Soldiers of Fortune – Early Risers
Floating Points – Elaenia
Three Man Cannon – Will I Know You Then
Ghost Town – Evolution
Robot Koch – Hypermoment
The Lonely Biscuits – Come Around (EP)
Extreme Noise Terror – Extreme Noise Terror
Kode9 – Nothing
The Japanese House – Clean (EP)
Colder – Many Colours
Kate Boy – One
Jamie Woon – Making Time
Grimes – Art Angels
Talib Kweli & 9th Wonder – Indie 500
Björk – Vulnicura Strings
Escape the Fate – Hate Me
The Neighbourhood – Wiped Out!
Wolf Eyes – I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces
Foxing – Dealer
El Vy – Return to the Moon
Puscifier – Money Shot
Boy & Bear – Limit of Love
Younghusband – Dissolver
Beach Slang – The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us
Night Birds – Mutiny at Muscle Beach
British Sea Power – Sea of Brass
Abigail Williams – The Accuser
Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Style
Guy Garvey – Courting the Squall
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – It’s a Holiday Soul Party
The latest offering from Killing Joke, “Pylon”, is due for release on 23rd October 2015, and it hits the mark exactly as you’d expect it to.
As a band that has released music in every decade since the 70s (which in itself is no mean feat!) and along the way addressed current affairs issues and personal matters with equal fervour, there is an obvious anticipation surrounding this album, and the hope that it would live up to its own hype is as high as it’s ever been.
Whether you pay deep attention to the political and physical state of the world right now or not, listening to songs such as “I Am the Virus” and “New Cold War” (my personal favourite from the album) accurately display the distaste and abhorrence the majority of us feel yet are afraid to show.
Ageless, tense, anthemic tunes such as “Big Buzz” and “Euphoria” exist here, feeding the imagination in a way that makes me think of nuclear fission and futuristic armies marching into battle.
I’m listening to riffs that writhe like tumbling skies (“War On Freedom” and “Delete”), and an eclectic mix of disco-ish and ethnic sounding drum styles (“Dawn of the Hive” and “Into the Unknown”) within this heart wrenching and thought provoking musical sensory assault, all of which makes “Pylon” THE turbulent post-apocalyptic soundscape for the 21st century.
Killing Joke: makers of music that instills fear into fear itself.
Stay tuned to Music vs. The World for a review of Killing Joke’s upcoming gig in Birmingham on 31st October!
Pre-order “Pylon” right here!
You can follow Killing Joke on Twitter and Facebook, and keep up with their activity via the official website.
Half Moon Run – Sun Leads Me On
Ex-Breathers – Past Tense
Pure Bathing Culture – Pray For Rain
The Saddest Landscape – Darkness Forgives
Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle
Corrections House – Know How to Carry a Whip
Haybay – Sleepy Kids
Petal – Shame
See Through Dresses – End of Days
Postcards From Jeff – Modern Language
Joanna Newsom – Divers
Fuzz – II
Dave Gahan & Soulsavers – Angels & Ghosts
Killing Joke – Pylon
Mogwai – Central Belters
I had a bit of time to spare, so the lovely people of twitter helped me to produce this fantastic playlist for a one off return of Dots Jukebox! Thanks to all who contributed suggestions – you all rock! 🙂
SONG OF THE WEEK: this week it was the choice of regular contributor @mirandakitten – good call!!
| Band | Song | Suggested by |
| Alice Cooper | School’s Out | @richarde1875 @guitartutorrich @paldinowolf @evashadowgirl18 |
| Jurassic 5 | Concrete Schoolyard | @riverboatcapt |
| The Smiths | The Headmaster Ritual | @kedwondo @durutti74 @stamfordcowboy |
| Billy Bragg | The Saturday Boy | @cavedweller71 |
| The Fall | The Birmingham School of Business School | @hodge_nufc @theautumnstones |
| Madness | Baggy Trousers | @thesweetcheat @lindy_lou2 @moff76 |
| Jim Bob | Back to School | @indieover40 |
| Kate Bush | Pi | @paulie9461 |
| Little Boots | Mathematics | @bringitonskippy |
| Chemical Brothers | The Test | @neilc79 |
| Steely Dan | My Old School | @mirandakitten |
| Tilly and the Wall | Bad Education | @thealbumwall |
| Forest Swords | Friend, You Will Never Learn | @grantsales |
| Drive By Truckers | Daddy Learned to Fly | @makerzmark |
| Pink Floyd | Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 | @clairhorne @danthompson78 @gigbloguk @paldinowolf |
| Belle & Sebastian | We Rule the School | @beardedsteven with a mention for @mattowlbeak |
| Pearl Jam | Jeremy | @anxiousflag @peejaybe |
| Nirvana | School | @ladyofsonnets66 |
| Fields | School Books | @rich_w27 |
| Mos Def | Mathematics | @jonesrl86 |
| The Gathering | You Learn About It | @chasethegroove |
| Martha | 1997, Passing in the Hallway | @sadpad21 |
| The Jam | Art School | @miftin81 @staffs77 |
| Blue Orchids | Bad Education | @rickjleach |
| The Ramones | Rock & Roll High School | @instantkarma80 @sparkypatrick @redlikejungle |
| The White Stripes | We Are Going to Be Friends | @shelljacques |
| Caitlin Rose | Learnin’ to Ride | @richard0x4a |
| The Beach Boys | Be True to Your School | @beatcitytone |
| Sam Cooke | Wonderful World | @vicaviber |
| The Korgis | Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime | @musicvstheworld |
Real Lies – Real Life
Maritime – Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones
Esmerine – Lost Voices
Young Rival – Interior Light
Ludovico Einaudi – Elements
Small Black – Best Blues
Gentlemans Pistols – Hustler’s Row
!!! (Chk Chk Chk) – As If
The Oh Hellos – Dear Wormwood
Neon Indian – Vega International Night School
Son Little – Son Little
The Casket Girls – The Piano Album
Nothing But Thieves – Nothing But Thieves
Deerhunter – Fading Frontier
Yacht – I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler
Allison Weiss – New Love
Dead Temple – Dead Temple
Inventions – Blanket Waves (EP)
Alela Diane & Ryan Francesconi – Cold Moon
Here We Go Magic – Be Small
Beach House – Thank Your Lucky Stars
The Twilight Sad – Òran Mór
Coheed & Cambria – The Colour Before the Sun
Alberta Cross – Alberta Cross
Jean Michel Jarre – Electronica 1: The Time Machine
Hugh Cornwell – The Rise and Fall of Hugh Cornwell
Saxon – Battering Ram
Both Liverpool and Manchester are well known on the music scene for producing some of the most iconic, exciting and popular bands in UK music history. Whether you like them or not, much of the music around these days would never have existed had it not been for bands such as The Beatles, Joy Division, The Stone Roses, The Smiths, OMD and Echo and The Bunnymen paving the way.
Whenever I see those cities named as home towns on a band’s bio, I feel a certain amount of trepidation prior to playing the music – I feel a bit for any new bands or musicians from that area, as they have a lot to live up to!
Introducing Holy Matrimony, new to the music scene this year with an offering of “melodic, electronic pop music” and declaring the three musicians, Jonny, Roger and Jack, to be “elektro-pop muzak visionaries”.
I’ve been able to glean very little information about these guys, and so far they have only made two of their songs public, one of which is a cover of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Everyone knows how I feel about U2, but I actually quite like this cover as they’ve gone a bit off piste with it, veiling the lyrics with rather lovely guitar & electronic effects, inserted echoes and basically removed all the Bono-ness from the equation. Good effort, lads.
However, I’d prefer to talk about the one original song I’ve heard, entitled “Sequence of Secrets”. There are definite nods to some of the influences the band cites, particularly Depeche Mode and Passion Pit inasmuch as the music is primarily electronic, interspersed with muted and somewhat grunge-like guitars and buoyed by clean, eloquent vocals singing a rousing verse about a confusing yet protective love. The lyrics are beautifully poetic, which isn’t something I say lightly – the voice and the words can very much be make or break for me, and this song has succeeded in winning me over.
“I didn’t know the things I know now with you,
And if I did there’s nothing that I can do,
There are shadows, in the depths of our minds,
And twisting turning lies, oh what am I?
To put all this on you.”
I am looking forward to hearing what Holy Matrimony have got up their sleeves in the future, and will be keeping a close eye on their progress.
You can do the same by following them on Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud and Bandcamp.
Dilly Dally – Sore
Saintseneca – Such Things
Kowloon Walled City – Grievances
Protomartyr – The Agent Intellect
Alex G – Beach Music
Ryan Hemsworth & Lucas – Taking Flight (EP)
Little May – For the Company
City and Colour – If I Should Go Before You
Korey Dane – Youngblood
Weyes Blood – Cardamom Times
Run Forever – Run Forever
Kelela – Hallucinogen (EP)
The Decemberists – Florasongs (EP)
Reverend and the Makers – Mirrors
The Zombies – Still Got that Hunger
Mogwai – Central Belters
Hurts – Surrender
Music vs. The World 