In Our Heads.

Keeping with the tradition of releasing albums every two years, the boys from Hot Chip return with another quirky, yet deeply profound fifth album.

The band are well known for their catchy melodies, and electronic prowess, and 'In Our Heads' shows the bands progression into even more groundbreaking material, not only lyrically, but sonically. 

Listening to In Our Heads, you can tell that the side projects of various Hot Chip members has liberated them creatively, with influences from Joe Goddard's 'The 2 Bears', especially on the track 'These Chains'. It is what you would come to expect from a Hot Chip album, but with that something extra.

The beats are faced paced, but the overall speed varies throughout the album. One notable change in pace comes from the song 'Look At Where We Are', in which Alexis Turner's recognisable falsetto, sings about an obvious relationship, and reflecting on how far they have come. 'Look at where we are, remember where we started out..' could also not just be about love, but about how far the band has come, in terms of musical substance.

I caught myself having a little groove to the track 'Don't Deny Your Heart', where the infectious electronic beats and bongo drums would be able to get anyone's hips swinging. The numerous layers of sound just go to show how complicated Hot Chip's music is; the key change for the chorus works well, and transforms the song completely. Who doesn't love a good key change though?

'Flutes' slowly unravels during the course of it's seven minutes, kind of like a knitted scarf whose threads are coming undone. The progression of adding layer after layer culminates in a climax, and by then the back burners are on, and it simmers through the rest of the song. It's definitely a clear favourite from the album, and I can only imagine what aural pleasures will be experienced from hearing it live. And it mightn't be too long until we see the boys from Hot Chip in Australia again; they have expressed interest in coming back here to tour in late 2012-early 2013.

In Our Heads is definitely a combination of everything that Hot Chip have learnt since their formation in 2000, and it never fails to make you dance. The infectious pop melodies are ever present, and kudos must be given to their fearlessness in creating an album that again pushes boundaries for Hot Chip.

Check out the dizzy video of 'Flutes' below:



Also check out the very danceable 'Don't Deny Your Heart' below:



You can purchase Hot Chip's new album In Our Heads here:
http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/in-our-heads/id516116769

Find out more about Hot Chip here:
http://hotchip.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/hotchip 
https://twitter.com/hot_chip  
http://soundcloud.com/hot_chip

I've also just started doing reviews for Radar Radio's website!
Check it out here: http://www.radarmusic.com.au/artists/reviews/

Young Rapunzel.

Azealia Banks has been making waves in the past 6 months.

Since the release of her debut single, '212 Feat. Lazy Jay', late in 2011, the song has become a hit in clubs with its techno beats and explicit lyrics.

Come 2012, and the song has reached the top 20 in the UK, she is the fashion world's new pin up girl, and has already performed at Coachella, one of, if not the biggest music festivals in the world.

She placed third in the BBC Sound of 2012, which showcases the "most promising new music for the year ahead". Previous winners of the coveted award include Adele, Jessie J and Ellie Goulding.

Azealia's vocals also featured on the Scissor Sisters new single, 'Shady Love', under the moniker 'Krystal Pepsy'.

Having graduated from the same high school as Nicki Minaj, of course there were going to be comparisons. But the 20 year old hailing from the streets of Harlem commented that “I don’t think Nicki necessarily opened the door for anyone else but herself.”

For me, I am captivated by Azealia's apparent ease of transitioning from rapping to singing with still that same, rude bitch attitude.

Other female MC's have already witnessed Azealia's attitude, having publicly dissed Australian born Iggy Azalea, and Kreayshawn via twitter. However, her raw talent proves that she can back this up and hold her own in the competitive rap world.

She confirmed that her new album will be named 'Broke With Expensive Taste', and is expected towards the latter end of 2012.

Her song 'Bambi' featured in the Mugler Men's Fall/Winter 2012 show at Paris Fashion Week, and it's a banger. The song starts with Azealia speaking "Like, you know? [giggles]", followed by a heavy electro beat. In the verse Azealia's lyrics are spoken and she asks quite sultrily 'So, where are you from?' These spoken lyrics combined with the electro beat build the song to the climax, where Azealia then comes in with some heavy rapping and that is coupled with another heavy beat. The song is definitely one I want to hear playing in a club on a night out!

Azealia is performing at the sold out Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay on the 29th of July.

Check out 'Bambi' below:



Also, check out BBC's interview of Azealia Banks for the BBC Sound of 2012.
What a cool bitch.



Unfortunately, you can not buy 212 from the Australian iTunes anymore.
You can however purchase the music video here:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/music-video/212-feat.-lazy-jay/id518344600

And you can find out more about Azealia Banks here:
http://azealiabanks.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/AzealiaBanks
http://www.facebook.com/azealiabanksmusic

#FallingForAzealiaBanks

xo