Video Kills

My first week in London. It's busy, busy and, erm, busy! It's Saturday, the girls and I are slightly worse for wear after busting some shapes in Islington's The Old Queen's head last night where Foals put on a DJ set. Good, bad or ugly we can't be sure but what is helping us through the day is tea and music videos.

What Is Light Where Is Laughter and Lightspeed from Twin Atlantic (I couldn't pick just one!) are winners in every sense for me. If you're lucky enough to be seeing Blink 182 on their whistle stop UK 'tour' then do not miss their unparalleled support band.

Caroline is off to Sleigh Bells on Monday so her choice has naturally been from the New York Florida hybrid and scrappy electro-pop noiseniks.  Watch the Kids video.

Kele has caught the eye and ear of Miss Quick with his dreamy vocals, electro dance synths and bulging biceps. Tenderoni is the premier single of his debut solo album and this is the video that has her throwing some shapes around the living inbetween outbursts of Broadway choruses...did you get the hotplate?



For Shelley, sadly we couldn't get hold of any Moist Tights but we did manage to track down some Justin Bieber which, let's be honest, has about the same gross factor so will not be making an appearance on BBPD. Enjoy some Straight Lines instead, Shelley. Their Welsh like you are.

Buffalo Thursdays

Bethan Elfyn and the BBC Radio Wales kids have set up a wunderschon music night every Thursday in Buffalo Bar, Cardiff. Last Thursday saw some of Wales' finest under the radar rock acts take to the stage and do their darndest to pep us up. They made us smile, they made us bounce. They put hairs on our chest and they almost made us cry.

Magden Audio tiggered in with their inimitable pop-rock styles; dosing us up with their poignant song titles, lyrics that seem both worldy and angsty all at once and beats that defy you to keep still. Catch them in Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach on August 7th with The Undivided and People In Planes.

Snuck into the bill next were Swansea jacks, We're No Heroes. Don't be fooled by their meek and geeky 'image' - it's not an image it's actually them - but prepare to be bowled over by the sheer talent emanating from the Welsh three-piece. Equally sharing out the vocal responsibilities, each Hero takes a turn to add his layer to one hell of a foundation, no man is any way unsure of his instrument or talent creating a Foals-esque sound. Live they are nothing short of wow.

Gaining collumn inches in Rock Sound and Kerrang! is all in a days work for Exit International: Cardiff indie boys and part-time baby killers. The feral punks screamed about Sex With Strangers and ShermanBASTARDfang to the distinctly souless audience that stood (literally just stood) before them; not even the double bass action seemed to be able to stir the static crowd. Sad and surprising times when bubblegum-pop-rock hooks cocktailed with ferocious rock urgency put a smile on your face, a tap in your foot and a small amount of fear in your heart. Exit International, don't fuck with them. They may just cwtch you to death while snorting out The Chainsaw Song and hurling phlegm in your direction with untenable abandon.

Headliners Straight Lines took the cliched route by commanding the, by now nearly full top floor, to move forward to the stage. Who doesn't love a cliche? We sure as hell weren't complaining about being that clos to Tom Jenkin's signature wailing vocals or Todd Campbell's insane body hurling shapes - how exactly does one man and his bass move quite that much? Giving their fans exactly what they wanted in the form of Loose Change, Antics  and Versus The Allegiance, even the most static gig-goer found it a challenge to keep still. Momentous highlights came when Todd took himself into the third row for the final riffs of their last song and Dane Campbell chilling out behind the skins for the en core.

A fine evening of rock cutting across the genre and spanking it on the way out. Lovely.

For music streaming, tour dates and, in We're No Heroes case, free music downloads get yourselves over to:
www.myspace.com/straightlines
www.myspace.com/exitinternationalmusic
http://www.werenoheroes.com/
www.myspace.com/magdenaudio

Slam Dunk in 30 seconds

Last night I returned back to the Diff after a London weekend of frolics and one hell of a day at Slam Dunk South in the Uni of Herts, Hatfield.

In a nutshell, here's what went down:
1980's mane inducing rain, lots and lots of rock and punk and pop and rock and reggae-metal and acoustic, Rolo Tomassi pretty barking. Save Your Breath on Young Guns being 'dishy', June and Jude (and Debs), cake houses and jelly drums. Moneen big rock, baby pics and Max Blaze.  L'Amour La Morgue, rocked the shit out of Babycakes Bar. Fortune cookies from Sam Little - You are awesome and that's a fact! Mini-albums from Lost On Campus. Straight Lines predict knarly Jager vomit waves courtesy of all festie lovers simultaneous up-chucking will carry us all to Leeds. Security riots and disgruntled festival goers. Cider showers. Skindred hating on Florence and the Machine. NEW FOUND GLORY hold my hand Sonny sing alongs. Getting lost round Shoreditch, Cargo rip offs with Quicks and Toplis - HOW MUCH? - and Jamie T window ledge karaoke at 8am.

And that kids, is how to kick start any festival season.

May Day! May Day!

Euurrrgh! The weekend before payday is always rife with unequivocal shitness. Yup, sad times. Silver linings often keep themselves highly camoflaged but this is a silver lining shiny enough to whip a flock of magpies into a highly reflective frenzy.

Cardiff's first weekend of May holds more musical snacks than a Wimbledon picnic.

May 1st sees High Wycombe's Young Guns rock out a matinee show in Clwb Ifor Bach. Armed with brand spanking new material this nigh on sold out Cardiff date is set to be a pre-summer scorcher with new single Sons Of Apathy out now to buy.

If Welsh music is more your bag then I suggest you definitely get yourselves down to Cardiff International Arena on the evening of May 1st for a night of club bangers courtesy of Pontypridd's finest Lostprophets. With support from Kids In Glass Houses, both bands sporting some jazzy new material under their belts and Ian Watkin's unquenchable desire to beat the crap out of 30STM, you're not going to want to miss out on antics from Wales' favourite rock kids.

As if that isn't enough for you, indie beats from melodramatic Melbourne man-band The Temper Trap are playing to a sold out Cardiff Uni Great Hall. The Aussies will be awaiting your already thrice battered frontal lobes, ready to soothe away all the hurt with their electro indie cwtches on May 2nd.

What? You still want more? In one weekend that isn't a festival? Crumbs! Well lucky for you  Cardiff Student's Union is housing an eyeball shaking all dayer, thanks to Grab Promotions and P4 Music. The likes of Pulled Apart By Horses, The Guns and Cardiff newbies Straight Lines act as support for the mighty The Bronx and their marraccas-weilding alter egos Mariachi El Bronx. All on May 2nd.

Think of it as Festival Season warm-up.

Info and ticket deets are below and on the bands' Facebook/Myspace/Twitter/Official Websites and:
www.ticketweb.co.uk

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/
http://www.seetickets.com/
http://www.wegottickets.com/
http://www.aloud.com/
Cardiff University Box Office
Ticketline UK (Cardiff)
Spillers Records (Cardiff)
Derricks Records (Swansea)
Diverse Music (Newport)

BBPD.

Emo's Calling On Music Monday

Music Monday is just about gone, but Twitter is rife with sweet tweetings from some of our favourite new rock bands sending happy greetings from within the studio. Spring time studio hideaways can only mean one thing - brand spanking new albums will be winging their way to us all in the coming months. Yes!

Bands in the studio this Spring and that you may want to keep your ears peeled for include:
Young Guns recording their debut album,
My Passion are working on 2009's Corporate Death Party follow up,
New kids on the Welsh block, I Am Hope, have been tweeting inbetween breaks from recording their debut album. As have Shefvegas indie troup All The Damn Kids. Hit them up on Twitter @AllTheDamnKids and preview their new single on Sound Cloud.

And back to music out now....Straight Lines released their debut album Persistance In This Game is out now on Xtra Mile Recordings. They're Welsh and, oh boy, can they rock. If you were lucky enough to catch them supporting Young Guns before Christmas you'll know what I mean.

Straight Lines. As pleasant as Salt n Vinegar Walkers clad in Fred Perry.

New Zealand wannarockers So So Modern are back at their post-punk, electro math rock. They make Brett and Jerome of Flight of the Conchords seem more of a sure thing than Ellie Gounlding is tipped to be. Leave the self-prophesyingly titled Crude Futures safely on the iTunes shelf. Speaking of Ms Goulding, her debut  was released today and it's as pop filled as a shaken bottle of Coca Cola and nearly as predictable as La Roux. All in all not dreadful, just critically overrated.

Is awkward electro pop your thing too? It is? Epic. Then come join the Two Door Cinema Club hitting us with Tourist History. NME calls on the 'spiky songs that are tighter than a snaake's bumhole in a sandstorm.' And with thumbs up from Kanye West to boot, who am I to argue?

Buy This Addiction. Or else..!

Alkaline Trio are back. And I for one couldn't be happier. This is the only guide to love, loss and desperation you will need. Now, step away from the landfill indie offering of 2008 and be greeted by the warm cwtch of punky licks on This Addiction; Dine, Dine My Darling is my personal favourite. Don't go anywhere. Don't miss a beat. Just listen from beginning to end. No skipping.

Finally, Alice In Wonderland's OST Almost Alice gets by with a little help from some rock royalty friends. Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz, Avril Lavigne, Wolfmother and 3OH!3 lend their vocal chords, but it is Plain White T's Beatles esque Welcome To Mystery that really makes this collection of melodies truly unique.

That's your lot for today. Enjoy.

BBPD.