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2006-11-19T14:20:00.000+01:00

The Electroluvs

The Electroluvs luv electro pop and northern soul, and in bringing the two together make music we luv, if you follow. Happy, poppy, fun tunes to run around and clap your hands to. Today we played the title track from their second album, "Bubblewrapped", a kind of bluegrassy-punky-electro thing, and First Rush, another uptempo in yer face offering. Probably better to just go to their myspace right away and listen for yourself, eh?

http://www.myspace.com/electroluvs

And if you REALLY like them, do them a favour - they're nominated for a French music award, so go and vote for them

There, doesn't that feel great?

2006-10-29T14:39:00.000+01:00

The Janets.

Show us your map of tassie.

2006-10-29T14:33:00.000+01:00

Yuksek. I'm not entirely sure how Yuksek appeared on the D!Y Chart Show Radar. But I'm guessing it has something to do with him being ace.

He's from France and sounds like a Justice remix of an Indie band, but without the hassle of finding an indie band to remix.

We're sold on his brand of noisy hiphoptechno electro. great stuff.

check our more here

2006-09-24T14:52:00.000+02:00

WE ARE WOLVES

These guys rock. So much so, they name rock as the fourth member of the band. NOt much info on them excpet they're from Toronto, they have an album, Non-Stop Je Te Plie en Deux, and yeah, they rock.

Today we played Little Birds. which sounds like a sweet and twee title, doesnt i kids (it's NOT), and Non-Stop, a track that seems to kick your door down, scream at your gran, kick you in the head and bone your dog.

I really like it.

Find out what little more there is to know here:

http://www.wearewolves.net/waw/index.php

But wear some body armour.

2006-09-24T14:40:00.000+02:00

GRANTURA

Having spent the week loving this band, i was surprised to learn they're from London, 2006. I very much doubt I'm the first to say it, but it sounds like these guys are BIG Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fans. But whats wrong with that when they make songs this good?

At the moment they're unsigned, but it's surely not long before they get snapped up. If you're in London, you might want to check them out.

Details of gigs and 4 tracks are at:

http://www.myspace.com/grantura

Get 'em while they're hot!

2006-08-20T16:05:00.000+02:00

MSTRKRFT have been making a name for themselves this year with a mulitude of remixes, but this duo from Ontario are also making music of their own. Ther debut album, The Looks, was released in July, and they're planning to follow up with something a bit more dark and dirty very soon....watch this space.

We played a couple of remixes today - Wolfmother's "Woman" and The Gossip's "Listen Up!" - let's hope they keep up the good work!

2006-07-23T16:10:00.000+02:00

DVA

They are from Hradec Kralove. They are Two. He and She. They make music. And it's something really special.

We hope to bring you more information about these two in the upcoming weeks, but for now there's not a great deal of info out there. check out their myspace for tracks and basic information. That's how we got to hear about them, they spammed our myspace. Thankfully.

2006-07-12T11:26:00.000+02:00

North Shore Pony Club

This week's featured artist was New Zealand's North Shore Pony Club. I recently heard them disparagingly dismissed as cheesy stadium electro..... which made me really want to check them out.

They are Matt Lofe and Aaron Clapton and have described themselves as "bastard disco" and we can't find it in ourselves to disagree. There's something extremely familiar about their songs, whether it's hint of Erasure or a Smidgeon of Berlin or a Smattering of Yazoo, but at the same time it's fresh and new sounding and we are sure they are going to be dancefloor destroyers. Infact we know they are...

Check out the tracks Computer Games and The Sequel from Headphone Sex

2006-05-28T16:09:00.000+02:00

The Chalets

In a DIYChartshow FIRST, this week we played THREE songs from our featured artists. Why? Well, partly because the Chalets specialise in sub 3-minute power-pop, and partly because they're just so bloody good we couldn't pick two songs to play...

Basically, whatever i say about them is said with much more wit and fun on their own site...so here's the cold hard facts:

They're from Ireland.
They're gigging (a lot) around Europe at the moment.
They released an album last year called Check In.
They're bloody amazing.

Find out more on their website. No really, do. you won't regret it (although you might never be the same again).

http://www.thechalets.com

2006-05-21T16:21:00.000+02:00

Ivor Cutler

January 15th 1923 - March 3rd 2006

I'm not going to try and justify why we have been so late in acknowledging Ivor's passing or try to add my foolish words to the miles of column inches which have been dedicated to him and his life's work. Ivor Cutler for me spoke with a child's voice and an old man's voice at the same time. I first heard him when I was about 12 and he spoke directly to me or that's what it felt like hearing him on the John Peel Show. If you're new to Ivor, google his name for more info. I'm quite partial to this biography which seems very much to be done in the style of Ivor himself.

2006-05-14T16:18:00.000+02:00

Adam Sky...

(AKA The Artist Formerly Known As Adamski)

Adam Sky (real name Adam Tinley) made his first record at the tender age of 11, in 1979, as a member of the "Stupid Babies" with a record called "Babysitters". To be honest, i cant find a copy for love nor money so I've no idea what it was like, but it must've been good because a certain Mr John Peel played it regularly on his show. Nuff sed.

In the late 80's, having adopted the Adamski moniker, Adam started taking his sequencer, synth and drum machine to clubs, plugging into the mixer and performing live instrumentals. This eventually led to the release of the 1990 single, "NRG". I loved that record at the time...and I still love it now.

Let me say that again: I LOVE that record.

And so do a lot of people it would seem, judging by the reactions of crowds when we've played it in the clubs of Brno. A classic. I love it.

Anyways, enough already. Adam took a bit of time off over the last few years to make children rather than music, but now he's back. This month will see the launch of his new label, Prostitute records, so expect some more fresh freaky acid stuff to come from him very soon...

Check out his website:

http://www.adam-sky.net

2006-05-14T16:17:00.000+02:00

ADEM

Adem Ilhan who used to be in the Fridge with Kieran Hebdan, has just released his second solo album, Love and Other Planets. We've been fans of Adem since he played with Four Tet at the Mountaineers Hot Trees Club Night in London about 2 and a half years ago. Live he's stunning with beautifully crafted songs played out in a very folksy live style. Lyrically sound and with more than a few catchy melodies, we were really looking forward to the new album and we were not disappointed.

He describes it himself as a Concept album, but don't let that put you off. To be honest it's more a collection of similarly themed songs than a concept album, unless of course that is you're definition of a concept album.

Anyway, we played two tracks of the new one, Something's Going to Come and Warning Call which are great examples of his craft in this more mature, slightly less catchy but more sophisticates album.

check out his website and buy his album from a record shop it's out now on Domino.

2006-05-07T16:15:00.000+02:00

Skip Spence

Like a rough, more obscure counterpart to Syd Barrett, Skip Spence was one of the late '60s' most colorful acid casualties. The original Jefferson Airplane drummer (although he was a guitarist who had never played drums before joining the group), Spence left after their first album to join Moby Grape. The group ran into rough times in 1968, and Spence had the roughest, flipping out and (according to varying accounts) running amok in a record studio with a fire axe; he ended up being committed to New York's Bellevue Hospital. Upon his release, Spence cut an acid-charred classic, Oar, in 1969. Though released on a major label (Columbia), this was reportedly one of the lowest-selling items in its catalog and is hence one of the most valued psychedelic collector items. Much rawer and more homespun than the early Grape records, it features Spence on all (mostly acoustic) guitars, percussion, and vocals. With an overriding blues influence and doses of country, gospel, and acid freakout thrown in, this sounds something like Mississippi Fred McDowell imbued with the spirit of Haight-Ashbury 1967.. Sadly, it was his only solo recording; more sadly, mental illness prevented Spence from reaching a fully functional state throughout the remainder of his lifetime. He died April 16, 1999, just two days short of his 54th birthday.

2006-04-23T16:11:00.000+02:00

Napoleon XIV

Napoleon XIV was the pseudonym of record producer Jerry Samuels (b 1938 New York City), whose biggest hit, "They're Coming To Take You Away Haha!" dealt with mental illness brought about by the lover of the vocalist leaving him, and was controversial at the time for its willingness to confront the subject directly—albeit humorously:

Remember when you ran away and I got on my knees and begged you not to leave because I'd go berserk? Well, you left me anyhow, and then the days got worse and worse, and now you see I've gone completely out of my mind!...

...scary stuff indeed. The two songs we played today were a cover of "They're Coming To Take You Away Haha!" by Lard, and the original "The Place Where The Nuts Hunt The Squirrels" - which has had Jimmy hiding in terror for the whole week.

If you want to explore the madness further, go here:

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/09/21_variations_o.html

2006-04-16T16:07:00.000+02:00

OH NO! OH MY!

2006-03-05T18:25:00.000+01:00

As everyone knows, all things DIY are good. DIY chartshow, DIY synthpop, Ikea furniture....oh, wait. Sorry. "But what's that you said," I hear you ask, "DIY synthpop???"...

Yip, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's first 3 albums were recorded using nothing more than cheapy home keyboards and 4-tracks...but now things are changing. Owen Ashworth, the man behind it all, has decided he's taken those limitations to their logical conclusion, and has expanded his sound.

The new album, "Etiquette", sees him working with producers such as Jherek Biscoff (of The Dead Science and Degenerate Art Ensemble) and Jason Quever (The Papercuts and Pan American Recording Studio), and brings in pianos, organs, strings, flutes, drums, and pedal steel guitars. However, at the root of it all, the homemade feel remains. And jolly nice it is, too.

Find out more here.

2006-02-27T13:07:00.000+01:00

SPANK ROCK

Just before we left for the Sperm Festival in Prague, I was in the office with WEE MeTom, preparing for the interviews we'd lined up. MeTom said check this out and blasted out the new album from SPank Rock. NOt only do they have the bestest name in Music at the moment. Their dirtier than filthy basslines and rude lyrics stand them out as one of the few U.S. HipHop acts to really have been influenced by the UK Grime scene and they are at leasted touted as the only U.S. act to list Dizzee Rascal as an influence. It's nice to see the influence in Hip Hop going the other way for once. and with collaborations with M.I.A. in the pipeline, I'm sure there will be more plenee more nonsense ahead. Brilliant stuff.

2006-02-23T09:46:00.000+01:00

In order to bring some sense of order to this blog, I'm going to summarize the full list of Featured Artists since time began, with links so that we can have a fully functioning catalogue of the great and the cool. does that make sense, possibly not, but I know what I mean and that's surely the most important thing:

Jenny Lewis
Balkan Beat Box
J Dilla
Instant Automatons
Brave Captain
Burning Boy
Jennifer Gentle
Materidouska
Morningwood
The Test Icicles
Simian
Martha Wainwright
Freeform Five
Link Wray
David Jack
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Vashti Bunyan
The Palace Lido
American Analog Set
Kraak en Smaak
The Brazilian Girls
DangerDoom
The Idle Race
The Microphones
Control Z
The Soft Machine
13 and God
The New Pornographers
Bob Moog
The Vaselines
The Coral
Devo
The Silver Jews
Calexico
The Arcade Fire
Johnny Cash
Sufjan Stevens
Felt
Morgenstern and Lippok
Quasimoto
The Little Flames
Azure Ray
The GO! Team
Patrick Wolf
The Books
Tom Waits
Echo and the Bunnymen
Tribe called Quest
The Winstons
Riton
Modey Lemon
Jamie Lidell
Asha Bosle
Malcolm Middleton

2006-02-21T09:21:00.001+01:00

holding pattern --go back./

2006-02-21T09:21:00.000+01:00

For now this is just a holding pattern go back to the main blog

http://www.diychartshow.com