Webcuts Music

Having reeled us in with the provocative teaser track “Surgeon”, we’ve now been given “Cruel” the first proper single taken from Strange Mercy, Annie Clark aka St. Vincent‘s third studio album due out September 12 on 4AD. Directed and produced by long-time collaborator Terri Timely, the video provides the perfect visual accompaniment to the sinister lyrical themes that cut through the song. Seeing Annie Clark situated in various stages of domestic anguish, the video evokes the off-kilter suburban ennui of The Stepford Wives, and is proof positive that Strange Mercy will be St. Vincent’s most memorable work yet. She’ll be touring the UK with a full band this autumn, starting November 10 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and finishing up on the 16th at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds.

What is it with twee pop types and ‘going cuckoo’. Is it something in the music? Should people be warned? Back In July we announced the release of cinematic psychedelians Still Corner‘s debut album Creatures Of An Hour and gave away the first single “Cuckoo” as a free download, which as you can see now, has its own suitably shimmery video. “Cuckoo” shines in its simplicity, a single drumbeat, ghostly guitar, and distant organ highlighting Tessa Murray’s haunting soprano as she asks, “I’d like to read your mind/can you read mine?” “It’s about confusion,” explains bandleader Greg Hughes. “It’s about being confused. Am I going crazy? Does this person like me? What’s happening? That’s the vibe of the whole record really”. Now it all becomes clear. Creatures Of An Hour will be released on October 10 through Sub Pop.

Since giving away “Winter Beats” as a free download last month and backed by regular spins of their forthcoming debut album Hearts at Webcuts HQ, we’ve become quite fond of this track. In making the video, director Alex Southam captured the feeling of I Break Horses lush electro-shoegaze perfectly with stark and hypnotic imagery, including a cameo from actor Cillian Murphy. Described as invoking memories of Cocteau Twins and Slowdive as well as the emotional synth-pop of M83 circa Saturdays = Youth, Swedish duo I Break Horses are clearly hitting every mark. For those just tuning in, I Break Horses is the nom de plume of Maria Lindén and her musical partner Fredrik Balck. Residing in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, the duo have spent the last two years meticulously crafting the nine tracks that make up debut album Hearts released on August 22 through Bella Union.

For some reason Fucked Up‘s recently released punk opera David Comes To Life (American Idiot it ain’t) went unheralded by the powers that try to be at Webcuts, which was a dick move if I may say so. As ungainly as the thought of sitting down to a hardcore-delivered tale about a guy who works in a lightbulb factory is, while being liberally shouted by the physically daunting, but incredibly charming man known as Pink Eyes. Over the course of 80 minutes, Fucked Up have in their own small way redefined the genre and recorded their ultimate statement. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess, but where they will be soon, is in London at XOYO on August 25 just ahead of their appearance at the Reading and Leeds Festival. We will be there. You should too. “Queen Of Hearts” is a taste of what to expect from David Comes To Life and this is clip is one of the best we’ve seen all year. Out now on Matador records.

Long Island’s Twin Sister channel a little Tom Tom Club on “Bad Street”, the first single taken from their forthcoming album In Heaven due out September 26 on Domino Records. We gave away this track as a free download not too long ago, but the band have since shot a video clip shot at lead singer Andrea Estella’s family’s house in Long Island, populated by her bandmates, friends and family, giving off an 80′s suburban house party vibe to match the track’s carefree summer bounce. Webcuts totally fell for Twin Sister’s 2010 double-EP combo Color Your Life / Vampires With Dreaming Kids, in particular the exquisite dreampop shimmy of “All Around And Away We Go”, so it’s only expected that we’ll excitedly prick up our ears at the sound of fresh rumblings from their camp and report on. Twin Sister have also just announced a 10 date UK and Irish tour for the autumn, kicking off at Cargo in London on October 25 and ending at The Grand Social in Dublin on November 12.

A once Test Icicle and with two albums to his name as Lightspeed Champion, Devonté Hynes has remained constant with his musical outpourings. Residing in New York City for the past three years, Hynes has been concentrating on writing and producing for other artists (Solange Knowles, Bleeding Knees Club), while continuing to work on new songs, compiling them onto mixtapes that he would listen to while travelling around the city at night (a process adopted by Wes Eisold of Cold Cave for their second album). Informed by such diverse artists as Chris Isaak, Billy Idol, 80′s Japanese pop such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and French singer F.R David, Hynes gave this new project a fresh name Blood Orange and took the songs that form Coastal Grooves on a trip to the West Coast where he started turning the ideas into an album in which the Prince-like, Twin Shadow-echoing urban groove of “Sutphin Boulevard” is the first taste of what to expect.

Is it me or do Warpaint have a thing about water/the ocean/drowning, or perhaps they’re just big fans of The Little Mermaid and just want to live under the sea? In this new video clip for their own self-titled theme song, they manage to do just that, albeit in a world where bassist/vocalist Jenny Lee Lindberg looks like a suicidal fisherman and drummer Stella Mozgawa is a parking inspector, about to shed their shackles. This is what the band had to say about the clip: “We’ve always had the idea to do a video underwater, and were excited when our friend Ted Newsome sent us a treatment, which involved just that. It was an opportunity to create a fantastical world where oxygen, time and style were simply not an issue. Turned out to be far more challenging than we had initially expected, but we pulled through”. “Warpaint” appears on their impressive Rough Trade debut album of 2010 The Fool, and the band are set to appear at the Field Day Festival in London on August 6.

Congratulations are in order for The Kills Jamie Hince, who became Mr. Kate Moss this weekend and was serenaded down the aisle by the sultan of suave, Bryan Ferry (the ‘down the aisle’ bit, not entirely true). One wonders what he sang to the happy couple…. “Let’s Stick Together”? “Kiss And Tell”? More importantly, just how much does it cost to hire the Ferry? Getting back to business, The Kills have just released the echo-chamber stomp of “Future Starts Slow” as the next single from Blood Pressures. The accompanying video directed by Philip Andelman follows the band on their travels from earlier this year, with a few sweet kissy-kiss and hand-holdy moments thrown in to make you go ‘awww’. The single is released on 7″ this week (July 11) and is backed with the new track “Blue Moon”. The Kills are set to tour Australia in late July with shows scheduled in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, including an appearance at the Splendour In The Grass Festival.

Like a lucky dip of all the great hooks and melodies in the history of song, the Canadian pop/rock quartet Sloan have been consistently, effortlessly, wonderfully, making music together since 1991. Over the years, Webcuts have been great patrons (who could forget our roadtrip through the US in 2000 following them supporting legendary Ohio rock n’ roll alcoholics Guided by Voices? Not us) and have enjoyed our encounters, be it Sydney, London or New York. Mind you, a gig in the UK right now would be a sight for sore eyes considering they last played here in January of 2006 (please, somebody have a word). Currently touring the US in support of their 10th album, the 8.5/10 awarded The Double Cross, they recently dropped into the AV Club studios to pick out a cover from a dwindling list to choose from and decided on Gary Numan’s 1979 hit “Cars”. Suffice to say, we dig it. Go Canada.

Subtle and beautifully and unexpectedly intriguing is “Calgary”, the first single to be lifted from Bon Iver‘s long-awaited (and due any day now) follow-up to For Emma, Forever Ago out June 20 via 4AD. With a little surrendering of your digital details, you can download the track now from www.boniver.org. The physical format will be released on July 4 on 12″. Exclusive to this release will be a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’. Also confirmed is Bon Iver’s first UK tour dates since 2009. For the shows, Justin Vernon will perform with an 8-piece band that feature many musicians who contributed to the album, including regular Bon Iver contributors Sean Carey (piano), Mike Noyce (guitar) and Matt McCaughan (drums), as well as a well-travelled band of supporting players who’ve done time in Anthony & The Johnsons, Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens. The UK tour starts on October 19 at Manchester Apollo, with a show in London at the Hammersmith Apollo on October 24.