Dan Mangan - Rows of Houses

New from Dan Mangan today is Rows of Houses, taken from his album Oh Fortune.

If you've missed the album so far since its release, it's the perfect chance to catch up - Rows of Houses is a measured and emotional composition, without becoming boring, and an excellent place to start listening to Oh Fortune as a whole.

For Dan Mangan fans, it's also the precursor to a UK tour that gets underway on April 27th and takes in eight dates nationwide - full details below.

You can preview the track below - it's a little over four minutes long, and well worth listening through to the end to fully appreciate the nuances in the way Rows of Houses develops from verse to verse.



If you'd like to know more about Oh Fortune, you can read our full review here - there are more full-track and part-track previews, and our overall rating of 86% is none-too-shabby even by our fairly generous standards.

To visit the album's page on iTunes, or to download Oh Fortune, use the button below.

Tour Details

April

27th: BRIGHTON, The Hope
28th: MANCHESTER, Castle
29th: GLASGOW, Stereo

May

1st: NEWCASTLE, Cluny 2
2nd: BRISTOL, Louisiana
3rd: LONDON, Bush Hall
4th: OXFORD, Jericho Tavern
5th: LEEDS, Holy Trinity Church

The Futureheads - Rant, out April 2nd

If you think a capella music is what you see (and hear) on Glee, prepare yourself for an education in how it should be done, courtesy of The Futureheads.

Rant is an 11-track album (with a bonus 12th track for digital downloaders) consisting of voice-only covers of classic Futureheads songs, along with a couple of curiosities ranging from a Black Eyed Peas cover (Meet Me Halfway) to a Richard Thompson track (Beeswing).

Vocalist and guitarist Barry Hyde says the group have earned the right to do something a little different, after spending so long together.

"We're bringing to the fore what we're really about: a unification, a gang mentality, which is in the balance between our voices and our personalities."

The album is due out on April 2nd, but the previews are already making their appearances. So if you can't wait for Rant, you can preview Robot using the SoundCloud player below.



We'll be keeping an eye on this one, so look out for a full album review closer to the release date.

This Many Boyfriends - Starling

Starling, from This Many Boyfriends, is something a little different from the norm - it was released last week and, as well as being a pop song, it's also the title of the accompanying limited-edition fanzine, which you can see below.


Because This Many Boyfriends are so generous, you can also stream the single and its B-side, Just Saying, using the SoundCloud player below.


Starling is energetic but melodic, fast-paced but carefully measured, and a fine example of the north's musical heritage and modern-day prowess from the Leeds-based indiepop band, and is dedicated to their friend Peter Sykes, who was involved in the writing and recording process on the track.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Pictures

A look ahead to February 20th, when Benjamin Francis Leftwich's new single, Pictures, is due to go on release.

It's a stunning voice-and-guitar piece, of the sort that always seems to resonate with listeners of all kinds, and its appeal is undeniable.

Reminiscent of Cinematic Orchestra's 'To Build A Home' - albeit with guitar, not piano - Pictures has lyrics that demand to be listened to and that sense of being able to feel every movement of fingertips across guitar strings.


Pictures is due out in single form on February 20th, but it is also to be found on Benjamin Francis Leftwich's album, Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm - click below to open the album page on iTunes.

Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

Attack on Memory is the new album from Cloud Nothings, a year after their debut and hot on the heels of their first UK tour. It's a coming of age for the group, who are a long way from their origins back in Cleveland.

It's a raucous racket, with strained vocals and deliberately heavy drumming, so prepare yourself for an energetic listening experience. If you like to shut out the world around you with loud indie music, this is the album for you. If the last album you bought was by Beethoven, you should probably steer clear of this one.

Boy Friend - Egyptian Wrinkle

Boy Friend's debut album Egyptian Wrinkle snuck onto Popsiculture's pages back in December when we gave you a preview of the title track. Now the full thing is available and there are ten lush tracks to lose yourself in over the course of slightly-more-than half an hour.

In case you missed our December preview, Boy Friend are Christa Palazzolo and Sarah Brown, a pair who have worked together on several music projects during their 15-year friendship, but who only formed this duet in late 2010. Releases quickly followed - a self-titled EP at the start of 2011, and a 7" entitled Lovedropper in May 2011.

Egyptian Wrinkle is their first full-length album, but seems unlikely to be their last. There's a whole world of music wrapped up inside its jewel case, from the uplifting to the unnerving, and it's the kind of stuff that makes you really feel something - and that's always in demand, somewhere or other.

All the Saints - Intro to Fractions

Intro to Fractions, the new album from Atlantan three-piece All the Saints, offers a melding of mellow guitar with heavy rock drums, yielding an invigorating yet relaxing 35 minutes of music separated into 12 bite-sized tracks for easy digestion.

Some four years since the release of Fire on Corridor X, the trio's debut, singer and guitarist Matt Lambert explains the extra thought that went into the compositions that made the Intro to Fractions shortlist.

"There wasn't much room for repeating ourselves - you can bury your instruments, your words, in effects forever, but eventually you'll have to say something," he says.

With Intro to Fractions, the group have made a strong return that is rich in a sense of their musical origins - recorded at numerous studios throughout the Atlanta area, and with the help of stalwarts of the local music scene.

Jennie Sawdon - Nothing

Perennial Popsiculture favourite and ever-lovely singer-songwriter Jennie Sawdon sent this over to us in late December, so it's great that we've finally had chance to bring it to you all.

'Nothing' is from Jennie's album, Fighting the Fairytale, and tells the story of those simple times spent with the person you love, doing nothing at all, together.

Like all of Jennie's songs, it's a well-told glimpse into one of those experiences we all have at some point in our lives, but which often go untold amid a million generic love songs - and you can watch the stunningly shot video below.


The video for 'Nothing' is the work of cinematographer Jeff Wood (find out more about him here) and continues the commitment to artistry of the highest order that is obvious to anyone who's handled the inlay booklet from Fighting the Fairytale, or even one of Jennie's flyers that make the rounds at her live performances.

You can read our review of Fighting the Fairytale here, find out more about Jennie Sawdon here, or simply click the iTunes button below to go straight to the album download page.

Casiokids - Golden Years

Casiokids' Golden Years is taken from the new album Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen and had its official release date on January 23rd - however, we've got a slightly different version for you to have a listen to below.

While preparing for a sold-out show in Tokyo recently, Casiokids faced disaster when their Korg - a 25-year-old and rather rare synth - seemingly gave up the ghost.

Their signature sound was in extreme jeopardy until, with literally minutes to go before they took to the stage, the percussionist's father managed to bring some life back to the old Korg.

In the video below, you can hear a backstage recording of the resurrected Korg playing its essential role in Golden Years flawlessly, less than half an hour before the Tokyo show began.


You've probably already seen our album review for Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen, so I'll keep it brief here - but it's fair to say that Korg is a pretty important band member in its own right!

Casiokids - Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

If Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen is a bit of a WTF? title for you, then it's worth remembering that Casiokids are from Norway. In fact, you'd better bear that in mind while you're listening to the album, too, as you're probably not going to understand most of the lyrics.

Luckily, Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen is a musical powerhouse, a feast for the ears that transcends such earthbound concerns as whether you can tell what they're singing or not. Decidedly electronic compositions with typically Norwegian vocals, this album is one for you to crank up the treble (and maybe the bass too) and float away on a magic carpet woven of songs that sound like a-ha on drugs.