They Be Xuxa

photographed for IM//UR by Agnes Lloyd-Platt

Jessie, Jenna, Michelle, Seth, and Jennifer are the current members of self described pony thrash band, Mika Miko. This five piece from Los Angeles have actually been around since 2003; emerging from the tight knit, noisy experimental heart of the DIY community in LA, The Smell, where the list of patrons and regulars include No Age, HEALTH and The Mae Shi. The band though, have further come to light from an international point of view after touring the shit out of America, Europe and Japan with their blistering thirty minute set. Mika Miko aren't a musical revelation by any stretch; but their reinterpretation of Californian punk is, at the very least, a violent and raucous good time.

Everyone talks about their live presence; with their explosive energy, thrashingly danceable and good-natured punk mettle that has famously made theirs a fun show to attend. Just this month they headed over to the UK to give it some tour love before heading back over to the US to do it all over again. Whilst they were in London we caught up with them to talk Xuxa, the Smell and periods.

I would say that I'm friendly towards the Maxïmo Park sound. They are a great live band with a good first album, a great second effort, and the third, the newly released Quicken The Heart, was just ok - a little too copied/pasted from their own sound for me -  but it managed to get onto the British Top 10. Again, when I was asked to review the new album for another site, I didn't even mention 'Questing, Not Coasting', as it sounds a lot like the pretty fillers they're full of - but it turns out that it's their next single.

So apparently all the things that I don't like (or care) about Maxïmo Park are the ones that people love - and that made me a little afraid to say that I really like their new video. It was directed by Grant Gee (of Radiohead's "No Surprises" video, the "Meeting People is Easy" documentary and "Joy Division" feature, 2007) and it's one of those simple but effective videos. The video shows the band playing in front of a cool projector that constantly changes colour and the image.

As usual, Maxïmo Park's single comes with lots of b-sides (which I always love) and an acoustic version of the song. You can buy it from July 13th onwards.

BURRRRRRRRRN

Li-Lo had her spray tan line, and Will Ferrell is claiming his stake of the sun protection market with a new line of sunscreen. So, actually, the point is that you really shouldn't be tanning, cause it's bad for your health, innit.

If you really must venture out to soak up some glorious sunshine, you have the options of Sun Stroke, Sexy Hot Tan, and Forbidden Fruit to protect yourself with. And in fact, the $12USD that each bottle costs goes towards the charity that Will has been supporting for many years - Cancer for College’s College Willpowered Scholarship Fund; which grants college scholarships to cancer survivors and amputees.

If you're not really down with charity or even health, then at the very least, you gotta be down with Will. The images on the bottles are classic. Check it:

 

Hot Hotter Hottest

Jona and Claire

photography by Jennie Warren

Jona Bechtolt is back (and now with Claire L. Evans) with his kooky, upbeat, off the wall but always positive brand of musical oddities, with an album called See Mystery Lights, being released via DFA (y'all know the story behind that right? Yacht wrote Summer Song as a love letter to LCD Soundsystem and James Murphy totally fell for it and signed Yacht to DFA).

The album cover

Yacht's currently on tour with Patrick Wolf around the UK - an unexpected combination, but somehow just as unexpectedly making sense. It's good to see Yacht floating around again. They've already leaked their first track, so here it is, Yacht through and through, complete with odd beats, quirky instrumentation and endearingly awkward vocals warmly calling 'where you been darlin', darlin', we've been holding this moment for you'. *TEAR*. I have a feeling the album's going to be the perfect summer accompaniment.

Album tracklist after the jump!

We showed you the front of the single already, this is the back.

So the virtues of Plugs were already been extolled some time back on this site; but their single 'All Them Witches' was released only a week and a half or so ago courtesy of the Filthy Dukes' label Kill Em All. The video was released for it more than a month ago too, but here it is for you in crispy high definition. It's a simple, split screen affair showing off the trio of Morgan Quaintance (guitar/vocals/drum machine), Dave Chin (bass/keys/vocal/drum machine) and drummer Boomer, playing their cool looking equipment.

And stolen from the NME is Morgan's self remix of the single, making the track into a more mournful event, imploring "Don't let them get to you". He's talkin' about 'all them BITCHES', innit yo. I adore the syncopanted, fidgety movements of the instruments in both the original and the remix of this track.

No less danceable, if not more banging than the single, the remix exudes a gravity that's not in the I-have-a-chainsaw-in-hand-for-you-haha-no-I'm-serious atmosphere of the original, in this brilliantly layered, lazer gunning, glitchy version, filled with a dancey synth line and handclaps. If the single is the first stage of anger after a trauma (in this case, it's an obviously spectacularly failed love), then the remix skips denial, and goes straight to the sad/upset phase. It's a pensive and reluctant lament, yet an ultimately uplifting kinda break down, that in the end resolves itself - love it.

Seriously, I don't get why more people aren't talking about Plugs. Their music is - bold upper case lettering - WICKED. And to further show Plugs' range, here's their May freebie for you too which they made with a telephone mike pick up at the Royal Festival Hall in London. It's a little I M // Making Art but give it a chance and you get a bit of a 'tune' towards the end.

It's about time we had some news from Magic Wands. The owners of two great EPs from 2008 are finally announcing the release of their first 2009 release and it's a compilation of their best material released so far. So if you didn't get the chance to listen the first time, you might want to treat your ears to it this year.

Magic Love & Dreams is crafted with soft, hazy and hypnotic melodies that are made to improve the coldest, rainiest days of the month. The lyrics are simple yet effective, hooked with some catchy choruses and a blurry atmosphere. 'Black Magic' and 'Teenage Love', the two standouts tracks, are both a synthetic rock affair that dance with a gloomily introspective pop soul.

The Spanish band Crystal Fighters (a recent addition to the Kitsuné's family) add fuel to 'Black Magic' with some hot beats and spicy bass lines in their remix, unfortunately it's not a part of the EP. Magic Love & Dreams was recorded with Santigold/Lykke Li producer John Hill and was released on the 25^th of May. 

Why did I not hear this one before? In order to celebrate their first European tour the Canadian duo Fan Death recorded an excellent cover of Q Lazzarus's 'Goodbye Horses'. Although it sounds very '80s, don't expect the typical disco sound that the girls usually make. It flirts with new wave elements whilst keeping the heavy aura that works perfectly with the girls' vocals.

The tour is finishing in three days, but you can save the cover below and listen to it forever.

What would you come up with if you took 'Umbrella's drums, samples from eighties sci-fi movie Starman and the Notorious B.I.G. rhymes from 'Hypnotise'? Dan Black triumphantly came up with 'Hypntz' and for that he travelled around some 'next big thing' lists for 2009. Some months later and he has an album ready to be released - but turns out that he didn't get permission to officially release 'Hypntz' because oddly, Notorious' mum, the one who takes care of his legacy, doesn't allow any sampling of her son's lyrics.

So Dan Black, who couldn't and shouldn't lose that song, re-wrote the lyrics and created 'Symphonies'. Although some may say the cover was better, I do find it charming the way Black tried to keep the dramatic content of the original, but also dropped some crazy fun rhymes (e.g. focus with hocus pocus). And as the theme is sampling, the music video features some famous movie openings; from the sepia classics to the 3-D futuristic.

By the way, do you know what it sounds like when two hypes collide? It sounds like robotic voices, hyperactive drums and dry 90s synths. At least this is how the Passion Pit remix of Dan Black sounds, and you can download a 320kbps version below.

'Symphonies' will be released by June 29^th with ((un)), the debut album, following in the 6^th July!