Vuvuvultures debut new song for “In This Together” Campaign

Yesterday we were treated to a brand new song by one of our favourite artists of 2012 and a tip for 2013, Vuvuvultures. That in itself would be reason enough to get excited (and we did) but the track, “Stay Still” was filmed and released online for the Mark Thomas Taylor Menswear ”IN THIS TOGETHER” campaign which is associated with MTV Staying Alive Foundation which is helping with the global fight against HIV and AIDS.

The Vuvuvultures gang are brand ambassadors for the campaign and you’ll notice they are sporting some rather fetching t-shirts in the video, which you can buy here, as part of that role.

The track itself is as brilliant and as energetic as we have come to expect from Vuvuvultures but now with added pop bounce in the chorus. Obviously we love it and with news of more new tracks and videos on the way, we’re just getting more excited for an album in 2013.

There are more details on the campaign and a link to where you can lend your support after the video.

About the In This Together Campaign
All information from http://markthomastaylor.com/in-this-together

UK designer Mark Thomas Taylor (MTT) has partnered with the MTV Staying Alive Foundation in creating the new fashion line “In This Together” to help ignite a wave of awareness about the HIV/AIDS pandemic. All money raised will go towards the Foundation’s work in empowering young people engaged in fighting the stigma, spread and threat of the virus through inspiring grantee projects around the world.

“In This Together” will be supported by London-based bands and artists Seye, The Special Ks and Vuvuvultures, who are also Mark Thomas Taylor’s brand ambassadors, and will be featured in “unplugged-style” videos to feature the exclusive product range. Follow our campaign on Twitter too: @MTVStayingAlive and @MTTLDN

“I’m so excited about this collaboration with SAF and MTV!” said Mark Thomas Taylor. “The fight against HIV and AIDS is so important and I couldn’t think of a better way to show my support than to team up with these guys on our capsule collection.”

About the MTV Staying Alive Foundation
The MTV Staying Alive Foundation is an international content-producing and grant-giving organisation dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV among young people. The Foundation creates and distributes challenging and entertaining HIV prevention content across MTV channels with third-party broadcasters, while finding and funding young leaders who are tackling the HIV epidemic in their own communities. For more information log onto http://stayingalivefoundation.org

Delphic Promo New Album – Collections

So here we are, breaking all our own rules and dropping some news almost as soon as it is announced. Well what are rules for, if not for breaking? Especially when the news is this exciting…

Having spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening last week grooving to both old and new material from Delphic, we were very excited to receive an email this morning formally announcing a new album, Collections. In the mail, sent out to mailing list subscribers, the guys discuss the time they have taken to write and record the album, and their relative change in musical direction.

“We didn’t want to make an album that replicated ‘Acolyte’, that more-of-the-same-again approach seems all too abundant at the moment and it doesn’t interest us in the slightest, so we set out to challenge ourselves. In many ways this album has been a process of re-learning what we thought we knew”.

Collections will be released on 28 January 2013 and you check out a video trailer here and the tracklist is below.

Collections
1. Of The Young
2. Baiya
3. Changes
4. Freedom Found
5. Atlas
6. Tears Before Bedtime
7. The Sun Also Rises
8. Memo
9. Don’t Let The Dreamers Take You Away
10. Exotic

While we are talking Delphic, treat yourselves to a free download of “Good Life” (Lone Remix).

Free Download: Two Door Cinema Club – “Sleep Alone”

It is obviously the time of year for returns, yesterday it was Delphic who stepped out of the wilderness and today it’s Two Door Cinema Club who are bringing forth new material for the masses.

In an email to their mailing list this afternoon the guys revealed that their new single, “Sleep Alone”, is to be premiered on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show in the UK tonight (Thursday) at 19:30. Simultaneously the track will be made available as a free download from their website. But, the free download will be available for 24 hours only so don’t dawdle if you want to fill your ears with new TDCC material.

“Sleep Alone” will be available to buy digitally from 21 July, and on 7″ vinyl from 3 September. Their second album, Beacon, is also due out on 3 September.

This article was updated at 19:48 with more release information and a stream of “Sleep Alone”

Watch: Spring Offensive – “Worry Fill My Heart”

Social commentary in music can come in many forms. Earlier this week we were treated to the rousing, visceral dissection of the class system by Plan B and now, in their brand new single released today, Spring Offensive are giving us their take on the banality of everyday life and the feeling of being trapped by the economic situation around us.

Vocalist Lucas Whitworth explains, “It’s a reaction to that feeling of impotence when confronted with a difficult choice. So many of our friends, family and people we meet are stuck in this terrible position – we keep being told that we’re lucky to have a job, as unemployment soars, but we still need an outlet to escape the monotony, to stop our lives from stagnating and becoming grey. So we sing, or we go to gigs, or we do whatever we need to just to feel engaged…”

One thing we don’t recommend you do to keep engaged though, is get together with a mate and embark on a game of chicken with a bow and arrow, despite what the accompanying video may depict. Don’t try this at home kids. The flick, also released today and which you can see below, was created with assistance from Dave Matthams from Runaway Media and is the perfect accompaniment to the song.

Set in a fairly beige room, presumably to further represent the bland existence of many, the video uses a hamster on a wheel to illustrate the sense of futility and frustration of being stuck in a rut and never reaching a goal. As well as this, a group of extras join the band in signing the chorus as the voiceless majority, plodding on without the chance to speak up and be heard.

The band has already generated a lot of buzz for their previous track and video, “Carrier” which is the B-side to “Worry Fill My Heart”. No doubt a lot more is on the way.

“Worry Fill My Heart” is out digitally today and a physical CD release will include the aforementioned “Carrier”, an exclusive track entitled “Ridgefield” and a remix from WILDSWIM. The CD will be available to buy during their upcoming tour (dates below) before it is available to buy online, so you know what to do if you want one.

In the meantime, enjoy the song and video.

Spring Offensive Live Dates

March
29th – Electricity Showrooms, London
30th – The Green Door Store, Brighton
31st – Secret Location, Oxford

April
01st – The Castle Hotel, Manchester
02nd – SOYO, Sheffield
03rd – The Head of Steam, Newcastle
04th – The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool
05th – Gwdihw, Cardiff
10th – Schon Schön, Mainz
11th – MUZ, Nurnberg
12th – Häll, Heidelberg
13th – Parterre, Basel

Watch: Plan B – “ill Manors”

“Too many protest singers, not enough protest songs”.

In a dazzling volte face from his Strickland Banks persona, Plan B has returned to his rap roots and is spitting fury and social commentary the likes of which has not been seen in the UK for far too long. Simply put, this could well be the most important piece of music released this year.

There is a lot of hype, controversy, misreporting and bullshit surrounding this track so we urge you, take time to not only listen to the song, to watch the video, but spend 15 minutes with the Plan B interview below where he explains his thought process behind the song and what he is trying to represent. One thing it is not, is the glorification of violence and gang culture.

Plan B interview on Radio 1Xtra