como dirían los entendidos. Canciones como 'Do it', 'On my mind' o 'My plan' hacen vibrar y saltar al público y a mí, aunque a veces su música es demasiado happy-happy. Esto empieza bien.

The Horrors. Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

A continuación, espera, hemos quedado y los móviles no funcionan, o es el mío. No, todo el mundo está igual, nos perdemos el comienzo de The Horrors, desde la distancia no aprecio bien su sonido, pero son contundentes y oscuros, muy oscuros. Me acerco y llenan el escenario, tienen presencia y mucha calidad. Las últimas canciones son una pasada, qué lástima no haber estado más tiempo.

Los Planetas. Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

Aunque en otros escenarios hay más conciertos decidimos quedarnos a ver a Los Planetas, su Ópera Egipcia es uno de los mejores discos del año (y mira que han salido buenos discos en el 2010), pero no suenan bien. A Jota se le entiende, pero hay acoples y el sonido no es el mejor. En la prensa, división de opiniones. Comienzan con la instrumental, y preciosa, Llave De Oro' y van alternando clásicos como 'Rey sombra', 'Santos Que Yo Te Pinté' o 'Pesadilla En El Parque De Atracciones' con algunos de sus mejores temas del último disco: 'Una Corona De Espinas', 'Señora De Las Alturas', 'Soy Un Pobre Granaíno' y 'Romance De Juan De Osuna'. Incluso sale La Bien Querida para compartir 'No Sé Como Te Atreves', bonita, aunque no es de lo que más me gusta. Me recuerdan a Pimpinela pero en plan indie. No serán los mejores del festival, pero se nos hace corto, nos faltan muchos temas de la banda sonora de nuesta vida.

Franz Ferdinand. Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

Y llegan los esperados Franz Ferdinand, suenan los primeros acordes de 'Aut Achse', y nos ponemos nerviosos, aparecen en el escenario, lo llenan, presencia y sonido, son la estrella del festival y se nota. A partir de aquí, bailamos, casi todo el público del SOS4.8 estaba allí y mereció la pena. Casi una hora y cuarenta minutos de pura explosión musical, con un sonido impecable y una fuerza descomunal. Me cuentan que su caché se llevó la mitad del presupuesto, pero se lo curraron. En este enlace tenéis el setlist del concierto, en el que fueron mezclando temas de sus tres discos casi sin descanso y en los que Alex Kapranos demostró que es un buen vocalista pero además un excepcional músico. Como premio, una batucada con los cuatro músicos escoceses percusionando sus baterías enérgicamente, energía que transmitieron a un público entregado.

Y después, con ganas de ver a Hot Chip, el cuerpo dijo basta, muchas horas de baile sin descanso, hacen mella en nuestras ganas de seguir y decidimos irnos a descansar que todavía queda... ¡el sábado!

JFH

Por cierto, Radio 3 grabó varios conciertos. Los puedes escuchar aquí.

Puedes ver más imágenes oficiales en la página Facebook de NME-Europe y para más artículos sobre el SOS4.8, pincha aquí.

Album Review: April's Top Of The Pops

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April was a busy month, but there was still time to listen to some real quality...

Cybiont: 'Angels And Demons' (rating 8.25/10)
Often, when a an album is classified as "intriguing" it usually means the same as when you classify a girl as "friendly". However, in the case of Cybiont's 'Angels and Demons' such euphemisms go flying out of the window. In fact this album goes beyond intriguing, it is fabulously fascinating. Read more.

Los Planetas: 'Una Opera Egipcia' (rating 9/10)
15 years on, lead singer J and Co. have once again managed to surpass that expectation and produce another album, their eighth, which can only serve to convince their legion of unconditional fans that they are from another dimension. Read more.

Caribou: 'Swim' (rating 7/10)
Hypnotic rhythms combine with thumping bassline grooves (check out 'Leave House') on Canadian Dan Snaith's third release.

Klaus & Kinski: 'Tierra Trágalos' (rating 7/10)
Quirky pop from this Murcian combo, who are making quite a name for themselves across Spain. Needs a couple of listens to get used to it.

Kyte: 'Dead Waves' (rating 7.5/10)
Delicate lyrics with emotive melodies result in a more than acceptable album, especially if you're feeling poignant.

Chew Lips: 'Unicorn' (rating 7/10)
Promising debut from London-based electro-pop trio. Some of the singles are destined to be dancefloor favourites this summer.




NC & JFH

Have a listen...

Also available on Spotify.

Read previous monthly summaries.

NME-Europe Live: Review of SOS 4.8 Festival 2010 (II)

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Part two in NME-Europe's review of the SOS4.8 Festival, takes  a look at Saturday's gigs...

Saturday

A mid-afternoon deluge almost managed to washout the second day (the organisers were seriously considering cancelling all the gigs due to the risk of an electrical storm). The sun appeared just in the nick of time, but unfortunately local boys Varry Brava were unable to take the stage. Having earned the right to be there after winning the TalentoSOS Battle of the Bands, this must have been hugely disappointing for them and, despite having been promised a spot at next year's festival, you can't help but feel that things could have been re-shuffled a little to give them time to play.

In any case, all the sets on the main stage suffered delays, as final sound checks had to be carried out during each break, which meant I was just in time to see the first act of the evening.

Nada Surf (Estrella Levante Stage)
Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

What a wonderful start to the evening. Nada Surf are another band who know how to play to a festival crowd and soon got everyone moving with their own brand of power pop, combining tracks from their five releases and a few cover versions taken from recent release If I Had A Hi-Fi, most notably 'Enjoy The Silence' (Depeche Mode) and 'Evolución' (originally by Spanish band Mecromina).


Mystery Jets (Estrella Levante Stage)
Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

Mystery Jets were another band I was looking forward to and I was not disappointed. They are most definitely 'quirky', but it's precisely that characteristic that makes them so enjoyable. They played a fine set, relying mainly on tracks from Twenty One, where none of crowd favourites - 'Two Doors Down', 'Half In Love With Elizabeth' and 'Young Love', my particular favourite  - were missing. The Londoners also previewed a few tracks from their soon-to-be-released album Serotonin, which sounded very promising indeed, in particular 'Flash A Hungry Smile', which is currently available as a free download on their website.

I think, in general, most of the crowd liked what they saw, I certainly did!

 Dorian (Jagermeister Stage)

Image courtesy of SOS Festival/Equipo Helmet

With my Spanish associate hanging round for The Magic Numbers (more from him later), I went across to the 'second' stage to check out Catalans Dorian. Heaving was an understatement and with bands of the calibre of Dorian, Love of Lesbian or Crystal Castles making appearances there and assuming the level of quality would go down in the future, it's clear this stage needs to be bigger.

Dorian are pure energy. Their particular brand of indietronica with expert lyrics have brought them to the fore on the national scene. The partisan crowd looking for a chance to 'strut their stuff' were certainly not disappointed as the quartet powered through the tracks from the latest album La Ciudad Subterránea, where tracks like 'Verter Amanecer' or the thundering 'La Tormenta De Arena' stood out. This was the first time I'd seen them on stage and I certainly hope it won't be the last. In fact, I'd put them in the top 3 of this year's festival.


Love Of Lesbian (Jagermeister Stage)
Another band I'd really been looking forward to seeing was Barcelona's Love Of Lesbian. Their 2009 release 1999 was remarkably successful in Spain, but they didn't really get off to the best of starts on Saturday night. Some horrible feedback on the bass and a weak microphone for lead singer Santi Balmes meant LOL endured a sluggish start and, despite a strong finish with classics like 'Club De Fans De John Boy' or 'Algunas Plantas', I'm sure they'd be the first to agree this wasn't their best peformance ever. Nevermind, they'll be back in the region in September for the B-Side festival, so we'll give them another bite at the cherry then. (sorry about the lack of a photo. None were provided, seemed like the Gods were against them for everything!).

There was still more to come, the electronica was about to kick in, with Orbital and Fatboy Slim in turn due on stage.  I, though, decided that enough was enough, but before leaving still managed to catch the end of the Madness set, 'Baggy Trousers' and all. A fitting end to a wonderful weekend. Here's to SOS 2011!

NC

You can listen to some of the concerts from Saturday here. And if you haven't read the NME-Europe review from Friday, you can do so here.

To view more images from the event, check out the photo album on our facebook page.

You can read more NME-Europe articles about the SOS 4.8 Festival here.