DX RSS Podcast Feed

Tu Fawning - Out Like Bats

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PST

Tu Fawning - Out Like Bats

Tu Fawning - Out Like Bats MP3

Britsound Interviews The Young Knives

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PST

Britsound Interviews The Young Knives

Britsound Interviews The Young Knives MP3

Britsound Interviews Air Traffic

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PST

Britsound Interviews Air Traffic

Britsound Interviews Air Traffic MP3

Meho Plaza - I Sold My Organs

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PST

buy it at insound! Meho Plaza - I Sold My Organs

Meho Plaza - I Sold My Organs MP3

Lykke Li

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

buy it at insound! Recommended Tracks: 2, 3, 1 Lykke Li is a Swedish Indie-Pop singer with a knack at making a chilled out brand of electro indie pop. Her EP Little Bit, released on her self-started label LL Recordings in 2007, began her rise to fame. Most of her career so far has been spent over in Sweden; however she is currently in the middle of a full North American tour in support of her newest album Youth Novels. Little Bit kicks off with the title track and we get the first glimpse of Lykke Li's vocal ability, which is one of the driving forces behind this album. The songs are all fairly simple, but catchy enough to keep your foot tapping. Clocking in at 4 songs this EP just gives a small taste of what Lykke Li has to offer. �Dance.Dance.Dance." is one of the standout tracks, featuring a sax solo behind Li's almost lullaby-like singing and songwriting abilities. The rest of the album flows along in an almost dream like state. Fans of Familjen and El Perro Del Mar will feel right at home with the 22 year old who has spent time all over the world, gaining influences from countries like Portugal, Nepal, and India. Although for the most part her voice is great and fits the music well, she tries to push it a little too much in �Time Flies,� and ends up sounding like Wing, the Chinese lady from South Park. While Little Bit has its ups and downs, the debut EP did its part in stirring up some interest in Lykke Li. She has written some great down tempo melodies that stand out amongst the dime-a-dozen electronic songs that come out these days. A solid voice, backed by a great business savvy mentality has at least set the stage for Lykke Li, LL Recordings, and Youth Novels in the future. Lykke Li Tour Dates and skitzy video for "Little Bit"

Lykke Li MP3

She & Him

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

buy it at insound! The "She" in She & Him, is Zooey Deschanel. You may remember her from movies like-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Elf and Almost Famous-she played the cool older sister that epitomized 70's teen rebellion against tradition. Deschanel is the poster girl of the ultimate indie crush. She's well known in her circuit and so is her partner in recording, Matt Ward. If you haven't figured it out, he's the "Him." M. Ward as he is more commonly known as, is a cult symbol of the indie singer-songwriter scene. He makes music with some of the genre's most revered, like Neko Case and Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Back in 2006 the gang played an amazing spot on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Imagine all of them on one stage? Yes, I know..very surreal but it did happen! They, �She & Him,� collaborated and came up with Volume 1 which was released by Merge records. Think of sunny days driving around town. Stopping to lay on someone's meticulously groomed lawn to watch the orange glow of the sun go down, with say, about fifty of your closest friends. Now imagine all that plus vintage clothing circa, late 1950s- early 60s, long hair on everyone and a certain nostalgic peacefully-ness to the air. This album takes you right back there, to a time when you probably weren't in existence, a time of simple sweet love songs, prized class rings, lettermen jackets and "bicycles for two." A time before the movements, the protests, the war. The suburban quiet before the storm. M. Ward isn't heard very much on the record at all. This may disappoint the legions of die hard Ward fans. At most, his husky voice can be heard on a cover of Smokey Robinson's "You really got a Hold on Me" which seems to be the lull on the album. The song comes through as more of a jam session. The same can be said for their Beatles cover of "I should have know better� which is too slow and seems to drag on. Most of the other tunes are quite nice. Deschanel's pretty voice with her country twist on soda shop pop, is well suited against the music of M. Ward. Songs like the album opener �Sentimental Heart,� �Change is Hard,� �Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" �This is not a Test,� �I thought I saw your face today,� and �Black Hole�are as sincere sounding as the time period that it reflects. The title Volume 1 does lead us to believe that there will be a Volume 2, which, if it is any reflection of its premier counterpart, I cannot wait for.

She & Him MP3

Britsound Interviews Amy McDonald

Fri, 9 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

Interview with Amy MacDonald, May 2008. RQ: You were in New York just a couple of days ago, and I read on your blog that you absolutely loved it. What did you love about New York? AM: Just that it�s a great city, and there�s so much going on, and it�s so interesting and so entertaining. RQ: You went shopping as well. I think that was a big attraction for you, wasn�t it? AM: Quickly. I didn�t really have a lot of time. We were really busy there, so I didn�t have a lot of time to properly do everything I wanted to. RQ: What would you have wanted to have done, if you had the time? AM: I�ve pretty much done all the sightseeing things, but just to have had a bit of time to have wandered about would have been cool. RQ: But isn�t that a problem anyway when you�re touring? You never quite have the time, unless you have that day off in between gigs. AM: Yeah. You never ever have it. I mean, when I�m on tour all you see is the venue you�re playing at and the street that it�s on basically, and the inside of the bus that I�m on. So that�s the thing I can see. I�ve visited so many lovely cities, but I probably haven�t actually seen anything when I�m there. RQ: It sounds really glamorous when you say you�re touring. But as you said, you probably actually don�t get to see anything of the places. AM: It isn�t. It�s as far from glamorous as it could possibly be, sleeping in a bunk in a bus and singing in a grotty old venue. It�s not that special. RQ: So let me ask you then, Amy. This Is the Life has done extraordinarily well. Many of the songs you wrote years ago. Have you written any songs for the second album? AM: I�m not worrying myself with that right now, because I think it�s unnecessary pressure. I�m still right in the middle of promoting this album, and it�s still not even come out in a handful of countries, so there�s still so much work to be done. I mean, when I�ve had time off and time to myself, I have found myself writing a few songs, but I�ll just wait til I�ve got time to myself and until I can actually experience things that�ll make me want to write songs. RQ: But surely the experiences you�ve had on the road touring, and the experience of success itself�has that given you a lot to write about? AM: Not really at all, actually, because like I said, it�s a very unglamorous lifestyle, and I think if you go down the path of trying to write an album whilst you�re on the road, then you get that horrible on-the-road album, which is kind of classed as a difficult second album, and that�s where it comes from. I think I need to just wait and get back to the place where I was when I was writing all my other songs. RQ: But that place where you were writing all those songs for the debut album, that was in many ways pre-fame. AM: I don�t see myself as famous. I don�t adhere to all that sort of stuff, so I know that when I�m not touring or I�m not working I can go home and lead a totally normal life, and I�ve been able to do that so far. RQ: Is success something you�ve enjoyed? AM: Everyone says it�s an amazing achievement, and I�m really proud of everything I�ve achieved, and I�m really happy and really honored to be in this position, so it�s great to be successful. But luckily for me, I�ve managed to have a successful music career but still remain my own person and still have a normal life with it. RQ: If you could pick one or two things, what are the things that this success has brought you that you really enjoy the most? AM: I just love playing live. I absolutely love being able to go on stage and sing my heart out every night, and it is an amazing feeling and it�s a real privilege to be in this situation. RQ: Many bands and artists come and go. You�ve been writing songs and playing gigs since you were fifteen. This isn�t just going to be a one-album deal. AM: Well, you�d like to think so. I don�t think anybody hopes for just a one-album thing, so I�ll try my best and that�s all I can do, and hopefully that�ll be good enough. RQ: Who are some of the artists that you really are quite inspired by? AM: It started off for me with Scottish band Travis. If it wasn�t for them, then I don�t think I would have got into this industry. And then I love bands like The Killers, and I love Oasis and Bruce Springsteen and the Beach Boys�a whole host of kind of varied artists. RQ: What you like is quite wide. AM: Yes, definitely. RQ: And that affects how you write songs? AM: Not really. I don�t think so. I mean, I think that you can listen to music and be influenced by music, but then do something completely unique for yourself. I mean, all the artists that I listen to and that I�m inspired by, I don�t sound anything like them. So I think that it�s good to have a wide variety of influences but then do your own thing. RQ: I interviewed Gomez and they said their success really is down to constant gigging. They never rest, they�re always playing someplace. And they attribute that to their success rather than any kind of Internet promotion. Would you say that�s the same with your career, because you�ve been playing live for years now, haven�t you? AM: Yeah, I mean totally I think that getting out there and playing live is the best thing you can do. The industry seems to be so obsessed with hyping people up, and it�s all about what they look like and they�re the next big thing, but I think it�s better to just get out there and actually prove that rather than just having everyone talking about it. For me it�s all about music and nothing else. RQ: If there�s one song on This Is the Life that you�re most proud of, what would that song be? AM: It is the title track, it is the song �This Is the Life.� I remember exactly where I was when I wrote it and how I was feeling, and I think it�s a really apt song and sums up everything in my life right now. RQ: Final question then: Best case scenario, where would you see yourself in a couple of years� time? AM: If things just kept going from strength to strength, obviously I�d be ecstatic. But I�ve been on such an amazing journey already, I�ve been to so many amazing places and made so many friends for life that if it all ended tomorrow I�d be happy as well!

Britsound Interviews Amy McDonald MP3