Yeah, what Mr Headline said.
Click here to read the entire issue for nothing on screen.
And click here for more details on the new issue and the recent changes to the mag. Happily, several stockists have already run out of their allocations, and the feedback has been extremely positive.
Also, a list of stockists is gradually being added to here.
I’m a massive fan of FACT Magazine, the London-based music website that has a refreshingly independent outlook on what they cover – they’re incredibly strong on various stripes of leftfield electronica and dance music, especially the whole bass music spectrum (dubstep, wonky, funky etc) but they basically just seem to cover whatever the hell they are into, which has made them big supporters of various successful indie and rock acts as well – The xx, Vampire Weekend, No Age and MGMT are a few that spring to mind – without feeling the need to provide blanket coverage.
But arguably the best part of the site is their formidably prolific mix series – 126 of the buggers so far, going back only a couple of years, and starring some of the biggest (Simian Mobile Disco, Andrew Weatherall, Autechre, Lindstrom) and freshest names in DJing.
The latest is one Jack Hamill, a Belfast prodigy I’ve been following for a couple of years as RL/VL (making ambient and beat-driven electronica) and now Space Dimension Controller, his Eighties-besotted electro/house/funk project. I’m listening to the mix as I type this, and it’s an excellent showcase for his sound, featuring several of his own productions (some unreleased) as well as vintage tuneage that transports you to a Detroit dancefloor, c.1988 (or something, I’m no expert on this stuff).
There’s also an interesting interview that may get Jack into trouble, as he’s rather disparaging about his home town and its electronic music scene. Bearing in mind that he’s released music on Acroplane Recordings and performed with a host of the city’s DJs and producers, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s any backlash.
Aside from that, though, Jack’s talent is without question and I’m as sure as FACT are that he’s going to be a serious name to watch in the next year or two. He has an EP coming out on Dutch label Clone Records very soon, as well as a split release with Detroit youngster Kyle Hall. Plus, when I interviewed him for AU recently (p.14 here) he told me about some off-the-record future release info that sounds extremely exciting, and I’ve since heard even more from other sources. Watch this space.
The mix and interview live here.
Web 2.0, I wub you I rilly rilly do. Through the nattering on Twitter of various in-the-know type people down in Dublin, I heard of the existence of a band called The Cast Of Cheers (good name? bad name? dunno) and that they had made their debut album available for free on their Bandcamp page. Then more nattering on Twitter and Fastfude indicated that it was in fact The Shit, and I’m now getting round to giving it a listen (I’ve become a wee bit obsessed with the new Field Music album of late, y’see).
You know what? Those people are all right. Turns out the band have signed a management deal with Richter Collective, which is a tie-up that makes sense, as their mathy post-punk shares several characteristics with the likes of Adebisi Shank, BATS and Enemies. Think of them as a harder-hitting, more raw Foals and you’re close. Personally, I can’t wait to see them live. April 7 at the Skinny Love club, Auntie Annie’s, Belfast. They have several Dublin dates coming up too. Awesome.
Download or stream below, but be quick about it, because the free offer is apparently for a limited time only.
And by the way, how great is Bandcamp?!
Here’s another post by way of penance for that whoring I just did. I’m really loving the new Field Music album, Field Music (Measure). The video below is for the single ‘Them That Do Nothing’, and it’s pretty representative of the album, or as representative as one song can be of a 20-track double album. I’m only scratching the surface so far.
So if you like really strong, classic songwriting (The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Kinks, even a bit of Prince) with a skewed sense of rhythm, rampant creativity and expert playing/production, give it a bash. It’s a keeper.
By the way, the band play Dublin Crawdaddy on March 5 and Belfast Pavilion on March 6. I’ll be at the latter, bells-on style.
Our usual New Year hiatus was extended a little bit this year for a couple of reasons. First up, our highly esteemed editor Francis Jones (he ain’t heavy, and contrary to popular misconception he ain’t my brother, but he is a massive legend) left for pastures new, leaving a huge gap. Jonny [Tiernan, publisher and Editor-in-Chief] has taken over editorial duties while I’m now Assistant Editor.
Secondly, we had decided on a couple of changes as regards the mag’s distribution model. Though the finished magazine would not be materially different, it would be available for free, and we resolved to vastly increase our distribution network throughout the whole of Ireland. That means that you won’t find AU in newsagents any more, but you will in libraries (120 in Northern Ireland), coffee shops, record shops, clothes shops and so on. Therefore we gave ourselves a couple of weeks’ leeway, and the magazine is just coming out this week, rather than at the start of February. If you’d noticed, well done. We hope you don’t mind. Personally, I’m delighted with it, but then I always say that. Hopefully if you pick it up you’ll agree.
So this month our cover stars are Bangor’s Two Door Cinema Club, who the aforementioned Fra shared a coffee with when they were in town last month. I interviewed Ira Wolf Tuton from Yeasayer, Cooly G, Jack Hamill aka Space Dimension Controller and reviewed Belfast4Haiti, ASIWYFA‘s new EP, and albums by These New Puritans and Yeasayer. There’s a few other bits and bobs by me as well. A full run-down of what’s in there can be found here.
And (sorry if this is lame) you can subscribe for £12/€15 by emailing info@iheartau.com with your name and address. Kim will sort you out. Subscribers’ mags went out tonight, the rest will be sent out to stockists over the next week or so. Also, you can use that same email address if you have any suggestions for stockists.
Cool.
Shit from an old notebook 