Guy Connelly's Clock Opera project has just come off touring with Yeasayer and is prepping to go into the northern hemisphere's autumn with an EP via Neon Gold. In the meantime, we have a new track entitled 'A Piece of String'.

'A Piece of String' is beautifully made. It manages to be thoughtful and not a little pensive, but doesn't lose any joy in the process. An utterly charming ukelele literally forms the piece of string that threads the track together, whilst sweetly syncopated beats played on cool percussion and some curious wood wind gets knitted over the top to make the weirdest jumper you ever had. But the kind you wear all the time because you always get compliments on it (actually, I'm wearing mine right now. It's huge and goes all the way down to my knees; it's made up of all different shades of purple and has beaded flowers patched all over it. It's fabulously wrong and so so right). 'A Piece of String' is thoroughly refreshing, check it below:

Clock Opera - A Piece of String (Radio Edit)

Now you've heard that, here's a couple of sweet remixes of the track from Mickey Moonlight and Magnets, who did Clock Opera a great turn giving 'A Piece of String' excellent interpretations. Cop them below:

'Hide Me', the lead single from The Golden Filter's Völuspà has been remixed by Londoners Guy Connelly as Clock Opera and Rory Phillips.

Clock Opera infuses the typically cool, signature TGF track with a fluently jangling warmth; softening 'Hide Me' with a really lovely and hopeful - though at times rather melodramatic - atmosphere, particularly when accompanied by the Richard Clayderman-esque piano. Alongside this element, the undulating synth that is one of the staples of TGF's sound is removed and replaced with a small choir of lovely, smoothly pealing bell-like synths.

Clock Opera

Melodious and rippling in a near-glissandic, slightly off kilter eddy is the muscle of this remix. Lovely.

Rory Phillips also throws in his lot with 'Hide Me', going the opposite way to Clock Opera and making the track even more aloof; almost as if the song narrows it's eyes and turns up it's nose slightly with Rory's touch. This remix goes oddly retro too, pulling out noises and effects from various eras to combine them in a thoroughly 'now' kinda way.

Rory Phillips

Po-faced and unruffled, this remix is for all the cool cats.

And it must be mentioned, the way that the ever interweb-savvy Golden Filter are handling their inevitable album leak is admirable; obviously prepared, they are providing plenty of incentive to go out and purchase the CD (or on vinyl...you also get the mp3 version straight away) which also has a couple of unseen videos too. And going down the Willy Wonka route, they've thrown in a personalised Polaroid they took, as well as naming - GET THIS - TWENTY STARS IN THE SKY with certificates to prove it, slipped into twenty random CD and vinyl copies of the album.

GO GET IT HERE!!

Guy Connelly's aptly named project Clock Opera is just that - Guy being the maestro conducting a symphony of samples, cuts and percussion. And whilst here in Sydney the air is smelling sweet and the sun shining bright enough to burn you to a fluorescent crisp, if you happen to be in grey London, seek some - metaphorical - sunshine in the Levi's Ones to Watch program; where Clock Opera happens to be one of the acts hitting the stage.

I keep getting the urge to say Clopera. Or Operock. Anyway.

Clock Opera dropped the b-side to their first single ' White Noise' called 'Alouette' over at Discodust a month or so back, which brought to my mind a kind of weird Coldplay/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 'Pure Imagination' collision, in a good way. Here's single 'White Noise', a soundscape full of ambition; the project harbours rather grand sonic ideas. It's only in 192 kpbs so go hit Puregroove for the vinyl.

Dalstonites Django Django hand over a marchingly good remix; starting out with a clanging, robotically dancey bit of syncopation, before the drums kick in and the epic delay filters on. It moves on to be more epic sounding than the original in some ways. This remix is kept grounded though with Django Django turning up the progression that the track is built around in muzzy guitar form - which, in the original is much more subtley synthy.

P.S. Billed with Clock Opera at the Levi's Ones to Watch gig are also Marina & The Diamonds and Wolf Gang who will all be playing in Hoxton at the Bar & Grill on the 18th. Go check 'em.