Tag Archives: Lightspeed Champion

Songs Of 2009.

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Okay so I’ve done albums of the year, now I’m going to attempt doing the songs of the year. I’ll edit this at least 10 times before being content with my choices. No order, until the last 3…as usual!

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool-Dance The Way I Feel. I firmly believe that this song can make the most miserable person feel happy listening to this. They are a friggin’ brilliant live band and I hope next year sees them becoming massive.

Frankmusik-Better Off As Two. Best friend got me into Frankmusik. I love this song.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Zero. The video alone was good. I want Karen O’s jacket from this video. I think a sense of power or something would come from wearing it.

Ellie Goulding-Under The Sheets. She’ll be big next year, by rights.

Marina & The Diamonds-I Am Not A Robot. The lyrics tug at your heartstrongs and make you think it’s all going to be okay because let’s face it, it always is 🙂

La Roux-I’m Not Your Toy. I could’ve gone for Bulletproof, but I didn’t. I prefer this song to what’s been released so far. BUT, Quicksand will ALWAYS be a personal favourite.

Norah Jones-Chasing Pirates. I’m pretty much in love with her new album.

Lightspeed Champion-Marlene. I know this out next year but the video is already out so….fuck it! Besides, his new album will probably be one of the best albums out next year.

Girls-Lust For Life. I was very happy that this wasn’t an Iggy Pop cover. Nobody should cover Iggy Pop. EVER.

Camera Obscura-French Navy. Goosebumps everywhere when I first heard this. Still happens now.

Golden Silvers-True Romance.  A band that I’m so glad I saw live. This song has some good memories tied to it. The main one being seeing them support Florence, and Florence touching my shoulder saying “excuse me” to get past and dancing in front of me and my best mate to this.

The Saturdays-Forever Is Over. This has “FUCK YOU” written all over it, which is probably why I love it.

Lady GaGa-Bad Romance- RA RA AH AH…You know how it goes. I love this an unhealthy amount (some would say..I disagree) The reference to Hitchcock’s films and the video just make it even more amazing than it already is.

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys-Empire State Of Mind. Two of my favourite artists on the same record. Musical heaven. Reasonable Doubt will always be my favourite Jay album but this reminds me why I love him.

The Dead Weather-Treat Me Like Your Mother. The video is amazing and I love Alison. No more needs to be said really.

Julian Casablancas-11th Dimension. This was enough to make me forget that The Strokes haven’t put an album out since 2005.

Florence + The Machine- You’ve Got The Love. Seeing a few thousand people around you sing along to every word is probably the best thing I’ve seen this year. My favourite cover EVER.

Metric-Help I’m Alive. I hate the word epic but that’s the only word to use to describe this song.

The Raveonettes-Last Dance. Sweet, cute, perfect.

Spinnerette-Baptized By Fire. The lyrics alone are pretty friggin’ cool. I love Brody, who doesn’t?!

Bat For Lashes-Daniel. Natasha Khan possess one of the best voices in the world right now.

Bloc Party-One More Chance. Sounds like a 90s dance track and it’s Bloc Party. Perfect.

thecocknbullkid-I’m Not Sorry. This may have come out last year? But whatever, I still love it. Album next year. ‘BOUT TIME!

The Horrors-Sea Within A Sea. 7 minutes of musical genius. I remember waiting for the countdown to end on thier website and seeing this.

Doll & The Kicks-You Turn Up. Love this band to pieces and I think they need to be signed. NOW. Lovely people and amazing live.

The Chapman Family- Virgins. Kingsley Chapman is lovely. The Chapman Family also need to be signed ASAP.

White Lies-To Lose My Life. So dark and haunting.

TOP 5!!!

Fever Ray-If I Had A Heart. Strange and beautiful.

Morrissey- I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris. Anything Moz does is genius, but this is easily my favourite single of his in a long time. The lyrics speak to me and probably most of Moz’s fans. It just reinforces our unconditional love for him.

The xx- Crystalised. Favourite new band of the year. Awesome live. The album is brilliant from start to finish.

Florence + The Machine- Dog Days Are Over. Pretty much the same as what I said about You’ve Got The Love. I love the video to this. Makes me want to run through a forest in a tux. I won’t though.

Florence + The Machine-Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up). I remember where I was when I first heard this and I remember crying because..it just like, hit me in the gut. Right in the gut and I got this feeling of “shit…everything is pretty fucked up right now but I’m going to be fine.” Lo and behold I am! Morbid story aside, this song is just brilliant. The live version of this with Isabella doing the 90s balaric keyboard solo makes me weak and fucking happy. You need to physically see it to understand. I don’t need to go into detail about the importance of this song to me. If I was writing about album tracks too, I’d put Blinding, Howl and Cosmic Love in the list.

Lightspeed Champion!

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I’ve spent most of today cleaning at work. I swear I could’ve made Crystal Meth and sold it there and then. I obviously didn’t but the smell of the cleaning products went to my head a little bit. I went to Marks & Spencers and got ripped off..again! The juice I got was pretty good though.Was tropical, if you must know.

Anyway.

I remember first listening to Test Icicles thinking something along the lines of “FUCK ME THIS BAND IS AWESOME.” Then when they split up, it was a sad day. BUT, from it we have a band called Kasms and of course…Lightspeed Champion. Why is Dev Hynes cool? Because he loves Weezer and The Str0kes. This alone makes him a wonderful human being. He’s also covered some of their songs and doesn’t butcher them. To be honest, Dev could cover something shit by someone shit say…Britney Spears? and make it decent. Anyone else think he could make Womanizer sound half decent? I know All American Rejects did a good cover of it, but I reckon Dev could make it decent.

Personally, I think he’s underrrated. Not just as a singer but as a songwirter and guitarist. Anyone who has seen him live will know just how amazing his guitar skills are.

Don’t believe me? Watch this :

Lightspeed Champion-Midnight Surpise.(Live).

It’s about 10 minutes long and it is beautiful. I do like songs that go on for over 5 minutes..and well, Midnight Surprise is just an epic song that you cannnot get bored of.

Florence And Dev!

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Florence and Dev Hynes covering one of the greatest punk tracks….scrap that. COVERING ONE OF THE BEST TRACKS OF ALL TIME. It’s Search And Destroy by the amazing, Iggy Pop. This cover is amazing. I LOVE THE PERSON WHO UPLOADED IT! There’s two other videos they’ve put up of them singing together- check them out. The Blink 182 one is funny, they forget the words! Oh, and there’s Dev’s Galaxy Of The Lost which is just beautiful, as always.

Florence & Dev- Search And Destroy (Live Cover).

2009

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This year watch out for :

Little Boots

Uh Huh Her

Emmy The Great (We Almost Had A Baby came out last year, she’s also on tour around February)

Lightspeed Champion (his new album, hopefully out this year, will be one of the best. Yes.)

Gossip (again, the new album should be out this year. PLEASE TOUR THE UK AGAIN!!)

Morrissey (Years Of Refusal will be one of the best albums of the year. UK tour in May. ’nuff said)

The Novellos

VV Brown

Hip Parade

Thecocknbullkid (beautiful voice, beautiful music, beautiful lyrics, beautoful face, beautiful!)

And of course…………..

Florence And The Machine 🙂

Lightspeed Champion. Birmingham Academy 2. 1/5/08

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DevLightspeed ChampionOperator Please

Firsty, I was probably one of the eldest there- not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

Secondly, I think everyone there pulled their clothes out of the same wardrobe.

Let’s proceed with the review, shall we?

The first support band on were Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man. They reminded me a little bit of Editors, yes I know- that means they aren’t that good, but ya know..it’s better than saying they were like James Blunt or something. Their music gave off a Shakespeare kind of vibe, rather haunting too. I wasn’t blown away- just quite amused.

Second band up were a wonderful Australian band called Operator Please who played a handful of songs from their album Yes Yes Vindictive. The album is amazing, and to hear it live (again!) is one heck of an experience. They are are aged between 17-19 but play like complete professionals. There are absolutley no faults in their performance at all. It was truely wonderful. They played with their new keyboardist, no idea what his name is. He looked a bit bored, but maybe he was nervous. Sarah used to bounce around and play the keyboard. The new guy just sort of stood there with his head down. Operator Please even treated us to a cover of Devo’s Whip It, and what a treat it was. I saw Operator Please in October last year and hardly anyone danced let alone sang along- but luckily, it was different last night. People were moving and singing. A band worth taking note of.

And finally, the main event. Lightspeed Champion. Dev Hynes walks on stage saying “Hey guys” down the mic and picks up his guitar. Every song from Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is played along with 2 new songs. The prostitute song, which is now called Madam Van Damn included- this version no longer sounds like a demo. It is awesome. The other new song is described by Dev as being “funky” it’s more than that though. His killer guitar solo mid song is perfect. In fact, the whole set is perfect. First saw Dev play in February and Dry Lips was played acoustic but tonight- full band and electric guitar. As this is my favourite song off the album- this version just blew me away. I was in awe of everyone on stage- not just Dev. The Star Wars theme was crazy too. Playing that before Midnight Surprise was wicked. Mid set, Dev took his jacket off to reveal a fetching shirt- blue polo shirt with yachts on. He bought it earlier in the day- only Dev could make this shirt look cool, and yes- the hat was on too!

You cannot find any fault in Lightspeed Champion’s performance, going from strength to strength. Dev’s live shows are something you really do need to see for yourself. He’s got a really really good stage presence too, after every song there was a bit of banter, saying “thanks everyone” at the end of every song was really cute. A little diss to The Wombats was amusing too, he wasn’t dissing them, he was just being silly, or something 🙂

 My words do not do it justice. I took some photos but they didn’t come out that well because we were stood on a box at the back of the venue eating Wham Bars (they’re still 10p! In your face Space Raiders!)

 

 

Lightspeed Champion- Falling Off The Lavender Bridge.

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Album cover.

I wrote this when the album came out :

 

Dev Hynes used to be in Test Icicles, what you need to know is that Lightspeed Champion is NOTHING like Test Icicles. His new project is calming and gentle. Test Icicles were the opposite, however both are excellent.

Falling Off The Lavender Bridge does not sound like a debut album. It actually sounds like a masterpiece that an artist for years and years has been aiming to release, after putting out mediocre albums to kill time. This will be the album you’ll play constantly from now until the summer and even after the summer- you’ll be buying another copy because your first one is scratched to hell.

Ladies and gentlemen I am not lying. This album is so beautiful and will leave you in awe. Some are quick to call Lightspeed Champion our version of Bright Eyes, fair enough really. The album is produced by Mike Mogis, a producer from American independent record label, Saddle Creek and has produced some records by Bright Eyes.

The imagination in the lyrics is astounding. Every song just oozes 100% and more genuine originality. The name of the band comes from Dev’s comic strips he did in his maths books at school- and who said maths was a useless subject!?

Midnight Surprise is ten minutes of musical heaven- check the video out too. Other singles to be taken off the album are Galaxy Of The Lost and current release, Tell Me What It’s Worth.

Devil Tricks For A Bitch has a lovely violin arrangement and has a tone to it that reminds me of The Smiths, I Could Have Done This Myself and Dry Lips are my two favourites- but the whole album is magnificent and is currently being streamed on his myspace page but please please please buy this next Monday when it hits record shops.

Lightspeed Champion’s February tour is at intimate venues which is possibly the best way to experience this album. To hear this work of art live will cover your body with goosebumps and your eyes with tears.

Album of the year? I’d gladly put money on it.

Lightspeed Champion. Birmingham Bar Academy 18/2/08

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Lightspeed Champion.

It’s a nice February evening in the streets of Birmingham and I’m making my way down to the Academy with my mate when all of a sudden Dev walks past me! The guy is quite tall and yes, he was wearing that hat! The temptation to not steal the hat..I sure fight it!

So, we’re waiting in line to get in, and there is young boy who is the spitting image of Dev. If it was me, I’d probably freak out but hey ho..it’s all flattery!

The first act on are Doncaster trio The Warbirds, clearly a winner because of where they are from (well, my mum would say that anyway) They remind me of Bob Dylan meets The View and passes by The Kooks. Sounds odd yet awful to some, but it works. It really does. They have a killer stage presence which is vital. During one of the songs the singer seems to get a bit of a giggle on, it’s quite cute. They’re an awesome band worth checking out.
Next support act is Semi-Finalists, and Dev provides bass for them which is quite possibly the only highlight of their set. They’re not fantastic but they’re not overly shit. Well, they made the kids dance a little!

After a brief soundcheck, the lights are dimmed and Dev walks back on stage accompanied by some members of Semi-Finalists and an amazing violinist and drummer. The drummer also provides backing vocals. Her vocals are amazing.
Opening up with, Dev’s words, “a song about a prostitute” and it quite fantasticly fantastic!
Most songs are played off debut album, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge including Dry Lips, Tell Me What It’s Worth and Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk. The latter Dev labels as being dated due to its reference to mango frescato, The OC and chequered coats. He possess awesome charisma and professional stage presence.
He’s also dead set on bringing back Jim Carey speak, I suppose he could really!

Dev tells us the trouble of Travel Lodge as he woke up this morning with a rash on the side of his face. He says it could be elephantitis, others say shaving rash! Let’s just hope it’s the latter.
The set is ended with 10 minute beauty- Midnight Surprise, well…it’s not really the last track. It is explained that the night before, they played a bit of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In A Free World.” as a bit of a mess around, so if it turned out awful tonight then Midnight Surprise would be known as the last song. But, although the chosen cover track is a bit over some of the kids heads here it’s still a really cool way to end this memorable, personal gig.
The Bar Acadmey is tiny and everyone is dripping with sweat, and intimate venue with a hell of a lot of character.
There is something so beautiful about acoustic music in a tiny venue. You just know inside that you are witnessing something remarkable and unforgettable. None of Dev’s songs sound the same but they all have wit and meaning. He’s doing something that needs to be done in music right now- he’s sending messages from his heart.
It’s a grand leap from Test Icicles to Lightspeed Champion- both great acts.

Dev’s created the album of the year, and this quite possibly going to be one of the best gigs I’ll attend in 2008.