New music guide The Neu Bulletin (14th January 2014)

The Neu Bulletin provides a daily dose of new music tips, all in the name of exposing you to something fresh and exciting.

Every day we offer up a choice show, a song of the day and a little something extra that’s caught our attention. Check back here every day for your latest Neu Bulletin delivery.

THE GIG
Honeyblood, Sundara Karma, Sun Machine, LSA - Hello 2014 - London, The Old Blue Last


The second of Neu’s Hello 2014 nights is headed up by Glasgow-based Fat Cat signings Honeyblood. They’re backed by Reading newcomers Sundara Karma, the impressive and barely a step outside the door Sun Machine and the grizzly openers LSA. Once again it’s a free entry show, starting from half 7.

THE BIG NEU THING
The Landing - Anxieties


Just before winter arrived and S.A.D crippled almost everyone’s spirits, The Landing - a group based out in New York - released ‘Anxieties’, a fittingly titled, completely stomping new single. The song dallies into tropical, booming Animal Collective territory, all while gladly getting by on squeaky, straightforward synth lines. A good half a dozen melodies are competing for space, eventually resulting in a surefire cure to winter blues.

OTHER NEU BUSINESS
The Young Friends - I Can’t Read Your Wavelength
I Can’t Read Your Wavelength/Drift Idiot by The Young Friends

Guess what? This song was recorded in a car. Yep. As if that wasn’t already cool enough a sell, here’s the exact car it was recorded in. If you said ‘hey, that’s a 1986 Toyota Sprinter Trueno’, you would be correct. 10 bonus points to The Young Friends for innovation in recording. Not that Arizona duo Andrew McKee and Brant Stuns really need any bonus points, mind, because the sound they’ve crafted is impressive enough on its own. Angular guitars conjure memories of 70s funk, while dreamy, breathy vocal harmonies blend over a driving bassline and syncopated drums, all wrapped up in a pleasing pop format. Imagine Foals and The Drums in a high-speed, late night car chase across the deserted highways of America and you might be getting close. [Nathan Standlee]