New music guide The Neu Bulletin (16th June 2014)
Neu’s batch of new music tips recommends Happyness, Litany and Toothless.
The Neu Bulletin is a daily update of the most exciting new things DIY’s listening to. Some of the music you’ll like, some of it you won’t. Think of it as a stream of recommendations that every so often pops up something spectacular.
Every day we offer up a choice show, a song of the day (branched under the understated heading “Big Neu Thing”) and a little something extra that’s caught our attention. Check back here every day for your latest Neu Bulletin delivery.
THE GIG:
Happyness - London, Rough Trade West (Free)
Slacker kids who aren’t actually slacker kids at all - just sensible, nice boys who write lots of great songs - Happyness tonight launch their debut album ‘Weird Little Birthday’, which fits the summer mood in that it’s about a guy sharing a birthday with Jesus before going on a bloody rampage. June vibes all round. They headline London’s Servant Jazz Quarters tomorrow.
THE BIG NEU THING:
Litany. - Slopes
If synths could talk, the ones on Litany’s new ‘Slopes’ track would be crying out for help. They have an eerie, sadness-drenched quality, as replicated in the music of SOHN or ‘Silent Shout’-era The Knife. Litany are a UK duo who recently underwent a nifty name change, this being their most confident track to date. Downbeat vocals are cast up alongside those ringing synths, each word pronounced with complete clarity - no nonsense effects here. A product of so much of the best music from the past few years, Litany also resplendently form their own path.
OTHER NEU BUSINESS:
Toothless
Ashley Garcia’s most recent Toothless LP, ‘Janus’, was written after she took one too many hallucinogens and took off on one big, apparently life-changing acid trip. She reached the other side, although by that point her perspective had changed. The songs on this record combine both a good and a bad trip - strange qualities mix with undeniable beauty, off-key synth notes bent around more comforting vocals. “The trip has impacted her in a way that has made her more aware of her daily life,” apparently - either way, she’s making brilliant music.
Read More
Happyness - Floatr
4 Stars
The sound of a band fully settled in their own skin.
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