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Treasure Island Music Festival 2013 To Arrive With Another Weekend Of Uninterrupted Musical Fun


Atoms For Peace Major Lazer Disclosure Beck Animal Collective Haim Palma Violets Sleigh Bells

Treasure Island Music Festival 2013 Logo

Treasure Island Music Festival returns to San Francisco, California this October for two days with an impressive selection of live music and other entertainment at a stunning location on this popular man-made island.

Headlining Saturday, October 19th is Radiohead singer Thom Yorke's supergroup Atoms For Peace - a band with a dream team line-up in itself who released their debut album earlier this year - who will be joined by the likes of dancehall DJ Major Lazer and British duo Disclosure. Sunday 20th sees yet more great sets from exclusive headliner Beck, as well as Animal Collective, hyped band of the moment Haim, London indie group Palma Violets and pop duo Sleigh Bells. What's more, you don't have to miss out on any of this incredible music as bands will be spread out on two stages, with no-one playing at the same time and, more importantly, no interruptions.

Continue reading: Treasure Island Music Festival 2013 To Arrive With Another Weekend Of Uninterrupted Musical Fun

Austin City Limits 2013 Set To Return With A Stunningly Diverse New Line-Up


Depeche Mode Austin City Limits The Cure Muse Kings Of Leon Atoms For Peace Lionel Richie Phoenix Wilco Queens Of The Stone Age Holly Williams Kendrick Lamar Haim Thao And The Get Down Stay Down Jake Bugg Electric Six

Austin City Limits 2013 poster

Austin City Limits Music Festival is set to hit Texas for its twelfth year, bringing with it two weekends of fabulous live music and family fun.

The festival organisers first decided to spread the fun out over two weekends last year, in a bid to welcome yet more people into this unique world, and it appears that they haven't gone back on their word as they are set to return to Zilker Park on October 4th - 6th and 11th - 13th. This year sees some impressive headline acts including Depeche Mode, The Cure, Muse and Kings Of Leon - and if that wasn't exciting enough, Atoms For Peace, Lionel Richie, Phoenix and Wilco are also high up on this year's bill! Some of the other acts scattered around are just as jaw-droppingly impressive, not to mention extremely diverse. We have Californian rockers Queens Of The Stone Age, country star Hank Williams Jr.'s daughter Holly Williams, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar, LA sisters Haim, alt-folk group Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Nottingham singer Jake Bugg and legendary 'Gay Bar' hitmakers Electric Six.

Continue reading: Austin City Limits 2013 Set To Return With A Stunningly Diverse New Line-Up

Video - Atoms For Peace Release Roundhouse Shows Live Downloads Trailer


Here's a trailer for Atoms For Peace's upcoming Roundhouse shows featuring footage from their Club Amok show in June.

Continue: Video - Atoms For Peace Release Roundhouse Shows Live Downloads Trailer

Hold Up, Is Thom Yorke Right To Be So High And Mighty?


Thom Yorke Radiohead Nigel Godrich Atoms For Peace

Thom Yorke’s statement will have hit Spotify’s PR team like a knife to the chest. The well-respected musician pulled his music off the streaming service, condemning its practice, specifically the payment to artists, which Yorke says works for the shareholders but not for the musical talent.

Thom YorkeThom Yorke doing his thing in Manchester

Nigel Godrich, Radiohead producer and member of Atoms For Peace, sent out a series of Tweets attacking Spotify. He wrote: “We’re off of Spotify. It’s bad for new music. The reason is that new artists get paid f**k all with this model. It’s an equation that just doesn’t work.” Yorke added: “Make no mistake, new artists you discover on Spotify will not get paid. Meanwhile shareholders will shortly be rolling in it. Simples.” The singer said he was “standing up for our fellow musicians.”

Continue reading: Hold Up, Is Thom Yorke Right To Be So High And Mighty?

A Week In Music - Bowie's 'The Next Day' Album Was Worth The Wait, Sigur Ros Back At Their Spectacular Best, Everything Everything Take Another Step Into The Mainstream With 'Duet'


David Bowie Rhye Foxygen Atoms For Peace Sigur Ros Everything Everything Big Boi Outkast The Neighbourhood Laura Marling Bruce Springsteen Seasick Steve Hard Rock Calling Lounge On The Farm

David Bowie Next Day Cover

Albums of Note... David Bowie’s return to the shelves of our local record shops (well, the few that still exist) has been met with a grateful and adulatory fanfare, across the board and it’s been no different here at Contactmusic. Having run out of contemporary influences upon which to draw, Bowie took the old adage that pop will eat itself and made an album to fit. On The Next Day, Bowie largely references himself and his own body of work, recalling his Berlin days, as well as providing an extension of the tracks he released in the nineties.“Assessing how The Next Day sits alongside anything else he's done is irrelevant; an artist who has gone through as many character changes, taken on as many styles and moved through as many eras as he has defies such lazy list making. What can be said is that it is, at this point in time, at this point in his life and career, probably as good a record that David Bowie could've possibly come up with.”

Some of the mystery of Rhye’s cloaked existence has been unveiled and the band’s two components have been revealed as Toronto born producer Mike Milosh and Robin Hannibal of Quadron. They draw comparisons to The XX, partly thanks for Milosh’s falsetto, which led many to believe that it was a woman on vocals. Possibly part of the reason they choose to entitle the album Woman...? “'Woman' is a chilled, tranquil listen but not a boring album by any means. The duo creates songs that fill with distant, mysterious moods. But, it still feels like an intimate album piled high with textured layers.”

Continue reading: A Week In Music - Bowie's 'The Next Day' Album Was Worth The Wait, Sigur Ros Back At Their Spectacular Best, Everything Everything Take Another Step Into The Mainstream With 'Duet'

Atoms For Peace - Amok Album Review


Atoms For Peace - Amok Album Review

Generally (sweeping statement imminent) the quality of the output of previous 'Supergroups' has been, to varying degrees of negativity, less than the parts which constitute its make-up. There are notable exceptions to be fair; early examples including Crosby, Stills and Nash and Cream of course as well as more recently The Postal Service and Velvet Revolver, however, when it goes wrong, or at least awry, it taints the work of the protagonists involved. Asia, The Power Station, Mike & The Mechanics and The Travelling Willurys may have made a tidy packet from their collaborative ventures but when slotted in as part of their individual back catalogue it can often leave a bad taste.

Atoms For Peace may not have invited the Supergroup label but they most certainly qualify for the tag as their amassed ranks contain near, or actual, rock royalty. The question is then, is it all a rock stars playground adventure, a chance to hook up with other like-minded souls and have a lark or does the new Atoms For Peace album, 'Amok', deliver a musical majesty befitting the blue blooded artists that helped create it? Has a project that has been nurtured since its inception in 2009 finally delivered the promised fruit of its sporadic labours?
The quintet of Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco that make up Atoms For Peace are certainly enough to get the musical world into a lather. Musos the world over have been practically dribbling into their Green Tea Frappuccinos as they contemplate the limitless possibilities of such a creative fusion. Having been treated to such high calibre material as 'Judge, Jury and Executioner' from the very beginning, the weight of expectation was always going to be heavy and high.

The initial combination of Thom Yorke's unique near falsetto vocal, carnival flavoured guitar, terrific funky bass riff supporting the fuzzy stabbing synth sequences and some gentle percussive touches produce a suitably impressive and confident opener in 'Before Your Very Eyes'. Any anxiety about what could have been has been instantaneously dissipated through a heady mix of exotic rhythms and precise production. 'Default' tentatively edges itself forward with some off-set drum n' bass steals (used throughout Amok) until the introduction of swathes of seductive synth kick in.

The new single 'Ingenue' takes over with tropical tones of discreetness and subtlety. Thom's voice is sounding more emotive and soulful than ever and has a smoother more mannered feel to it. Here, and elsewhere on the nine track set, you can't help but be impressed by the inventiveness of the mix. Listening to all the intricacies and overwhelming amount of interesting and intriguing noises is a pure delight. Follow on track 'Dropped' has a more aggressive synth style and pacier bass line to accompany Thom's more alert vocal. There are some deft percussive touches and neat catchy loops making this one of the more immediate tracks on the album.
'Unless' starts with a more cinematic feel and builds beautifully as it picks up momentum to create an intoxicating atmosphere. Flea once again shows his pedigree on the infectious and funky 'Stuck Together Pieces' and on 'Reverse Running' Thom crafts a layered vocal treatment through a jazzy mix of percussive pleasure. Title track 'Amok' closes out the inaugural album with individual highlights from each of the five contributors showing just how well they have combined to produce such a rich sound.

'Amok' then is certainly no dud, no blot on the landscape for any of the stellar musicians that helped create it. It is a scintillating album of exquisitely crafted tracks. It lacks the intensity of a Radiohead album (not to say that it is by any means inferior) and as such is far easier to just enjoy without investing oodles of time. It has a cohesive chilled back and mellow charm to it but also has an ever present edge of menace that never quite reveals itself. The production on 'Amok' also feels rather more timeless than some of the more dateable work from the Chili Peppers, Beck or R.E.M and the whole album experience is a triumph of creative talent from start to finish. Long may their collaborative venture continue.
Andrew Lockwood.

A Week In Music - Stevie Nicks Stars In Sound City: Real To Reel, Palma Violets Can't Match The Hype, Kendrick Lamar's Slick New Video For 'Poetic Justice'


Dave Grohl Stevie Nicks Sound City Players Dermot O'Leary Palma Violets Kendrick Lamar Peace Carly Rae Jepsen Atoms For Peace Tom Odell

Sound City - Reel To Reel Cover

Albums of Note... Dave Grohl managed to rally a group of rock’s big players together to record an album designed to accompany his Sound City documentary – about the legendary LA recording studio of the same name. Amongst the stars making an appearance on Sound City: Real to Reel are Sir Paul McCartney, Josh Homme and Stevie Nicks; the latter of whom provides one of the album’s highlights:

“[The] tracks that do command attention… are worth wading through the mire for. One can only assume, for instance, that Lindsay Buckingham and the rest of Fleetwood Mac will be kicking themselves upon hearing 'You Can't Fix This,' because this is simply the greatest Fleetwood Mac song that never was.”

Continue reading: A Week In Music - Stevie Nicks Stars In Sound City: Real To Reel, Palma Violets Can't Match The Hype, Kendrick Lamar's Slick New Video For 'Poetic Justice'

Atoms For Peace Ingenue Video Sees Thom Yorke Cutting A Rug Once Again


Atoms For Peace

We’ve seen Thom Yorke dance before of course, with the Oxford-born musican busting some shapes to Radiohead’s Lotus Flower off their album The King Of Limbs back in 2011. However whereas those moves were pretty smooth (by his weird standards anyway), he’s reverted to slightly more manic style on new Atoms For Peace video.

Yorke looks pretty suave, wearing a tweed suit, and he’s joined by an additional female dancer in the spacious room, but from there it all gets weird, as the pair attempt to jaunt around to the sickly off-tangent synths and minimal beats of the music. That said, you can’t deny that Yorke’s having a blast doing it – just see for yourself in the clip below.

Continue reading: Atoms For Peace Ingenue Video Sees Thom Yorke Cutting A Rug Once Again

Flea Gives Thom Yorke Surfing Lessons


Thom Yorke Atoms For Peace Flea

Thom Yorke has revealed that he’s being given surf lessons by one of his Atoms For Peace band members. I bet you can guess which one – no, it’s not Nigel Godrich.

In an interview with The Observer, the Radiohead front man, whose Atoms For Peace project released debut LP AMOK today (February 25, 2013), revealed that he’d been taking surfing lessons from bassist Flea – who also plays in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. "I used always to try to force things, in the studio,” Yorke said, comparing his music with his new found interest in surfing. “But it's like, you can sit out there on a board for ages waiting for the right wave to come along. You can't get angry about it. You know it will happen eventually and you start to understand the waiting itself might be part of it. Part of the fun."

Atoms For Peace streamed their album AMOK last week on their official site amid rumors that it had been leaked already, while Yorke and Godrich have since played in London (February 22, 2013) in order to launch the record officially. In the same interview, Yorke revealed that the idea to get an album together under the Atoms For Peace moniker came about in the wake of several US shows in support of his 2006 solo album The Eraser.  "I had these very small ideas," Yorke said, "just beats mostly. And we just played off them for about three days solid."

Continue reading: Flea Gives Thom Yorke Surfing Lessons

Atoms For Peace Release AMOK Today; But How Do Thom Yorke & Co. Fare With The Critics?


Thom Yorke Atoms For Peace Nigel Godrich Flea

Much as My Bloody Valentine did by dropping their latest album at a couple of days notice, so Thom Yorke’s Atoms For Peace have sent the music press scurrying to desperately make their opinion public first, in light of the release of their debut album together, AMOK.

Atoms For Peace, which includes Radiohead front man Thom Yorke, as well as producer Nigel Godrich and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, among others, streamed their album for a limited time on their official site last week ahead of its official release today (February 25, 2013), following reports that it had been leaked onto the internet, and the group have since played their first show in it's support – appearing in London last Friday (February 22, 2013). But what do the critics think of the LP? Opinion seems divided; Uncut magazine couldn’t be more effusive in their praise, writing “A team of skilled journeymen falling in behind an enigmatic guru and his ominous yet often curiously groovy vision.” Clash Magazine back that up, claiming “Amok provides a murky and complicated landscape that sounds like very little else - except the scorched testing ground from which we’ll witness Yorke deservedly going atomic once again.”

However, The Daily Telegraph aren’t so convinced; they say “Yorke seems to have become increasingly conflicted about the very idea of communication, his fondness for cliché indicating a tendency towards self-sabotage.” Their sentiments are backed up by Pitchfork, who write “No doubt these songs will go down a storm in a live setting. But, given the caliber of players Yorke has on hand this time around, it's disappointing that we still have to make that assumption.” Among the chances that Atoms For Peace have to convince live include Melt Festival in Germany, where they’ve recently been confirmed as headliners for the weekend of July 19-21st.

Continue reading: Atoms For Peace Release AMOK Today; But How Do Thom Yorke & Co. Fare With The Critics?

Atoms For Peace, Flea, Radiohead and Thom Yorke - Atoms For Peace, featuring Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers Tuesday 3rd August 2010 at Fuji Rock Festival Niigata, Japan

Atoms For Peace, Flea, Radiohead and Thom Yorke
Atoms For Peace

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