2010FM - January Magazine Two

Parisian band Caravan Palace made their live debut in the United States on January 10th with a performance at globalFEST 2010. Although I failed to mention this prior to the event I did want to bring this intriguing band to your attention. I like to discover different and maybe quirky musical styles and there is something about this act that I really enjoy. Another act to keep an eye (and ears) out for this year...

Comprised of Charles Delaporte (bass, programming), Arnaud Vial (guitar, programming), Hugues Payen (violin, programming), Colotis Zoé (vocals), Toustou (electronics, trombone), and Chapi (clarinet), Caravan Palace is chiefly influenced by Django Reinhardt but also cites Vitalic, Cab Calloway, Justice, Lionel Hampton and Daft Punk as influences. They made their debut on the French independent label Wagram Music and promoted the release with the single "Jolie Coquine.” After a year of intense touring of clubs, theatres and festivals in support of it they reached as high as Number 11 on the French albums chart and are now the 4th best selling artist of 2009 in the country.

Listen:
'Jolie Coquine'



Website: MySpace
Buy MP3:Caravan Palace

I new little about Beast until I received a press release informing me that 'In the recent announcement for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, acclaimed Montreal group Beast was recognized for their first-ever Grammy nomination in the category of Best Short Form Video for “Mr. Hurricane”. The band is in good company with industry heavyweights Coldplay, The Black Eyed Peas and Depeche Mode populating the category. The video was directed by Ben Steiger Levine and produced by Sacha Baylin-Stern at Nu Films; “Mr. Hurricane” appears on the band’s self-titled debut, released on Verve Forecast earlier this year'.

Having listened to album I have to say they have ticked the vitally important 'refreshingly different' box, and clearly I am 'doing different' at the moment. Hailing from Montreal via France, Beast’s music has been described as Portishead meets Rage Against The Machine with elements of rock, trip-hop and jazz thrown in for good measure. Their self-titled debut has won over the critics and fans alike, with The Globe & Mail calling the album “One of the best albums of the year” and The Toronto Star referring to it as “One of the most strikingly original and swaggeringly bad-ass Canadian albums to rear its head in recent memory”. Hey don't say Beehive Candy doesn't do attitude sometimes!

Listen:
'Finger Prints'



Website: MySpace.
Buy MP3: Beast

OK it's my warped English sense of humour but the promo that introduced Standing Shadow to me has to be read in the a deep growling movie promotion voice over style, see if you get what I mean or should I up my medication?

From the streets of Los Angeles comes the powerful, energetic, and driving sounds of Standing Shadows, and with the release of the EP, High Rise on January 5th the combination of longtime friends David Miltenberger (lead vocals, guitar) and Dan Silver (lead guitar, vocals) have hit the sonic jackpot.

Having already earned placements in television shows such as the new 90210, The Cleaner, and The Shield, among others, Standing Shadows is taking your television screen by storm. The band is also featured in the in-game trailers of Guitar Hero 5, backing the interviews with Matt Bellamy (Muse) and Shirley Manson (Garbage).

Over five years in the making, Standing Shadows is the product of the long distance collaboration of Miltenberger and Silver. The group could be defined as electro-obscura-shoegazer-rock, while conjuring audio reminders of groups like Silversun Pickups and My Bloody Valentine. The EP is a precursor to the band’s full-length album, “Five Years of Darkness,” set to be released on March 9th.

Anyhow excusing my strange imagination for a moment the good news is that this band sound just great, and I will add them to my January list of bands to watch out for in 2010.

Listen:
'High Rise'



Website: MySpace.
Buy MP3: itunes or Amazon UK Standing Shadows

That's all for the moment, Beehive Candy have received quite a few demos and intros in recent times, we are trying to work our way through them and we will mention any material that captures our imagination or ticks some of those 'virtual' boxes, so please bear with us...