This Friday sees Murcia's Sala Stereo play host to up and coming national band, Zeno And The Stoics. Having spent the last four years playing the Madrid scene - including several high profile slots with the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers or Kasabian - this pop/rock six piece have started reaping their rewards in 2009. The release of their debut album 'Cosmic Catastrophe', has seen them gaining more and more attention in Spain. Indeed, opening track 'Elixir' is currently the soundtrack to one of the top TV series, Dr. Mateo.
The album, 13 tracks in English, was produced by Gordon Raphael, who has also previously worked with The Strokes. Cosmic Catastrophe certainly draws on Raphael's experience, with more than a hint of the New Yorkers' sound in there, whilst you might detect a drop of U2 during your listen too.
Anyway, those of you who are in town had best decide for themselves. Kick off is at 10.30pm and tickets are a give away at 8€. Local duo, This Way, will be supporting. Here's a taste of what you're in for...
The latest band to make into NME-E's Myspace Magic section hail from Manchester. Mutineers are a quartet who have evolved from bands such as Haven, Marion, The Cardinals and Johnny Marr’s Healers. Having started to make a noise on the 'net and with a series of gigs behind them, including support slots with The View, among others, NME-E decided to find out a little more... NME-E: So, who the heck are Mutineers, then? Mut: The quartet’s story starts at the beginning of 2008, when four drinking mates with an already impressive history decided to pool their talents. Vocalist Nick Mallins had previously fronted the hotly tipped Cardinals alongside bassist Iwan Gronow, who had also spent time in the revered ranks of Haven and Johnny Marr’s Healers. Recruiting guitarist Michael Reed and former Haven drummer Jack Mitchell to the tight-knit fold, it then took mere months to craft an album’s worth of towering anthems, with results which recall the shimmering grandiosity of Echo and the Bunnymen or the aching simplicity of Lloyd Cole, channelling the genius of past greats and forging it into something very much of their own making.
Confidence is not an issue with Mutineers, read on...
NME-E: What do you sound like? Mut: Simple yet epic guitars chime from the heart carried along by Gronow and Mitchell’s tightly fused rhythms, while Mallins’ vocals have that Neil Young trick of seeming fragile yet actually being possessed of angelic strength, aching with something deep beyond our years, delivering lyrics that are equal parts romantic, down to earth and abstract.Slices of towering anthemic pop to match anything in the international armoury of The Killers or prime REM.
Told you so. These guys don't need a promotion department! Also found a hint of Athlete in there.
NME-E: What can we expect from Mutineers in the near future? Mut: Apart from world domination, we've recorded our debut album in Wales and London, mixed by Idlewild and House of Love producer Paul Tipler, due for imminent release. We’ve served our time as a best kept secret, and the secret is about to be let out. Once you’re initiated, Mutineers will have you believing that you have known and loved our songs for all of your life.
Personally, of the four tracks currently available to listen to on Mutineers' myspace page I recommend 'Hyde Road', although they're all worth a listen, really.
Mutineers clearly have a high opinion of themselves, NME-E does too. Check out their latest gig dates on the NME-E calendar, 'Put On Your Dancing Shoes'
This week's Myspace Magic featured band are a quartet from Liverpool who, despite having formed recently are already making a name for themselves on the local music scene. Fly With Vampires might not mean to much to many a reader at the moment, but they are certainly one to keep your eyes on.
The music is excellent and worthy of a listen - there are currently two tracks on their myspace page, 'Not Wasted On The Young' and 'Tear Dried T-Shirts' which, while different in style, are easy on the ear for all discerning pop/rockers. 'Not Wasted On The Young' is a grower with an infectious guitar arrangement, while 'Tear Dried T-Shirts' is pure power-pop, and reminds me of a band called Puressence, whose album 'Only Forever' really made an impact on me when it was released.
Coinciding with Fly With Vampire's launch, then, here's what they had to say:
NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about? FWV: We are Kieran and Phil, both on guitar and vocals, The Bear on bass and vocals and Paul on drums. We came together through the love of performing and the buzz we all get from creating new music.
NME-E: Is there a reason behind your name? FWV: It is a modern and exciting name that stood out to us and will to others.
NME-E: Describe your sound. FWV: It's a powerful and dramatic explosion of sound. It hits you hard! NME-E: What are your releases to date? FWV: It's early days yet, although we are looking to release our first single late June. NME-E: If you could choose a band to support you, who would it be? FWV: Editors, The Killers, White Lies and those kind of bands. We really respect them a lot. Although I would imagine we would be supporting them before they support us. haha. If things take off, you never know. NME-E: What's your favourite album at the moment? FWV: Fleet Foxes. NME-E: Tell us about your objectives/prospects for next 12 months. FWV: We know we have the potential to go all the way this year. If the right person takes a chance on us i can see us being a regular on the likes of Radio 1.
For now they have made it onto nme-europe. Let's see how far they go from here! My thanks go out to Fly With Vampires for being kind enough to answer my questions. Please show them some support and visit their myspace page and if you're in Liverpool tonight (14 March) you could do a lot worse than head to the Barfly and see them live as they support Go Faster. If it didn't involve an EasyJet flight, I'd be there too!
Hello everybody. Here is the news..... Top Stories This week must be "International Promote Your New Release Week" or something similar, as every second news bit seems to be dedicated to a new album. Here's an example of just a few of them; Maximo Park will offer a free download of their new track 'Wrathlike' from the forthcoming album 'Quicken The Heart' on their webpage; Kasabian have named their third album 'West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum', which will be out in June; in the middle of the Blur reunion, Graham Coxon has announced the release of his new experimental album 'The Spinning Top', due out on May 15; Super Furry Animals will broadcast a live version of their new album 'Dark Nights/Light Years' their myspace page on Mar 16 coinciding with its digital release). Better start saving my cents!
The rest of the news appears to belong to veteran Irish rockers U2. On the back of claiming the tenth chart topping album of their career with 'No Line On The Horizon', the band have announced the first details of their forthcoming world stadium tour. The tour will kick off on June 30 at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium, then continuing through Europe – including four UK dates and a Dublin show – before heading to north America.
Audiences will suuround the group on a specially designed stage and will also be able to enjoy support bands such as Glasvegas, Elbow, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and Black eyed Peas.
As if that wasn't enough, they have also had a street in New York City named in their honour to celebrate the release of their brand new album. 53rd Street is now U2 Way. Shame the album is only average (more of that later).
Still in the States, Morrissey has had an eventful start to the US leg of his world tour. After cancelling the first few dates due to illness, he was reportedly interrogated by US immigration officials in Atlanta. You can read all about it on his myspace page blog, but he appears to be ready to take on the world if, in his words, "the world can take it".
Myspace Magic Myspace has been unreal this week and I'm having serious trouble keeping up to date with things. Friend requests galore and stacks of really cool music mean the list of pending interviews is getting longer and longer. Its A Buffalo are the latest band to be featured, coinciding with the release of their debut album 'Don't Be Scared', which is currently on the iphone awaiting a formal review. I'll get the rest done as soon as I can, so please be patient.
Elsewhere, Liverpool's The Rackets have announced free downloads of their tracks on their myspace page. Don't be a fool and take them up on the offer, 'The Usual Suspects' is my personal recommendation.
Reviews I foolishly got my hands on the new U2 release last week and will explain my foolishness in due course. Fortunately, I also got Its A Buffalo's 'Don't Be Scared', a review of which will appear shortly. I can see I'm going to be void of time to review everything I'd like to, so I might have to re-organise things a little. Let's see what I come up with - so much to listen to and only one pair of ears!
Festival Fever Manic here too, with most of the big festivals finalising line ups. The V festival announced headline slots for Oasis and The Killers. Tickets went on sale on March 6, the Chemlsford show sold out in two hoursand their ar eonly a handful of ticket left for Staffordshire! Myspace Magic bands The Little Hydes and Metropolitans are taking part in the Road To V competition, so please click on the following link to see how you can help them. You can also find link to the official website on the sidebar and keep abreast of developments of this and other top festivals there.
And finally..... Couldn't sign off without a special mention to local Murcian boys Second who offered a fabulous gig last Saturday night. The quality was outstanding in all aspects and confirms them as one of the top bands in Spain right now. Check out the youtube video below, where Jose Angel and co. invite fans on to the stage to take part in the final track - what a shame I was so far back! Enjoy.
This week I'm in a prolific mood, so you're honoured with a second Myspace Magic feature! Today we take a look at Metropolitans ahead of their the EP release promotional gig on February 18 at the Liverpool O2 Academy.
Having become official "friends" on myspace, Tony was kind enough to take some time to answer my standard set of questions. Here's what Metropolitans have to say.
NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about? Met: The band is, Tony Slater, lead vocals and guitar; Ste Miceli, lead guitar and backing vocals; Scott Davies, bass; and Adam Caine on drums. We have known each other since school really. Myself and Ste have been in bands together for a good couple of years now and we had jammed a few times with Scott and Adam, so us getting together as a band was going to happen at some point.
NME-E: What are your releases to date? Met: Nothing of yet but we are planning to release an EP on Febuary 18th at the Liverpool 02 Academy.
NME-E: If you could choose a band to support you, who would it be? Met: Hard one... so many bands we would like to support! That would have been an easy question! Most Liverpool bands around now are class so anyone of them really.
Keeping it local, it's great to see bands in the 'Pool supporting each other like that.
NME-E: What was you favourite album of 2008? Met: Mine personally? probably The Killers with 'Day & Age', the rest of the band probably wouldn't agree, they seem to like Kings Of Leon's new one which is also a really good album. The Courteeners album has got us talking though!
I wonder if the fact The Courteeners got a mention was down to NME-E's influence!
NME-E: What are your objectives/prospects for next 12 months? Met: Hmm, hopefully make this (being in a band) our full time job, maybe record an album or another EP later in the year. We would like to tour the UK but money's tight at the moment with all this credit crunch and that. who knows?
At present there are just two tracks on their myspace page. However, you easily see where they are coming from. If you can't get to the gig yourselves at least give them a cyber visit and check out their powerful sounds. As a fleeting visit from Murcia is not an option, I'd like to thank them from here and wish them all the best for the gig and that EP. I look forward to hearing some more stuff VERY soon.
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