ContaineR

ContaineR

ContainR

I'm not very good at knowing what to say about electronic music or remixes, but what I do know is that I have taken quite a liking to Italian musicians ContainR.

ContaineR officially started in 2007, but the journey taken for the two members, Alessio Magneta and Luca Sammartin, started seven years earlier in 2000. The pair started producing tunes separately, burning the tracks to CDs and giving them to each other for birthday gifts. 

It wasn’t until many years later that the two of them finally worked together and produced the track "Nargo Sprout Goes Nuked". The 7 years that the two of them put in practicing before they got together paid off big time, because their first song sounded a little bit like this….

This is a brilliant example of tension and release. The great phaser noise at the beginning builds and adds an atmospheric tension before break around the one minute mark where we are pushed in to a much darker industrial sounding track.

ContaineR live

One of the things I like about ContaineR is they manage to push a degree of humour into their songs that you would not normally expect. They whimsically described their latest work as ‘a sound that is wobbly banghead and massively dreamy at the same time, and [will] push this attitude in and out of Italy ’.

Although I’m not sure what wobbly banghead and massively dreamy is supposed to sound like, it's probably referring to ContaineR’s latest tracks “A_r”...

And the hilariously titled "Turning Pineapples in to Ape Nipples".

What I like about ContaineR is that they manage to keep rooted to the codes and conventions of traditional electronica, with out being so esoteric that they would alienate people who aren't so much in to the genre. It's laid back and generally unoffensive to all musical tastes. 


They are all good tracks and well produced but on the other hand can come across quite remedial and repetitive, which I think will lead to people not fully appreciating how complex the songs really are.


You can find all of ContainR's tracks at http://soundcloud.com/container# and look out for an album coming out later this year.


Let me know what you think of the band in the comment section below.


by Charlie Craven

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Iwan Rheon

Iwan Rheon

This is probably how you picture him.

Iwan Rheon, better known as the shy, invisible one from Channel 4’s Misfits, has released an E.P., and if you are thinking that he is just another actor trying to sing, then you are dead wrong.

Although the E.P., called Tongue Tied,  is only 4 tracks long it shows incredible talent and versatility, with each song holding on to a slightly different feeling. Some songs have a funky, fun edge while others take on a darkly romantic slant. Tongue Tied shows more originality in 4 tracks than most bands can muster up on an album.

Iwan being much more handsome.

Tongue Tied really displays Iwan’s vocal talent, brimming with power and range. All the tracks are neatly put together, as they should be because apparently the E.P. was produced by Oasis's Paul Arthurs.

It is only an E.P so that means we have space to talk about all the songs.

Tongue Tied

Tongue Tied is the title track and is a really great song. It is the fastest and most rock and roll of the four songs. It’s one of the best examples of Folk/Pop that has come out in a long while. 

It falls a little bit flat at some points and isn’t quite rocky enough to be perfect, but it is a fantastic first single.

Simple Song

I know that Simple Song is supposed to be a romantic song, but for some reason it makes me feel quite sad. Something in Iwan’s voice feels so melancholic.

It’s a great song for demonstrating Iwan’s versatility when played after a rockier song like Tongue Tied.

Follow Me

Follow Me is my favourite of the four tracks. I can’t help but think that if Iwan didn't have such a nice voice this would be an incredibly boring song, but because of his textured vocals the song works really well.

It’s impossible not to draw a comparison to Mumford and Sons when writing about a song like this, and although it does sound like a Mumford and Sons song, it’s a lot better. Mumford and Sons wish they wrote this song.

Happy Again

The real draw for me in this song is the guitar, it just seems playful and fun, if a bit simple. There’s not a lot to say about Happy again, its still a good song, but not quite as good as the other songs from the E.P

There has been no word as to an album, but Iwan apparently will begin touring shortly, so that's a good sign. 

Let me know what you think about the E.P. in the box below.

By Charlie Craven

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PENGU!NS

PENGU!NS 

The awesomely named PENGU!NS is the new band of the ex-drummer for The Who and Oasis, and son of Ringo Star, Zak Starkey. 


Although the star appeal is in Zak, who provides the eccentric and dynamic instrumentals, the talent is in his girlfriend, Sharna Liguz aka “Sshh”. Sshh’s Punky vocals bring the tracks to life and she dominates the stage at live events.


Tracks from the band are few and far-between as of yet, but here are the two I have managed to find.

WARM UP

With undertones of Blondy and all woman punk band L7, Warm Up brings early the 90’s back with a punk/grunge feel. Sshh's angry sound is complemented by the manic backing track.


Zak brings together an expansive soundscape, defined by pulsating rhythms that grip like an industrial vice and gives the song incredible texture. Although the song could have done with being about 3 minuets shorter. 

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Hate Mail

Hate Mail is about someone asking Sshh to turn down her MP3 player on a flight from London to America, as you might be able to tell the perfectly reasonable request wasn’t taken too lightly.


Hate Mail is an alright song but it strays to cheesy, gimmicky country for my liking. For most bands cheesy/gimmicky would be alright, especially for a first single, but this is Zak Starkey, he was in Oasis, he has drummed for The Who and his dad was a Beetle (only Ringo… but that stilll counts). For him the song kind of feels a bit like selling out to make his girlfriend a rock star.
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So far these are the only two songs I can find, there have been no mention of any others and they are gigging only vary sparsely, so it might be a while before we hear anything new, but they are defiantly a one to watch. Because when they hit, they will hit hard.


Let me know what you think just below.


By Charlie Craven.

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Slow Club - Paradise

Slow Club - Paradise

slow club - paradise

After the release of Slow Club’s first Album, ‘Yeah, So?’ the band were being hailed as the next White Stripes, and as it boasted the catchy 'It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful’ as its first single and held tracks like the beautiful ‘When I Go’ it’s not hard to see the comparison.

Regrettably the second album, ‘Paradise’, does not live up to the hype. The first album worked because at the time not many people had been doing the same Rockabilly/Americana style that the band did so well. But recently with band like She and Him and Peggy Sue and The Pirates working the same angle the music seems a bit saturated.


What was fresh in 2009 has been done to death by 2011 and unfortunately Paradise is just too similar an album to ‘Yeah So?’ to make any real waves.

Charles Watson (vocals, guitar) and Rebecca Taylor (vocals, guitar, percussion). 

One of the things that the band does have going for it is that they use a variety of musical instruments in their live shows and recordings, including things like bottles half full of water, chairs and typewriters, giving the band some fresh and interesting sounds. 

It’s a shame that that originality doesn’t translate though to the rest of the album, many songs sound like a poor man version of songs we have heard before. It’s a bit like a chocolate mousse in that it’s sweet and nice, there’s just not very much to it.

It's not that it’s a bad album, the problem is mainly that it has been two years since their first album ‘Yeah, So?’ hit the alternative music scene and the band seems to have made no progress. They are still just a little bit Rockabilly, just a little bit Folk, just a little bit middle of the road.

That being said the album does have some redeeming features, as we will discuss as we go though some of the songs....

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Two Cousins

Two Cousins will be a huge single and it will be played everywhere for about three weeks. It is by no means a terrible song, it's listenable and relatively satisfying but it's very similar to many songs being played today.

The appeal of the song lies in its building sound, increasing its soul vocals while the backing music steadily gets more intense. It’s a great song for that and will be played on the radio all the time because of it, and because it’s played on the radio people will think it’s a great song. It’s not. It’s banal and the same as every other song recorded in the last two years. It’s not bad, it’s just boring.

Kick-ass video though.

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Never Look Back

This is by far my favourite song on the album, mostly because of Rebecca Taylor’s beautiful voice. The song doesn’t try to be anything more than it is: a slow and gentle song, beautiful and melodic. It sits somewhere between Rockabilly and Soul, but doesn’t try to hard to be either of them.

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The Dog

To be honest I found it hard to pick a third song to talk about, as the songs are all so similar and all equally as dull. 

The Dog however is slightly different to the rest of the songs on the album, taking a more indie sounding slant. Reminiscent of bands like the Mystery Jets or Vampire Weekend, it’s still not a great song but at least it shows some desperately needed originality.

The songs not too bad even if is does come off contrived and gimmicky.

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Over all the album's not too bad. Not great but not awful. It just comes across timid and boring, but if you are looking for something to just have playing in the background of a dentist waiting area then Paradise is for you

Let me know what you think of the album below and remember if you want to get featured on the site just email a track to unlabeleduk@gmail.com

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Noah And The Whale - Last Night On Earth

Noah and the Whale - Last Night On Earth

Noah and the Whale suffered from what I like to call far-too-catchy-first-single-syndrome. When Five Years Time topped the charts in 2008, it was too far removed from the rest of the album.

The cheesy hook from the single alienated the majority of the Folk/Pop crowd and semi-serious nature of the rest of the album didn’t satisfy the people who bought it off of the back of Five Years Time.

The band’s first album, ‘Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down’ was both a commercial and economic success, but for their second album they completely changed their musical styles. The band dropped the childish clapping and catchy chants in favour of serious songs with narrative and emotion.

Although the second album was defiantely one from a more musically developed band, it lost some of the charm of the first album. It’s not that the album was bad, on the contrary it was an excelent album, it just strayed too far from the niche of charming folk/pop that the band carved out for itself and ran in to something that felt self-indulgent.

The second album was made into a feature length film, a kind of meta-music video, that was received fairly well, but for me is a sign of a band taking its self far too seriously.

Last Days on Earth brings the band to a comfortable spot in-between the cheesy first album and the serous second album. They have managed to keep the hooks and chants that made them what they are without sacrificing their desired musical direction.

Let's take a look at a few songs from the album.

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.

The song manages to hold complex themes like the better songs off the band’s second album, being the loneliness that surrounds a barmaid and a writer, but doesn’t lose the fun charm that made the first album so great.

Still a complex and musically distinct song like ‘Stranger’ from First Days of Spring, but with an awesome hook that makes it so much more fun to listen to.

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. is by far the best song on the album, and is endlessly re-listenable.

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Tonight’s The Kind Of Night

Not every song on the album is a strong as L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N., Tonight’s The Kind of Night conforms to NATW’s classic style of upbeat folk/pop, but for some reason comes out unbearably average sounding.

For all the pep and tension and release, the song falls flat in emotion. Charlie Fink has an incredible talent for writing songs that inspire feelings in people. Tonight’s the kind of night completely fails to do this.

It’s not that this is a bad song, the problem is that for a band that have built them a reputation for emotionally engaging and clever songs, this is a bit of a let-down.

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Old Joy

Old Joy makes more sense if you know some of the history between Noah and the Whale’s Charlie Fink and singer-songwriter Laura Marling.

Laura used to be Charlie’s boyfriend, he produced her first album, Noah and the Whale provided all the instrumentals and the bands second album First Days of Spring is almost exclusively about Charlie’s broken heart.

Old Joy is one of those wonderful songs where you can almost feel the writer’s sadness. The song is about slowly getting over Laura, and is a great example of how emotionally involving NATW’s songs can be.

With a strategic placing of very last on the album, it brings the whole thing to a wonderful conclusion. A testament to a band having fun but without losing their integrity.

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All in all the album is pretty good. It has a nice mix of upbeat and slow songs and works as a whole. It’s not as good as Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down but it’s better than First Days Of Spring.

You can pick up the album from here, or download any of the tracks from the widget below.

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think of the album or NATW in general.

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The Broken Family Band

The Broken Family Band.

The Broken Family Band

The Broken Family band formed in 2002 and quickly put an eclectic variety of records. Never wanting to be put down in to one category The Broken Family Band have been Counry, Folk, Rock, Pop and Indie. 

The band formed for fun and never intended to play more than a few gigs. On top thier diverse mix of songs the band also manage to inject a fun in to most of there songs. Never taking them selves to seriously gives there genre hopping songs a certain charm.

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TIgers That Talked.

Tigers That Talked.

Tigers That Talked.

Tigers That Talked are great band from Leeds with a nice fresh sound. They have been a favourite of the festival scene since the band started in 2006 and have played as far and wide as Texas, USA. 

The bands latest album ‘Merchant’ released in November last year received glowing reviews from established radio Djs like Zane Lowe and Colin Murray, but never seemed to make many waves in the general public. 

Which is a shame, because Tigers That Talked happen to be one of the best bands of the year.

Tigers That Talked - Live

Tigers That Talked latest single ‘Holy Saturday, Gloomy Sunday’, is a fantastic track that is the absolute cream of the rock/folk crop. Lending from poety and history for lyrical influences it rests nicely on a bed of guitar and violin.

Holy Saturday, Gloomy Sunday - Tigers That Talked

This track sums up the rest of the album, quality layered tracks, that ricochet between soft, melodic folk and a steady rock/indie sound. Merchant is one of the best albums of 2010 and deserves much more recognition.

Taking a look at TTT three other album releases, including one with a video shot in my very own Blackpool, we see a band that is much more developed and talented than most of the bands pumped over the airwaves 24/7.

Black Heart, Blue Eyes

Shot in and around Blackpool, the song could almost be about the town itself. ‘See these harbour towns, slowly reveal themselves, darkest of society, darkest of company, darkest of company reveal themselves.’

The track sits somewhere between sweet and mellon collie, a great track with a catchy chorus, but utterly depressing lyrics.

23 fears (summer ‘10)

 

23 fears was released as a double single with Black Heart, Blue Eyes and is arguably the better of the two. The songs boasts a great instrumental backing track that builds to a sweet climax. It manages to come across as a calmer, nicer song despite having equally depressing subject matter as Black Heart, Blue Eyes.

Artificial Clouds




This is one of the most beautifully arranged songs produced in a while, the instruments work so together well,  the composition beautifully complements Jamie Williams sweet voice. The entire song has a genital feeling to it that makes it easy and a joy to listen to.

One of the major problems with the band is that they don’t seem to have a brilliant range, on some of the album tracks its easy to slip from one to the next without noticing that the song has changed. But in spite of this they do what the do so well is doesn’t seem to matter.


Tigers That Talked are one of Brittan’s most under rated bands and are defiantly one to watch.


If you liked Tigers That Talked be sure to check out The Limes


by Charlie Craven

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Daniel 'Homeless' Mustard

Daniel 'Homeless' Mustard

Daniel Mustard

Starting your musical career as an alcoholic, homeless street musician Isn’t always the done thing, but it worked for Daniel Mustard.

An alcohol dependency destroyed Daniel’s life and left him destitute and alone. For years he earned his money singing and playing guitar on the streets of  New York, but over the years he managed to get himself clean and is now selling his music world wide.

Daniels rise to fame started when he walked in to The Opie & Anthony studio, a New York radio station, on a Christmas event. He mentioned in passing that he played music and wowed the staff with one of his own songs.

He was asked to perform a cover on the Opie & Anthony Show, and this is what he did...

With over 3,000,000 Youtube hits, Daniel was becoming a celebrity but still slept on the street. It wasn’t until three years later that Daniel received a record deal from Story Records. His first E.P  was recorded in the cheapest manner possible to make the most profit for ‘Homless’ Mustard, but it is still really well produced. Lets take a look at some of Mustard's original tracks.

Impulse to my Addiction

Impulse to my addiction is the single from ‘Homeless’ Mustard’s E.P. and is about his years of substance abuse lead to him to lose his house. The sound might be a little rough and it might sound a little cheesy and American, but it shows he has hell of a lot more talent than most of the artists being played today.

Apparently the story behind the single is that he used to blame his alcohol/drug problems on one of his friends, labeling him the impulse to his addictions.

 The really great thing about this track is that when some singers write about problems its purely invented, but when 'homeless' Mustard talks about pain he really is talking about pain. Its that pain that gives this song its passion.

Evacuating to Mars.

This is a more upbeat tune, and shows off Mustard’s vocal range really well, but once again comes off a little corny. The song has a nice hook that helps to make it memorable and catchy, and over all isn’t a bad track.

One Day at a Time.

One Day at a Time is about Mustard’s time living on the street. The intro makes great use of bluesy guitar and the lyrics ‘I don’t own this guitar, don’t even own these clothes.’ The song manages to be sad without being bitter and hold a hopeful vibe it.

Daniel is an amazing artist to take years of heartbreak and loneliness and craft something beautiful out of it, and although his tracks sometimes can be a little cheesy for my English sensibilities he is still a really amazing artist. as always you can pick up any of his tracks from the link below, and you probably should, he needs the cash.

by Charlie Craven

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The 5 Best Misuses Of Things To Make Music

The 5 Best Misuses Of Things To Make Music.

With enough balls, insanity and creativity people can take everyday objects and instruments and create something incredible. Unlabeled is now going to bring you the five best sounds that come from using everyday objects in the wrong way. Some are brilliant, some are odd, and one is just mental.

1) The Tesla Coil

The Tesla Coil

Using two twelve foot Tesla Coils, ArcAttack utilise the power of lightning to make music.  As an affront to Zeus himself, two 500,000 volt electrical arches that resonate to make musical notes (or something).

If you’re wondering what sound two huge arcs of killer electricity sounds like we, have a clip.

Harnessing one of the worlds most terrifying forces to gratify your acoustical wonder is one thing, but to then have that ONE MILLION volts of deathtricity run down your body for no reason other than to put on a show is something else entirely.

Tesla coils range from a few inches to a few hundred feet, and can be built using equipment bought in almost any electrical store, so its not hard to imagine bored nerds have built them to play their bored nerdy songs. Want the Mario theme tune? We have that! Legend Of Zelda? Boom, done. The Imperial March? You’re goddamned right we have the Imperial March.

Dr. Doom

The Tesla coil was selected for its misuse of electricity.


2)The Pyrophone

The Pyrophone, also known as the fire or explosion organ uses the power of explosion and rapid combustion shot up glass tubes to create a singing effect.

a pyrophone.

The instruments are popular displays at festivals and events all over the world, mostly because they make such a badass spectacle.

This is the Juggernaut Pyrophone, the worlds largest fire organ currently in operation. Try to imagine it like a pan flute, only upside down, giant and powered by explosions.

The Juggernaut is a huge visual display of firey goodness, but the pyrophone also comes in a smaller version.

proving once and for all, unless they are terrifying, experimental instruments are mostly awful. Awful, as in it sounds like a depressed whale.

The pyrophone was selected for is misuse of fire.

3) The Bassoforte

The bassoforte is brain child of Deigo Stocco, a musical inventor who also pioneered the experibass and recorded a song on a bonsai tree.

Using a similar video technique to the band Pomplamoose, Stocco uses parts of a pianoforte, parts of a bass and the pickups of a guitar to create an entirely new instrument.

Amazingly this home made instrument makes really catchy tune and plays pretty well. The sound might be a little rough but for a contraption made in some guys back yard it is pretty amazing.

The basso forte make this list for its fantastic misuse of both the piano and the bass.

4) Radiohead played on old computer parts.

Created by James Houston, a student from Glasgow, this remix utilizes outdated technology to create sounds eerily close to Radiohead’s Nude.

Using a printer, an oscilloscope, an old scanner, a spectrum and a host of old hard drives, Houston creates a haunting rendition of Radiohead’s classic.

Originally built to enter a competition from the band, James missed the deadline by only a few days but became an instant internet hit.

His version has been played on radio stations across the world and received over 100,000 Youtube hits.

This made the list thanks to its misuse of electronics


5) Fluteboxing
Fluteboxing is the unlikely combination of fluting and  beatboxing with astonishing results.

This fantastic clash of musical styles was pioneered by Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee, but only rose to popularity when he caught the eye of world famous DJ Beardyman. 

The captivating thing about fluteboxing is the mix of the classic sounding melodies of the flute and the ultra-modern rhythm of beat-boxing. The ensemble sounds like a band on it own, merging both percussion and wind in to one handy tube. 

Fluteboxing found its to the top of the list for misusing the flute and making it sound incredible.

By Charlie Craven

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