Red Stripe Recommends 17/11
- 17/11/08
It has been a while, but it was worth the wait...Our Blog
SixNationState
RED STRIPE RECOMMENDS 17/11
Recommended Album:
Sigur Ros ‘Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust’ (EMI)
An album title that rolls of the tongue, for sure. It might not be as pronounceable as their breakthrough album, ‘Takk’, but it’s certainly more accomplished. The big, elevating soundscape of songs like ‘Hoppípolla’ are recreated here with the diversity of ‘Hvarf/Heim’, the cutthroat diversity between the introvert acoustic beauty and the stadium filling opulence, the majesty of a full orchestra playing the greatest of great classical music. Their ability to take the ethos of classical music and turn it into segmented pop is something of a jaw-droppingly exciting principal that Sigur Ros have mastered so consummately, so precisely that they can control your emotions, baffling listeners. The new album also suggests more mainstream horizons with ‘Gobbledigook’ having the drums and snap of an indie sound, a quirky and inexorably flamboyant indie sound, but still arguably standard. It’s contrasted by ‘Ara Batur’ which opens like rivers into the Grand Canyon, an incredibly cinematic musical interpretation of splendour and expression, verbalised by one of our generations most creative and valuable bands.
Recommended Track:
Red Light Company ‘Scheme Eugene’ (Lavolta)
Psychedelic pop is big business these days, the genre has well and truly fought back from the 1990’s, Flaming Lips heyday with a host of great new bands such as MGMT and Iglu & Hartly. Now this exciting new London ensemble are getting a piece of the action while there’s still some action to be had. Lyrically, a tad on the depositing side, but what it lacks in content it makes up for in delivery. The song is a Polyphonic Spree kind of electric joyride with big, blaring choruses of androgynous vocals and guitar whisking, haemorrhaging into an anthmic pop song built for radio ga ga land. Nice.
Recommended Band:
SixNationState
This summer, SixNationState were so many Londoners utter live highlight. They not only played an almost overabundance of live dates with the likes of The Maccabees, Laura Marling, The Wombats, Mumford & Sons, The Delays and Pete & The Pirates, but also festivals like Glastonbury, Bestival and Winchester Live.
Fuelled with DIY spirit, eclectic creativity and a head-full of crazy juice, the band seamlessly churn out beautifully crafted pop, doowap, ska and indie songs with a stunningly electrifying live performance to match. Fans have noted that at SixNationState gigs there are no spectators, only participants. The band can often be found leading the audience in massive dance-a-longs, inviting people to lunge up in the air and crash back down onto the dancefloor.
With over five hundred shows in two years in various parts of the globe and a debut album under their belt, the band have been writing their second record in the sodden basement of London’s infamous Nambucca venue where creativity and musical eclecticism is rife. SixNationState are more than a band though. They have created a world around them that is so far detached from reality or normality that they are utterly unique in substance and style; picking up a stream of fans on the way considered by the five as much part of them as each other.
Sleeping rough, going up and down the London canals on a barge, playing guerrilla gigs to bedazzled crowds, making home videos to their songs… that sort of loco troubadour-esque behaviour… they’re now readying their new body of work for a Spring 09 release after a tour with White Denim.
The band have also got a free song, and a brand spanking new one at that, up for grabs during the forthcoming tour. You can get ‘Your Money Or Your Life’ from the bands website at www.sixnationstate.co.uk while they play the following watering holes.
16 November at Cluny, Newcastle
17 November at The Plug, Sheffield
18 Nov November at Dingwalls, London
19 Nov November at Lennons, Southampton
20 Nov November at The Cooler, Bristol
22 Nov November at Korova, Liverpool
23 Nov November at Ruby Lounge, Manchester
24 Nov November at Stereo, GlasgowSearch Site
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