News: Kai Fish leaves Mystery Jets

Mystery Jets bassist Kai Fish has announced his intention to quit the London-based indie pop band, just days after the group finalised new album Radlands.

Speaking to NME, Fish spoke of his disillusion with life in the Jets which came to the fore while working on the new album.

It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I sat down with the guys and said, “I’m finding being in the band really hard, but I’ll try my best to carry on.” And I did, but feelings just don’t go away…

He stated he wasn’t likely to release anything under his own name, but was in the market for a new project. Bassist Peter Cochrane and pedal steel player Matt Park have replaced him in the interim.

News: Deadmau5 slates high-profile collaborations

It seems electronic whizz Deadmau5 has finally snapped. After constant requests from major labels for remixes of their work, the deejay posted a strongly worded outburst on his website:

All to often, there’s an influx of “big names” that would get thrown around the label from time to time and of course, they fly off the table and out the fuckin door faster than they hit my desk. eg. do you want to do a track with big name X, remix huge pop act y, etc etc. no. i fucking don’t. i really REALLY don’t.

Massive [sic] tag on that one I reckon. But the idea is there - fair enough if he just wants to do his own thing. Electronic musicians are often relegated to a remix parenthesis on a single.

He went on to discuss his passions for art and literature in the post, including lauding short story “The Veldt”, which he says “inspired” him to write a soundtrack for the story.

Chris James, an American vocalist, added vocals to his mix, much to Mr Zimmerman’s delight:

he righteously did his homework, and came up with just a few bang on verses that completely compliment the story and the mood, which is all i ever want from a song that contained lyrical content. Can’t give him props enough.

Listen: Deadmau5 & Chris James - “The Veldt”

Live: Latitude Festival tickets on sale

Tickets for this year’s Latitude Festival, located in Southwold, Suffolk, have gone on sale, and are expected to sell rather quickly.

Headlining this year’s festival are heavyweight songwriters Elbow, delicate blog favourites Bon Iver and former The Jam member, now critically acclaimed solo artist, Paul Weller.

Being a festival there are also other fantastic acts on if none of the headliners take your fancy. 22-year-old queen of folk Laura Marling lands a place second on the bill, as do quirky electropop group Metronomy, former Pulp guitarist Richard Hawley, London folktronica act Bat for Lashes and Kansas City’s own R&B/soul singer Janelle Monáe.

On the Word Arena stage, White Lies, The Horrors and Wild Beasts will finish each respective night off and only add to the immense quality of entertainment on offer at the festival.

The full lineup can be found over at Latitude’s website, which also has links to all official ticket sources.

News: Coldplay don’t like how people speak

Well, okay, not exactly. But Coldplay, the quintessentially not-very-good-anymore British band, have told yank talk show Good Morning America that their new album’s title is frankly a bit daft.

Lead warbler Chris Martin said:

It’s just something that we thought looked really good but everywhere we go around the world people pronounce it in the most crazy ways and we’re beginning to regret it now.

Not sure how a title like Mylo Xyloto could look good for an album full of early 90s disco rip offs, unless it was being released in the arse-end of Africa. It’s probably likely that they were aiming for high search engine optimisation, but to do it with an album title like this is just stupid.

Coldplay won Best British Group at the Brit Awards the other month, somehow. Martin continued to flaunt the band’s pseudo-modest image by claiming that they won it purely because they’re “the only British band left on the pitch”. Which is true if you count British bands who sell heaps. It’s nice to know that Coldplay think about the minnows of the music world when accepting awards, like.

So maybe this retrospection will make them think twice while recording their sixth album, which I hear has the working title Soewinwerjwnisdfmxxx.

Listen: New Madeon track aired by Pete Tong

So, French child prodegy Madeon has released a new track. It’s called “Icarus”, and comes after months of teasing and prodding across the internet, sending Hype Machine into absolute meltdown… And, wow, it is it a doozy.

Following in a very similar - but very good - vein as the rest of his work, the track is however a much more dynamic beast. Mixing calm with rapture, Madeon - who, by the way, is seventeen - manages to craft a soundscape which is both coldly professional and immensely entertaining.

Unfortunately, the track doesn’t officially on Soundcloud so I can’t put in a player - but since other blogs are doing it, here’s a quick link (hosted by blahblahblahscience).

MP3: “Icarus”