In alphabetic order..

And So I Watch You From Afar

10/10/BBC RADIO 1, KKKK KERRANG!, KKKK KERRANG! (live review), ALBUM OF THE WEEK HUW STEPHENS SHOWS/ RADIO 1, 9/10 ROCK SOUND (LIVE REVIEW), 9/10 DROWNED IN SOUND (LIVE REVIEW), 8/10 VICE MAG, 7/10 ROCKSOUND, 7/10 METAL HAMMER MAG, 8.5/10 ROCKFREAKS (DENMARK)

“Stunning”.Rory McConnell BBC RADIO 1

“really rather special…it is rare for a body of work to be so dreamy and elegiac yet conversely monstrously heavy…sounds like the end of the world.” KERRANG!

“…they are considered to be one of the most hotly tipped British bands around at the moment.” BIG CHEESE MAG

“Imagine Mogwai were from Belfast and had massive balls.” VICE MAG

“The sound of someone crashing an oil tanker through Sigur Ros’ ice float.” NME

Yeah, what they said.. its bloody good.

Chapel Club

Comparisons have been made to Morrisey but we can hear more of that White Lies big vocal, emotive melodies mix about this act. Critics and fans in the UK have gone wild at their live shows, but the jury is out to see whether they can stand out from the crowd at this year’s LCF.

Cosmo Jarvis

Swashbuckley americana-indie sounds come from this one man singer/song writer and thats not just because he’s called one song ‘The Gay Pirates’. If you indie-acoustic inclined then he’s your man to see this weekend.

Darwin Deez

“totally fucking awesome.” – nme

“really quite impressive.” – the guardian

“infectious…hard to dislike.” – brooklynvegan

‘London Calling, but he’s from New York?’ We hear you cry.. don’t fret, he’ll be drinking tea with milk and eating Hobnobs in no time. Music-wise, Darwin delivers a delightful electronic pop-indie mix of tunes that definitely see the crowd bopping away.

Detroit Social Club

From the band themselves on themselves: “Imagine the chorus vocals of “Loser” by Beck, with the drums of “Army of Me” by Bjork, layered with the guitars of “Im Bored” by Iggy Pop, and the melody of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.”

Now sprinkle the percussion of “Moving On Up” by Primal Scream, and the experimentation of “Fight Test” by The Flaming lips, and just for safe measure, add the soul of Afterglow of Your Love” by The Small Faces, and maybe the danceability of The Beastie Boys’ “Watcha Want.” Actually, add the epicness of – say – Ennio Morricone’s Cinema Paradiso as well.

In our heads, this is what we sound like.”

They’re not wrong but we’d say add in some heavy americana-rock bands like Black Angels, Black Keys and you’re there.

Doll & The Kicks

“DATK are all attitude; radiating confidence, striking poses and delivering high quality, driven, eccentric pop. Singer Doll’s voice is a perfectly spotless hybrid of Kate Bush and Gwen Stefani. Her energy is frantic yet focused and she works the crowd like a pro.” ARTROCKER

Well they’ve got a snazzy myspace haven’t they?! When we’re not being distracted by their crazy music page we get down to listening to their pretty awesome tsongs. Full of that whimsical, avant garde wonder that has seen acts like  Marina and the Diamonds (who were at LC last year) rise to fame in the past few months. Doll and The Kicks are a bit heavier and more electronic than Marina and they have an impressive live reputation. This act is high on our list to see.

Egytpian Hiphop

Pretty much love any band that are down with the ‘tropical’ side of punk music. If you’s don’t gets us, we mean acts like Cold Puma, Airwaves, Animal Collective, Truman Peyote etc etc .. ‘tropical’ is where its at. And what place is more tropical than Manchester, England?! This band definitely bring some sun into the odd Northerners life and will definitely do the same here in Amsterdam.

Emanuel And The Fear

A delightful music specticle from NYC full-on band band, Emanuel and the Fear. Here’s the lineup:

Drums – Jeff Gretz
Bass – Gil Goldin
Synth/Vox – Dallin Applebaum
Violin/Vox – Liz Hanley
Guitar – Dan Tirer
Flute – Nic Cowles
Violin – Tom Swafford
Cello – Brian Sanders
Trombone – David Nelson
Trumpet – Chris Coletti
Guitar/Piano/Vox – Emanuel Ayvas

Jazzy numbers, soultry vocals and emotive tunes from this theatrical. Kinda hard to miss, even if its not your thing, this will be a stand out act.

Erland & The Carnival

The super SUPER group who make old folk songs sound cool are none other than Simon Tong (formerly of The Verve / Blur / The Good, the Bad & the Queen), Orcadian folk guitarist and singer Gawain Erland Cooper and Drummer/Engineer David Nock (The Orb / The Cult / The Fireman). With stunning reviews of both album and live shows this will be one of the bigger acts for the LC event. Think of them along the lines of Fleet Foxes and you’ll be heading in the right direction.

Esben and The Witch

They like to ornate their stage with lamps and couches, stuffed birds and such.. helps emulate the atmosphere of their numbers so they say and with quite an eery undertone to most of their tracks and vocals, we can see why it would work. Dark and gloomy but poetic and beautiful at the same time, Esben and the Witch have that minimal sounds similar to The XX (who they’re good friends with) but don’t expect the dance-able nature so akin to the later.

Everything Everything

Manchester is doing one of our writing staff proud at this event.. they keep knocking outgreat new music and no ones mentioned Oasis .. (until now, but ignore that). Atmospheric pop songs with wonderful and emotive harmonies. AEG can hear similarities to Passion Pit, Delphic and Wild Beasts. Hands down.. in our top 3 acts to watch!

Fools Gold

Twangy guitars and that ‘tropical’ sound is rife with this act and we LOVE it. Bring on the summer and grab us a cocktail, this is beach music straight from LA! Expect great rifts, airy vocals and heavenly brass from this outfit… it’ll be a mini party for their 30mins on stage.

Hudson Mohawke

Panpipe minimal electro…?! Disco rock…?! Whatever people call it, this laddie played Trouw last year and rocked it so we’re expecting the same here. There’s definitely some 80s pop in there, some African inspired beats and lots of big basses.. but it’s hard to describe and that’s what we love about it. If he gets billed later in the evening, it’ll make for the beginnings of a sexy dance session mark our words.

The Hundred in the Hands

Brooklyn based electro-pop duo clearly know how to pull out the sexy pop with dancey singles like ‘Dressed in Dresden’. Lead singer Eleanore Everdell seems to nonchalantly work through their songs with such confidence which makes her, like, totally cool. The backing beats and guitars make this more pop than acts like Crystal Castles but heavier than say, Chew Lips.  A big YES in our books.

Holly Miranda

She was here last year supporting The XX and she looked pretty hot on stage and though her songs didn’t wow us, we think there is definitely room for her to grow and maybe she’s going to knock our socks off this year.. but probably not.

Joe Worricker

Kinda pop-sounding but man this guy has an interesting voice; it’s all hollow and deep .. sounds a bit like Hercules and the Love Affair. Don’t think his live show is going to be anything mindblowing just yet but wait until this act gets some dance/hip hop producers behind him, then it’ll really get people talking. Worth a watch now for his cutesy numbers but hold on for the big shows for later in the year.

Lonelady

Signed to Warp records this northern English lady is set to go off in 2010. She embodies and aesthetically looks like she should be in Joy Division/The Smiths but she sings like a 80s pop godness all high and clear.. makes us want to dance like the Breakfast Club kids (even more than usual). Does she play her own guitar too? Wow, we’ve got a proper crush going on here. Watch this lady for sure!!

Stornoway

Sweet as a button, this act writes beautiful folk-indie pop numbers of such a fine calibre they’ll stop you in your tracks, even if you’ve just come from watching some electroy act or hiphop crew. Think Noah and the Whale, Bon Iver that sort of thing. Definitely a must see, break up the night and experience the whole spectrum of the London Calling musical sphere.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow

One of the tipped bands for 2010, this experimental sometimes chill-wave, sometimes noise-happy act are in our top 5 bands to see at the festival. Whether they’ve ever had an Irn-Bru or Haggis is another question but A Sunny Day in Glasgow definitely know how to combine the loud and quiet, the romantic and uplifting so beautifully that what comes out is truly joyus music and we can’t wait to see them do it live.

Villagers

Heart-warming and touching songs from the shy (and Bright Eye sounding) Conor O’Brien, the singer songwriter from Ireland. Slightly haunting melodies, poetic and dark lyrics this is stop-in-your-tracks beautiful music but how well it will be received this weekend, we’re not sure.

We Have Band

Having been around a fair while, many a folk might have seen this band already at Paradiso, none the less.. they still sound modern and they’re art-indie-electro numbers have an experimental edge that’ll stand them in a different category from the majority of indie-electro trios out there in London. Saying that, it’s not too crazy you can’t dance like a nutter, so we hoping they play late in the festivities so we can get down on the dance floor and sing along to ‘You Came Out/West End Girls’

Starts at 22.00 and costs 8 euros + membership

AITBF presents… Boy Crisis // We Have Band // Django Django

A one-off Monday night gig, in the heart of Brick Lane, presenting some of the freshest and most likely bands on the block ; Boy Crisis, We Have Band and Django Django.

Starts 20:00 and costs £6 advance/ £8 door

About the Bands:

Boy Crisis

Armed with the same combination of hedonism and surreality that saw their heroes George Clinton and David Bowie through the 70s and 80s, Brooklyn five piece Boy Crisis are on a mission to make you party your way out of the credit crunch.  Specialising in papercut-sharp lyrics delivered in a pleading Prince-like falsetto over sinuous electro p-funk grooves, Boy Crisis are not your average group of skinny-jeaned 20-somethings.

Boy Crisis have all the hallmarks of a classic New York band, with a sound that has evolved out of a riot of influences that takes in funk, soul and hip hop next to punk, pop, stoner rock and the best of their current crop of contemporaries.

Having just completed a run of shows at SXSW, Boy Crisis are heading our way with an exceptional selection of support tours with Friendly Fires, Chairlift and The Sunshine underground. What better way to rouse their British fans just in time to set the summer festivals alight? Be the first and enjoy their amazing live show.

We Have Band

It’s been quite a year for the three members of We Have Band, having only played their debut gig a year ago, the wonderful trio are now regarded as one of the most exciting bands coming out of the capital. Their rise started last summer when word of mouth took over and a string of much loved and talked about small gigs in London were noticed by a lucky few including NME, Dazed & Confused and XFM who all signed up early for more.

Now in spring 2009, Darren, Thomas and Dede have spent the winter playing their songs across Europe and America, including a heavily praised run of shows at the recent SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Returning to compete at and win this year’s Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition, guaranteeing them an appearance on the main stage at this year’s festival and adding more reason to get excited about one of the UK’s finest unsigned bands.

Their live show is so intoxicating, that if only half of the room have been dancing, by the end of it the whole room is converted to the raw, sleazy post punk funk they’ve just witnessed. Featuring lead vocals from Dede, ‘You Came Out’ shows the diversity of sound We Have Band are all about. Being able to mix up lead vocals and tempos without sacrificing their style or quality, it’s easy to hear why everyone loves their music; it makes you dance, which is something the band aim to do at every possible moment.

Django Django

Django Django The triple distilled essence (and sensibility) of an artistic huddle of mischievous musicals, the deft purveyors of an acutely infectious amalgam of neo scoto-irish bop to the pop sentiment.  Fruitily looping and catchily hooking our hungry ears with their finely crafted fly hooks; fly hooks finely tied and then melodically unknotted, by well feathered professionals.  Songs which strike a fine aural tattoo on our eardrums with their (as of yet) small yet quite wonderful repertoire of cyclical compositions; rollicking along sing-a-longs, galloping into disco sunsets like whisky addled and leather saddled  bandits on the stolen backs of prairie wild mustangs. Kidnapping our attention and taking us full belly circle with a throat and muse tingling splash of firewater, some of which spills onto the spent ash of an extinguished criminal campfire; a campfire from which a malted barley beat lyrically stirs in the spittooned soot, and is reborn and reverbed, rising phoenix-like with feathers flashing electrically along cable, to be emitted from a  surrendering speaker in the delicious form of song.

MP3 : http://senduit.com/8552ab