I NME-Europe Battle Of Bands: Let's Hear It For The Winners

The dust has settled, but the show goes on for The Little Hydes, winners of the I NME-Europe Battle Of Bands contest. Despite a heavy schedule, which includes an unplugged set this Wednesday with Ian Prowse at Mojo in Liverpool and studio work on a new single, the 'next four lads to shake the world' managed to find the time to have a quick natter to NME-Europe and tell us all about being champions and what's happening in Hydesville at present. Here's what they had to tell us:

NME-Europe: Well lads, you were the first band to be interviewed on this page and now you're the winners of the I Battle Of Bands. What are your impressions on having beaten some really excellent acts to win the title?

TLH: Yeah I saw a Number Of Fires (who were second) ran us pretty close. When you do BOTB's (and we've done a few! One that we won took us on a mad tour of Europe gigging), you enter if you know you have a good chance of winning it.

NME-Europe: For those who are still thinking 'The Little Who?' (God forgive 'em), tell us a bit about yourselves.

TLH: We've been together about two years now. Myself and Tony (drums) have been playing in bands round town since we were 14/15. It was in my last year of school when things started taking off. Our first recordings had a nice poppy 90's feel, they started getting played on local radio and started a bit of a buzz. These first demo's set us up well and we got a slot at the Mathew St Festival and Creamfields (on the same day!). The first year set us up great, and since we've been working hard on just fine tuning our sound really. We've got an album's worth of new material that we're dyin' for everyone to hear.

Well, I saw The Little Hydes at that Mathew Street Festival (you can see a small excerpt of that set in the video below - there's even a cameo role from me!) and was really impressed by the stage presence of such a young band (in fact, they were part of the reason for starting this site).



You can also hear two tracks, 'Absolute Youth' and 'Dear Diary Days' on the NME-Europe Battle Of Bands contest page and an additional song, the delightful 'As Back When' on their myspace page. Only a fool would not give them a chance and it certainly is an exciting prospect that the lads have an album full of tracks raring to go.

NME-Europe: Apart from being an NME-Europe Battle Of Bands winner, what else does 2010 hold in store for you lot? Any plans for a release or tour?

TLH: We're actually recording our first single at the moment. All of our other recordings are sort of rushed, due to the amount of time and the amount of money it costs to rent a studio even for a weekend. We wanted to do it absolutely properly this time, in terms of a pop single. We have a great pop song that you wont be able to get our of your head (im told this is our trademark) and we'll be releasing it in a few weeks time. We've all got a good feeling about this one. Keep an eye out. 

We certainly will be! It's always a pleasure hearing from this band. They seem to go about things in the right way; quietly confident without loosing sight of reality and above all producing some absolutely sublime tunes.  While you wait patiently for more news on The Little Hydes, why not read some more about them from previous NME-Europe articles? In particular, a special piece on the three aforementioned tracks and the original Myspace Magic interview.

If you're in or around Liverpool, you can see them for free at Mojo on Wednesday, where they'll be playing an acoustic set with local legend Ian Prowse and they're also on at the O2 Academy on March 7.

Last, but not least, many thanks to David, Mick, Ste and Tony for taking the time to speak to NME-Europe. Looking forward to the single, gents!

Happy Birthday to me!

Hasn't time flown?

A year already...

Over a hundred posts featuring musical titbits from the four corners of the globe. More than 30 interviews and album reviews AND a Battle Of Bands in the mix...

NME-E is feeling good about itself. More importantly, I'd like to thank EVERYONE who's read, shared, liked, hated, criticised or ignored any of the more than 100 posts currently on offer and hope you're all ready for another year, which promises to be even more magical.

Best wishes

Nick

Special Feature: Second Nominated For Spanish Award

Photo Courtesy of Alfrefo Arias (2006)

Today is a first for NME-Europe on two counts; Firstly, this post is billingual; and secondly, it's a blatant request for all readers to support a 'local' band.

The band in question is Murcia's Second, who have been nominated, somewhat ironically, for the award of 'Best New Band' by Spain's largest commercial radio station, 40Principales. I say ironically, because this year saw the group release their fourth studio album - 'Fracciones De Un Segundo' (read review here), their best so far in my humble opinion. Still, I digress.

This is the deal...

1. Click on the following link 40Principales. Second are nominated in the 'Mejor Artista Nuevo' (Best New Act) section, open to public voting and also the 'Mejor Videoclip' (Best Music Video, see clip at foot of page), although this one is voted for by the jury.

2. You need to register as a user. At the bottom of the page, look for 'Registro'. You need to enter a nick, your email and a password and fill out the standard word captcha box, as well as clicking the box 'acepto los términos de registro', to accept the conditions.

3. Once you're hooked up to 40Principales, you can vote up to a maximum of 10 times for Second.

Seriously, I wouldn't give the other groups the time of day. If you want to check out Second, check out their MySpace page here.

Thanks in advance. I don't gain anything from this by the way, but I've followed this lot since 1997, they're a GREAT bunch of lads and I REALLY feel they deserve a little recognition.

Read more of what NME-E has to say about Second here.




Now, if you really want to make things complex, try doing it in Spanish! Should really spook out the Google translator too!

Hoy es un día pionero para NME-Europe, por dos motivos; en primer lugar este post es billingüe; en adición es una petición descarada para que apoyéis a un grupo 'local'.

El grupo en cuestión es Second, de Murcia. Han sido nominados, con algo de ironía por medio, para el premio de 'Mejor Artista Nuevo' en los Premios de los 40Principales, la mayor cadena comercial de radio de España. Digo 'con ironía' porque este grupo ha sacado su cuarto disco de estudio este año - 'Fracciones De Un Segundo' - en mi opinión el mejor hasta la fecha (leer la critica de NME-Europe aquí). Bueno, volviendo al tema...

Pasos a seguir:

1. Hacer clic en el siguiente enlace de los 40Principales. Second está nominado a 'Mejor Artista Nuevo' abierto al público y también a 'Mejor Videoclip' (ver video final), aunque este último es para el jurado.

2. Hay que registrarse. Al final de la página está el apartado del registro. Es fácil.

3. Una vez registrado, se puede votar hasta un máximo de 10 veces.

Ahora en serio, los otros grupos no llegan a la altura de Second. Si todavía no conoces su música, puede ver algo en su MySpace pinchando aquí.

Gracias por adelantado. Yo no gano nada con esto, pero sigo a Second desde el '97, es un grupo extraordinario, buenos chicos de verdad y merecen un poco de reconocimiento.

Para leer más cosas sobre Second en NME-Europe. Haz clic aquí.

Thanks.



Y si quieres ver a Second en concierto, puedes ver las fechas de su gira 'Rodamos' en la sección de 'Put On Your Dancing Shoes' de NME-Europe.

Special Feature: The Little Hydes Back In The Studio

Those of you who read NME-Europe on a regular basis will know that the page's main aim is to promote up-and-coming bands. The regular section, Myspace Magic, was one of the main reasons for the birth of NME-E and the first band to enter its wall of fame was The Little Hydes, who had first caught my eye during the 2008 Mathew Street Festival.

Since then, the Hydes have been hard at work fine-tuning their sound and this weekend went into the studios to record three new tracks. NME-E are pleased to be able to preview those tracks here (you can also hear them on their myspace).

So what are you in for then? Well, 3 wonderful tracks basically. When I first saw TLH at the Mathew Street Festival I was taken aback by such a confident onstage presence from this Scouse foursome. Since then, their music has evolved more than favourably and the sound shows a maturity beyond their years. This triple helping sees them offer us two rather 'deep' tracks, 'As Back When' and 'Dear Diary Days', which grow on you every time you hear them, while 'Absolute Youth' is a delightful pop track, with wonderful guitar arrangements and powerful harmonies.

Anyway, enough of my tittle-tattle. Check it out for yourselves

Not bad, eh? Here's what the lads have to make of it....

"Well, 'Dear Diary Days' is a really personal song that we had to be very subtle about. 'As Back When' is another one with a quite serious tone so we wanted to experiment with other intruments to catch the ear. 'Absolute Youth' is really quite an angry song, but it's still more in the vain of our older, poppier stuff, the "single" if you like..."

"Our sound has changed a bit this year but we all feel it's much for the better, we learnt a lot last year and had a great time touring and picking stuff up along the way. We have a bit of experience and now we feel confident in what we can do."

While I was on, I also asked the boys whether there were any releases on the horizon and what they had planned for the immediate future. Mick explained:

"There's nothing for release in the near future although we do want to record a single next.
We'll be giving out free copies of the demo (Dear Diary Days, As Back When & Absolute Youth) at our gigs (you can check out their schedule on the calendar).

For now we're just gonna have fun pushing these recordings as far as they can go. We've worked really hard this year to tighten up our sound and prove to people that we're not just a throwaway pop band and that we've got something to say. We've got a taste for it now anyway so we'll be around and with a lot more new material to come!"

Naturally, NME-E will only be too pleased to keep you posted.

What know more about The Little Hydes? Read their original Myspace Magic interview here.

NME-Europe Live: Lemon Pop Festival 2009

Murcia's cult pop festival, now in it's 14th year, despite more than one attempt to put it to bed by certain quarters, was back in full swing this weekend. Here's the nme-e lowdown on proceedings.

Having to choose one of the two days saw me going for the second, as - no disrepect to the Friday set, which included the ever spectaular Astrud - the lure of BMX Bandits and Spain's Cooper was too much to miss out on.

National bands, The Boat Beam and The Ginger Lynns got things moving, albeit to a reduced number of spectators (the competition offered by the open air food bars across the street proving too strong - I missed them both too in favour of an extra chorizo).


The Zodiacs were coming onstage as I strolled in and soon got me working off the excess calories with their furious brand of powerpop, Paul Collins adapted cover version of 'Hanging On The Telephone' included.

Having heard their debut release, '3,2,1...', a couple of times, I anticipated the set would be worth a watch and I was not disappointed. This 3 piece from Madrid-Vizcaya keep things simple but are very effective. Drums, a bass and lead guitar pumping out 3 minute flashes of pure powerpop means entertainment was guaranteed. One to keep your eyes on, I sense.

Next up were The School, a seven piece formation from Wales in pure Lemon Pop style. A sort of Belle and Sebastian / The Magic Numbers combo with a set which seemed to grow on you as it progressed. They appeared to be having a great time on stage, an impression they confirmed when I spoke to them afterwards:

"The festival was fantastic - great location and lovely people, we are very lucky to have played there, we don't really play many events like that in the UK because we aren't big enough yet, so this was a treat for us! We always get a welcoming reception, people come to say hello and take photos so it is really exciting.. thank you Murcia & Lemon Pop!"


The Lemon Pop festival has an uncanny knack of discovering hidden talent (Rinôcérose, Los Planetas or Camera Obscura spring to mind) so who knows where The School might go from here.

From Wales we headed north for Scottish cult band, BMX Bandits, the godfathers and procreators of Teenage Fanclub and The Soup Dragons. They were billed alongside invited artist Nick Garrie, whose 1984 release 'Suitcase Man' under the guise Nick Hamilton topped the Spanish charts, and led to an opening slot on Leonard Cohen's Spanish tour later that year.

In fact, Garrie came on for a mini acoustic set joined by BMX vocalist Rachel Allison on a couple of tracks. A nice idea, but out of place and I think the ever-growing crowd were glad to see him replaced by the BMX Bandits for real some 20 minutes later.


The Bandits might have been around for lifetime and have experienced their fair share of line up changes, but during their set at Lemon Pop they more than proved that there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.

Tracks like 'I Wanna Fall In Love' and 'The Sailor's Song' make it easy to understand where Teenage Fanclub came from and lead singer Duglas Stewart, in his immaculate purple suit, really got the crowd popping. it really was very easy to enjoy their set. Here's what he had to say about Lemon Pop:

"My perspective of the festival in Murcia is that there seem to be more festivals that seem to be a reaction against the mainstream corporate sponsored festivals. The big corporate events in the UK have became less and less about music and more about exploiting a group of people who want to buy into what they perceive as being an alternative life style by going to these events. It's very refreshing and positive for us to find festivals like this clearly run by people who care passionately about music and for fans.

All the people we met were so warm and friendly and it made us feel like we'd really found a whole lot of new friends from playing at Lemon Pop. for me playing music is about wanting to communicate and connect with other people and I think we managed that in Murcia."

You certainly did!

And so the time came for headliner Cooper to enter stage right. Cooper and Lemon Pop are like soul brothers and it shows. I asked lead singer, Alex, why. Here's what he said:

"I've known Ángel Sopena [the organiser] for ages. He did many interviews with my first band Los Flechazos, he wrote the lines for a tribute album years ago, he was in London when we played there, and has always supported me and my music. I like Murcia because I've got good friends in the music scene there, especially the guys from Art School, but also PopEyes, Vacaciones, Octubre and Angel Pop... a crazy bunch."

Mr Sopena knows a good band when he hears one and Cooper are no exception; a sound to rival any band and a vocalist, Alex Diez, who flows through each track with such ease that you can't help but be hooked on the band's pop melodies.


Opening with 'Un Nudo En La Garganta' from debut album 'Fonorama' but mainly focusing on the latest release 'Aeropuerto' (read review) the by now 2,000 plus crowd showed their Cooper colours (myself included) during tracks like 'El Circulo Polar', 'Ruido', the exquisite 'Steph' and my personal favourite from the set 'Hyde Park' (I was feeling nostalgic). As if that wasn't enough, there was still time for a Jorge Art School cameo and a Flechazos hommage to close.

The public got what the public wanted (name that tune, anyone?) and set off for the aftershow (or bed) hoping that Lemon Pop can survive the onslaught and provide us with more pop magic next year. (If you're interested there's a good interview with the festival's organisers on the Lemon pop myspace page, which talks about this year's problems. Click here).

Oh year, one last thing. Thanks go to Duglas (BMX Bandits), Alex (Cooper) and The School for having a chat, to Claudia for sneaking me in backstage and above all to my missus, Inma López who gracefully stayed at home with the kids while I bopped away - just think how many disappointed readers wouldn't have read this article had it not been for you.

Next up, B-Side festival!

Richey James Edwards, R.I.P.

This week, one of the most famous cases of a "missing person" came a stage closer to being closed. The "person" in question was Richey James Edwards (or Richey James as he preferred), original member of Manic Street Preachers, who disappeared from a London hotel on February 1st 1995. His car was found abandoned near the Severn Bridge.

Whilst many presumed he had comitted suicide, 14 years have passed until his status of missing has been changed to "presumed dead", despite various alleged sightings during that time.

It seems appropriate, therefore, to dedicate this week's post to the late Richey James Edwards, surely one of the greatest lyricists of our times, and his band Manic Street Preachers.


Coming from Wales, The "Manics", as they became known, quickly achieved a reputation as a band with a political message and were linked almost immediately with The Clash and The Sex Pistols. After 6 years of demos, ep's and a series of volatile gigs, in 1992 they released their first full-length album, Generation Terrorists (Columbia), which boasted great tracks such as 'Motorcycle emptiness', 'You love us' and 'Stay beautiful'.

This magnificent debut was followed-up by a more ordinary album, Gold Against The Soul (Columbia, 1993), and many thought this was a signal the Manics would leave the music world without a trace (the band had even said themselves that they would break up after the first album). However, they came back with a 3rd album which, in my humble opinion, is one of the best of the 90s - The Holy Bible (Epic, 1994). This is a dark, hard album, typified by tracks such as 'Of walking abortion', 'She is suffering', 'Revol' and (personal favourite, mainly because of the title) 'Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart'. It was during this time that Richey's already erratic behaviour became increasingly accentuated and just before the group's scheduled tour of the U.S. his disappearance occurred.

For the next 2 years, we heard more about Richey being seen across the world and rumours the band would finally split than anything related to their music, but in 1996 the Manics brought out Everything Must Go (Epic), which finally established them as one of the U.K.'s biggest bands. Much poppier and certainly easier to listen to, but still retaining songs of a highly political content ('Kevin Carter' is a fantastic example of this) and, at the same time, offering anthems such as 'A design for life'. Indeed, for most this was the album of the year.

Since 1996, the band have released a further four studio albums; This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours (Virgin, 1998), Know Your Enemy (Virgin, 2001), Lifeblood (Sony, 2004) and Send Away The Tigers (back with Columbia, 2007) as well as the compilation Lipstick Traces (Sony, 2003).

Whilst it is probably true that the band has never reached such a level as "Everything..." each of the following albums have always graced us with a track or two to enjoy and highlighted the band's commitment to the socialist cause: 'Tsunami' talks of the deliberate flooding of a small Welsh village to benefit the English and 'Baby Elian' deals the U.S's treatment of Cuba (and ensured they became the first western band to play in La Habana, complete with a dinner invitation from Fidel Castro).

Now that Richey is no longer missing, it will be interesting to monitor the band's next move, given that 14 years after his disappearance, Richey James Edwards is as an important a part of the Manic Street Preachers as ever, a theory confirmed by the fact that their next album, due for release in Spring 2009 will consist exclusively of songs written by the man who is no longer with us.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the Manics, check out their discography by clicking on the thumbnails and listen to some of their tracks on the jukebox below.

Manic Street Preachers:
James Dean Bradfield, vocals and lead-guitar
Nicky Wire, bass and vocals
Sean Moore, drums and vocals
Richey James R.I.P, guitars

Albums:





Sounds:

Create a playlist at MixPod.com

Note: These tracks are copyright. I probably shouldn't put them on here, but all I'm trying to do is let people listen to some music and get an idea of why the Manics are so brilliant. I'd rather not get into trouble with the police, so if this is a problem, let me know and I'll remove the tracks.

The Party's Over

In Spanish ya se acabó la fiesta which all fans of Spanish band (artist?) DELUXE will recognise as the opening line to the track 'Hay colillas en el suelo' ('There are cigarette ends on the floor') from the penultimate album Fin De Un Viaje Infinito (2007, EMI Music Spain).

So why start a music blog with them (him), then?

Firstly, because Deluxe is one of my favourite Spanish bands, worthy of addition to any music collection (and certainly to mine). Indeed he holds a special place in my family - my kids (Pablo 4, Lucia, nearly 3) know the words to most of the songs from the last two albums and are always asking to see the DVD of the concert in La Rivera (Madrid) from October 2007 - their own special kiddies karaoke ensues everytime! - and my extremely better half (Inma) and I have followed his movement since he appeared.

Secondly, and more appropriately, due to the fact that Xoel López, the man behind (and in front of, come to think of it!) the Indie Pop group Deluxe has decided to call time on his project after 7 years of intense record production and touring.

The former Elephant Band man has, wisely, chosen to quit while he is ahead, so all that is left for me to do is to enlighten those (mainly the non-Spaniards amongst us) who may be wondering who the hell this guy is with a brief review of his music.

After leaving Elephant Band to start his project Deluxe, Xoel signed to the Spanish Indie label, Mushroom Pillow and released his first album Not What You Had Thought (2001). A presentation tour of over 100 gigs (including the FIB Festival in Benicasim, Castellón, Spain), accompanied by a first hit single 'I'll see you in London', which included a cover version of The Smith's 'There is a light that never goes out' (immediately shooting him up in my rating!), put Deluxe well and truly on the Spanish indie map.

His second LP, If Things Were To Go Wrong (Mushroom Pillow, 2003), again with English lyrics, reasserted Xoel's position as one of Spain's leading talents on the music scene and was even edited in Japan. Xoel's mix of catchy pop songs and more melancholic ballads, likening him to Beck, with a touch of The Who (cover version of Baba O'Riley included) and Morrissey, meant he was going from strength to strength and many thought international recogition was only a matter of time.

Perhaps surprisingly, then, was the move to Spanish lyrics for his third venture, Los Jóvenes Mueren Antes De Tiempo (Mushroom Pillow, 2005). However, Xoel had it clear in his mind that this was his language and that the important thing was the music and tracks like 'El antiheroe' and 'Mira' prove him right.

The forth album saw another significant change in Deluxe's development as he signed for EMI Spain before releasing Fin De Un Viaje Infinito (EMI Music Spain, 2007). This, in my humble opinion, is the most complete album by far. Previous offerings had all included great tracks, but 'Viaje...' is a truly great album. From the opening piano in 'Colillas en el suelo' to the closing hidden track, there is not one wasted moment on this album with 'Colillas...', 'Gigante', 'No es mi primera vez', 'Requiem (no fui yo)', 'Simone' and 'A un metro de distancia' for the popites and 'Tendremos que esperar', 'Rostro de actriz' and 'De tanto callar' for the balladites well backed up by a further 5 tracks. In fact, if anyone were naïve enough to go out and buy something on the strength of this post, then this would be a wise choice, even if your command of Spanish is no more than dos cervezas, por favor.

Almost a year to the day of the release of 'Viaje...', Deluxe bring out their fifth and final (for now) album, Reconstrucción (EMI Music Spain, 2008). A follow up to 'Viaje...' is a tall order and, on first listening to this album, you wonder if it can keep up with the Jones'. However, the more you listen to it the more you realise what a good bunch of songs this is. Fewer, albeit unforgettable, songs for the popites, such as 'Historia Universal (el amor no es lo que piensas)', 'Adiós Corazón' and 'Este último encuentro' sit comfortably beside the more-predominant slow songs, including 'El cielo de Madrid', 'Los días fríos' and 'Y si aguanto un poco más'. Also worthy of mention is the extra DVD of the La Riviera concert (Madrid, October 2007), which gives you an idea of what a Deluxe gig is like (enhanced by guest appearances from Josele Santiago - Los Enemigos -, and Amaral, amonst others.

The result, the end, fitting or not, to Deluxe.

What more can I say? Perhaps I should start and finish with 'Gracias por todo' to Xoel López. A seemingly unassuming person who has made a more than significant contribution to Spanish indie pop during the past decade.

And, who knows, a Hasta luego ('see you later') as oppposed to an Adiós followed by the best wishes whatever for the future to this Galician genius.

In the meantime, a taste of Deluxe, followed by their complete discography.

De Deluxe