This one isn't a Neon Gold event per se as we had nothing to do with putting it on, promoting or booking it, but the fine people behind Scandalism have chosen to launch their brand new night with a very Neon Gold-centric lineup and we couldn't be more excited. Marina & The Diamonds, Wolf Gang and Yes Giantess will all be throwing down live, with further live action coming from Telepathe, Tommy Sparks, Plugs and more. It all goes down tomorrow night at Scala and this is without a doubt the hottest ticket in town, so book now before it's too late. This Scandalism shit is going to be MASSIVE, kind of like this Yes Giantess remix of Wolf Gang's "Pieces of You".
We've got an absurd amount of Neon Gold events on in the weeks to come, but if you've only got room in your life for one night of Neon Gold raging, this should absolutely be it. In what we hope to establish as a monthly occurence in the months to come, Neon Gold Presents makes its proper London debut at Notting Hill Arts Club next Tuesday 21st July.
Starring our very own superstar-in-waiting Marina & The Diamonds playing live with support from hotly tipped experimental pop whiz Clock Opera, the live portion of the night alone is enough to warrant the negligible £4 entry fee. We’ve also got a sterling DJ lineup beyond the live stage though, highlighted by sets from Frankmusik, Russ Chimes and Starsmith, who together ride high as the three kings of London's electronic pop scene. With only £4 entry and this likely your last chance to catch Marina and co. in such an intimate setting, this is truly a can’t miss event. BE THERE.
Marina needs no introduction by this point, but Clock Opera is a brand new name on the scene and an extremely special talent in his own right. With his own unique "chop pop" approach to composing sample based pop masterpieces, he sounds like nothing we've ever heard before. "Once And For All" is his debut track and statement of intent, a swirling opus of chopped up samples and shimmering instrumentals that steadily builds before exploding into a climax of pulsing, emotive energy. Rumor has it the live show is something of a spectacle and you better believe we're over the moon to have him supporting Marina at Neon Gold Presents next week. Yes mate.
The Sanderson is one of the most baller hotels in London, not only the product of its amazing design and surrealist decor, but also due to awesome events like their Sanderson Predicts summer concert series. Set in the sun-dappled sanctuary of their courtyard garden and coordinated by Modular Events, the series will see the likes of Slow Club, Cocknbullkid and Little Boots grace its stage this summer and we're honored to have been asked to curate one of its nights. Our Neon Gold event goes down this Thursday at 7pm and will feature special acoustic sets from Wolf Gang and the inimitable Marina & The Diamonds. Entry is free and on a first come first serve basis (max capacity: 100), and you can also call 02073001333 to book a table and ensure your place in the courtyard for the event. It's going to be magic, see you there.
In other Wolf Gang news, their single drops today on Neon Gold (order here and here) and they're ringing it in with a week of phenomenal gigs around London. Tonight they play a free instore at Puregroove Records, followed up by top notch support slots for Miike Snow and The Temper Trap on Tuesday (Hoxton Bar + Kitchen) and Wednesday (ICA), respectively. Thursday's our aforementioned Sanderson Predicts event and then they round things out with the gig of the month (and quite possibly even the year) at Scala on Friday with Marina, Yes Giantess, Telepathe and more as part of the brand new Scandalism night (tickets for that one here).
The first of the remixes we've commissioned have begun to trickle in as well, and the highlight thus far is no doubt the amazing rework from left coast up and comers Baby Monster. Laying down a churning bassline and dressing up the track in all manner of atmospheric flourishes, they inject the mix with a newfound electricity and maximize the original's already rife dancefloor potential, and the mix is just another reason to keep an eye on Baby Monster in the months to come. More on the promising US duo soon, but for now feast on their debut remix below.
For a minute there we fell off the Florence & The Machine bandwagon. It all just got a bit much for us. Listening to her songs I kind of just wanted to be like "hey Flo, enough with all the yelling," and her I'm-so-karraazzeee persona was a bit too much for me to really buy into 100%. But damn, we've had her debut album Lungs for about six weeks now and I've got to be honest, I'm smitten as a kitten. Sure, a few of the songs are a bit samey and she's guilty of leaning on that booming voice of hers as a crutch at times to try to drum up excitement in a few otherwise unremarkable tunes, but some of these tracks are just killers. The jury's still out on whether anything after lead single "Rabbit Heart" will be able make any waves on the charts or radio, but album cuts like "Drumming", "Cosmic Love" and "My Boy Builds Coffins" are downright brilliant.
Bringing things back to "Rabbit Heart" though... what a track. An early contender for our single of the year, it's just unbelievable. We're predisposed to love anything Paul Epworth touches - and his production is very much what helps to elevate this single to impossible heights - but this is songwriting of the highest caliber, songwriting we didn't know Florence had in her back when we were doubting her ability to do much more than hit that same booming note she comes back to on every chorus. This is her most vulnerable anthem, as she looks the pressures of success dead in the eye and rises to the occasion on one of the most massive choruses of 2009: "this is a gift/it comes with a price/who is the lamb and who is the knife". Fame is the dream, but the music industry will eat you alive... "how quickly the glamour fades", indeed.
Beyond the track itself though, the actual campaign behind it is one of the year's most impressive as well, highlighted by the phenomenal remix package. Switch turns in his best mix in ages featuring a surprising guest verse from Brooklyn's Ninjasonik that somehow ends up working quite well, and Jamie T's Lionheart remix is absolutely massive. But it's the beautiful Leo Zero mix we've been cleared to put on offer for you below, a sprawling 8 minute epic of "La Ritournelle" pianos and majestic production flourishes, that ultimately rises above the rest as the most inspiring of the bunch. It's a slow-burning pop epic that's nowhere near as immediate as the efforts from Switch and Jamie but eventually proves itself to be one of the year's most impressive reworks. "Rabbit Heart" has the misfortune of being on the charts at the same time as anything Michael Jackson has ever touched, but all the more reason to show it some love. So yeah, it's safe to say we're back on the wagon. Lungs is out today and is well worth your hard earned shillings.
And finally, we'd be remiss not to mention the unofficial video for "Rabbit Heart" that adorns the top of this post, culled from footage of William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt's 1935 beautiful silver screen adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's one of the more intricate and delicately pieced together stock footage videos we've seen and a vast improvement on its rather mediocre official counterpart. Watch and marvel.
We first championed Your Twenties back in January in our hot tips for 2009 feature and now six months on we're thrilled to be bringing their sophomore single into the world on Neon Gold. Having cut his teeth in the London indie scene as the bassist and keyboardist in Metronomy, frontman Gabriel Stebbing has recently left to focus on the Twenties full time, and the results have been nothing short of brilliant. Debut single "Caught Wheel" dropped last fall to rapturous praise and quickly flew off the shelves and "Billionaires" - their next offering and first on Neon Gold - looks primed to do the same. Produced by the legendary Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths), "Billionaires" soars on the wings of sunny ooh-ooh-oohs and big, driving guitars and sounds like the perfect soundtrack to a classic American summer. Your Twenties have discovered the formula for the feelgood anthem of the year and this is it.
This perfect slice of breezy indie pop will be coming at you on 7" vinyl July 27th and is available for preorder now from the Neon Gold Shop and London's Puregroove Records. Limited to 500 copies and featuring some of the best artwork we've had yet done by the band themselves, this is a hot ticket and should look mighty fine on the mantle where you no doubt proudly display all your other Neon Gold releases. We're pretty sure this is the perfect summer single and we hope you'll agree.
The world lost the greatest entertainer of all time while we were off at Glasto, and it's only just beginning to settle in now that we've returned to the real world. Glasto had it's fair share of ill advised MJ tributes, so it's nice to see a worthwhile celebration of the King of Pop back in London this week. Head down to Punk on Thursday for Wonky Pop's celebration of the man and his accomplishments, featuring a headlining DJ set from Ellie Goulding remix hero Jakwob. Free entry for anyone dressed as the Gloved One himself, all the info you need is here.
We're way busy packing for our first ever Glastonbury, but before we jet off for the weekend we had to hook you up with the amazing new video that's just come through for Marina & The Diamonds' "I Am Not A Robot". Directed by Dazed & Confused founder and famed London photographer Rankin, it's hands down one of the best videos we've seen in ages and one of the more special things we've ever been involved with. We were on set for a portion of the grueling 16 hour shoot (which involved three full body paint jobs) and it was obvious this was going to be pure magic, but the video turned out even more beautifully than we could have ever imagined. Truly a work of art.
Out on Neon Gold this past Monday, "Robot" is the lead single from The Crown Jewels EP, which is still available for purchase from the Neon Gold Shop and Puregroove as well as on iTunes UK. As per usual it comes backed by a delicately assembled remix package, one of the highlights of which is the incredible mix from The Aspirins For My Children. NME's named the remix their #1 Must Hear track in this week's issue and they're pretty much spot on there: this shit has massive trance stabs, high drama strings, actual robots and just about anything else you could possibly ask for. Between this and his immense destruction of "Obsessions", we're starting to feel like a full-fledged Aspirins/Marina EP is something that needs to happen... we're not making any promises though.
That's all for now, off to Glastonbury tomorrow. We'll be back in action next week (with a new single announcement, no less) provided we survive the next four days. Holler at us if you're headed down and if you're not be sure to keep it locked on our twitter for drunken updates on how much fucking fun we're having. We'll be spending most of our time kicking it the Chess Club-curated stage at the Departure Lounge, where Neon Gold favorites and Chess Club all-stars Ex-Lovers, Mumford & Sons, Kurran & The Wolfnotes and many more will be awing the masses all weekend. Check out the full line up our Chess Club dudes have put together HERE. Can't wait, y'all.
This one isn't a Neon Gold event per se as we had nothing to do with putting it on, promoting or booking it, but the fine people behind Scandalism have chosen to launch their brand new night with a very Neon Gold-centric lineup and we couldn't be more excited. Marina & The Diamonds, Wolf Gang and Yes Giantess will all be throwing down live, with further live action coming from Telepathe, Tommy Sparks, Plugs and more. It all goes down tomorrow night at Scala and this is without a doubt the hottest ticket in town, so book now before it's too late. This Scandalism shit is going to be MASSIVE, kind of like this Yes Giantess remix of Wolf Gang's "Pieces of You".
