“an idiosyncratic strain of psychedelic dance based on dense layers of exotic samples and hip hop beats” The Independent

“achingly beautiful” Pitchfork

Originally hailing from Chelmsford, Essex, and having spent the early part of his career as remixer du jour for the likes of Bloc Party, Health, Telepathe, Little Boots and Simian Mobile Disco, GOLD PANDA’s ascent to the forefront of contemporary electronic music has been steadily meteoric. Nominated as one of the BBC’s sound of 2010 nominees, shows around the world with Caribou, Health, SMD and more to come on his own in the UK and the US with Autolux, a cover star in Japan, three sold out E.P’s and a raft of praise and hyperbole from the mouths that matter (Pitchfork, NME, The Guardian amongst them) only tells half the story however.

Lucky Shiner’s the piece that completes the picture. Originating in crystal clear vision, the nuance and frenetic cadence of life and the mind’s constant disequilibrium means its final realisation stands as a product that’ll provoke thought as much as enjoyment; pathos as much as praise. “Lots of factors affected the way it came together.“ Gold Panda explains, “touring, mixing, moving house and splitting with a girlfriend. Family, friends and lovers related, places I‘ve never been”.

Decamping to an idyllic retreat also means the album bears trademarks of a pastorally hued Englishness, whist’s also coloured by GP’s two years spent studying Japanese culture, language and history at the School of Oriental and Asian studies in Japan. ‘You’, ‘Parents’ (featuring a field recording of GP helping his grandma push a wheelbarrow in the garden ), ‘Marriage’. Lucky Shiner overflows with life. Disengaging with the need for vocal, GP intimates, makes intimate idea’s immeasurably expressive and does so whilst always retaining an unfettered ear for melody. “I didn’t want to write ‘beats’” he says about the album, “I didn’t want bangers. I wanted songs with structure.”

With, as he say’s, “two tracks made from a broken Yamaha organ bought for 99p off Ebay. A lot of the drum sounds just vinyl crackle turned really loud”, and one featuring almost solely guitar, “I don’t play guitar”, the album’s a concrete introduction to an artist willing to slip mercury like through constraints of genre, form and concept. And the title’s origins? “Lucky Shiner is my grandmothers name. Sometimes I think she knows exactly how I feel without me even mentioning anything to her.” Deeply personal then, Gold Panda‘s at odds to express that unequivocally on the album. Instead, he say‘s it “would be nice if people could hear the tracks and attach their own significance to them”.

Over forty tracks eventually extricated into eleven, cohesion found through the unified fragments that “went together. I wanted a beginning, middle and end” – feelings eventually became sounds, visions graduated into awareness. Do what the artist wants and attach your own significance, if meaning is in nature indeterminate, personal experience can do ought but help.

GOLD PANDA started writing beats and collaborating a few years ago, working with the likes of Infinite Livez and Shuttle (both Ninja Tune) as well as creating his own material.
Having spent downtime behind the counters of various establishments of ill repute – finding out that record stores and adult stores are no less seedier than each other, he consolidated the rest of his hours creating archives of electronic music; each track different from the other, incorporating multitudes of styles and disparate influences and obscure samples and base material. This led to a series of raved-about remixes, with requests from the likes of Little Boots, Telepathe, Bloc Party, Simian Mobile Disco and Health.

What does it sound like? One writer claimed that: “He intuitively mixes lopsided, chopped up hip hop style beats with a gorgeous refined melodic techno sensibility creating a fresh cross genre sound that’s distinct and accomplished.” Which sounds pretty good, so let’s go with that. The second half of 2009 will see Gold Panda touring with Simian Mobile Disco and adding to his three EP releases this year already with new material. Plus generally pushing on and consolidating his quickly burgeoning reputation as one of the brightest names in the electronic scene.

MINOTAUR SHOCK is the alias of David Edwards, along with his 3 albums and collection of EP’s, he has also remixed tracks from the likes of Gold Panda and Bloc Party. Like fellow one-man-band contemporaries Four Tet and Caribou, Edwards inventively blends acoustic instrumentation with prominent keyboard lines and programmed beats, creating warm, melodic and often charming pieces of music. In his live show Edwards knocks out big, boyish beats on a live drum kit to give a diverse show in which he also cuts through clarinets and strings within his house-type show to give provide the audience with an unforgettable and unique set.

SEAMS is 21 year old James Welch from the leafy suburbs of southern England. Spending his days interning at record labels across London and taking shifts at a local restaurant, Seams spends his nights making irrepressibly emotive electronica. For some, Seams’ style of music is labelled that of Soundscape, for others it’s post-Dubstep, you might even try beatless House. In truth, it’s none of these. It is simply a reflection of James’ thoughts, moods and surroundings, and the resulting sound is Seams.

SOLD OUT

With two hugely successful, oversubscribed and sold out shows under their belt, the ‘Curated By Lyle & Scott’ series goes from strength to strength.  With the last show featuring an A+R scrum for band of the moment, Tribes, the anticipation for these events continues to build and the line-up for the third event, which will take place on Thursday, 24th February is set to raise the bar even higher.

Together Øya and Field Day have teamed up to present the best new bands form their respective countries.

ØYA festival is one of Norway’s biggest festivals, growing steadily over the last decade. It always features a diverse line-up from around the globe, and prides itself on striving to be a completely eco-friendly festival. This year’s festival features artists as wide-ranging as Fleet Foxes, Warpaint, and Bring Me the Horizon.

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Akin to Kate Bush using the rhythmic influence of Arthur Russell, GLASSER is the one-woman orchestra of Cameron Mesirow. Her 2009 debut ep, ‘Apply’, was lush and expansive despite being made by Cameron on her own, in airplanes and shoe stores, on GarageBand.

Garnering critical attention from fellow musicians, Cameron worked with the likes of Fever Ray and Blonde Redhead producers to add strings, woodwinds, bass and percussion to her simple, minimal melodies and rapturous vocals, reworking her arrangements into their current fulsome glory – her voice becomes a focal instrument, delivering abstract stories and sounds that drench the music in emotion without resorting to narrative cliches.

SAMPHA is a 20 year old from Morden who has remixed the likes of The XX and Laurel Collective, among others. Decribing his music as ‘a kind of 8-bit Soul’, Sampha mixes raw blues and soul with urban house and stuttering electronic drums.

LIA ICES’ emotionally driven and experimental pop music is both avant-garde and timeless. A natural yet refined grace permeates her work: she is a piano herself. Dancing on a finely crafted line between the percussive qualities of her instrument, and the melodic elements within the rhythm of her voice, Ices’ music reveals itself as epiphany. With such overt elegance as if from a bygone era, listening to her songs inspires a psychic time slip, and its hard to know if you’re wading in the warmest of memories or awed by the invention and glow of new surroundings.

Tickets from:
www.ticketweb.co.uk
08444 771000
www.seetickets.com
0870 264 3333

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