Hot Chip - My Piano

The 4th June heralds the return of Hot Chip as the group release a brand new single 'My Piano.'

'My Piano' is taken from Hot Chip's DJ Kicks mix for !K7 Records and is a taster for their forthcoming album on DFA, 'Shot Down In Flames.'

Hot Chip - 'My Piano'

Hot Chip have just announced shows at London's Somerset House, Global Gathering and are headlining the John Peel stage at this year's Glastonbury festival.

White Stripes - Icky Thump

The White Stripes return with a brand new single 'Icky Thump' on the 11th June.

The title track to the White Stripes sixth album 'Icky Thump' will be released on CD, 7" and a limited-edition 7" - which will be given away free with NME magazine in the UK.

The new album will be released on 18th June through XL Recordings.

The White Stripes - 'Icky Thump'

The White Stripes have confirmed their only UK summer show at this year's Wireless festival.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E.

Uber-producers Justice are to release their new single, 'D.A.N.C.E.' on the 28th May.

The new track released on Ed Banger Records is backed with 'B.E.A.T.' and 'Phantom' (which we've previously featured on goodgoodpeople) and is taken from the forthcoming '†' album released on the 10th June.

Justice are on tour throughout the summer, including sets at Rockness, Oxegen and Creamfields.

Digitalism - Idealism

Digitalism will release their debut album ‘Idealism’ on the 21st May through Kitsune.

Formed in 2004 by producers Ismail Tuefekci and Jens Moelle aka Palermo Disko Machine, Digitalism have made quite an impact in dance music. Having only released 3 singles prior to the release of this album, the German electro duo are best known for their remixes of Tom Vek, Cut Copy, Tiga and The Klaxons - which have been hammered in the nightclubs around the world by Erol Alkan, 2manydj's, Vitalic and Justice.

Usually the transition from dancefloor to home stereo can be a difficult one, tracks which sound incredible and exciting in the clubs can sound tame in comparison on home stereos and disjointed when collected onto a single record but on ‘Idealism’ - Digitalism have created a pretty solid album. The records feels like a complete record and the transitions from previous singles ‘Zdarlight’, ’Idealistic’ and ’Jupiter Moon’ to the new tracks is seamless.

This record has a good mixture of Daft Punk, The Presets, Soulwax and even, Air without ever trying to imitate. There are a few tracks which sound similar but as a whole, the record has enough highs and twists to remain interesting for the listener at home.

Digitalism have made a record which should cement their place at the top of club line-up’s and probably their place at the top of people’s play lists.

Here are a few tracks from ‘Idealism’


Digitalism - 'I Want, I Want'

Digitalism - 'Pogo'

Digitalism - 'The Pulse'

Chemical Brothers - Do It Again

The Chemical Brothers return with a brand new single 'Do It Again' on the 4th June.

The single features London-based singer Ali Love and is the first official release from their forthcoming album 'We Are The Night' - which is released on the 18th June. The new album also has collaborations with Willy Mason, Fatlip, The Klaxons and Midlake.

Chemical Brothers - 'Do It Again (Extended Mix)'

The Chemical Brothers have confirmed they're headling Bestival, Rockness, Creamfields and the Other Stage at this year's Glastonbury festival. Tickets and Info can be found here.

In Profile - Get Physical Records

It has taken Get Physical less than four years to become one of the fastest risers and strongest brands of the international club scene. The Berlin/Prenzlberg-based label is backed by a collective of six people, each of whom had a long-standing career in music before making their way from Frankfurt to the German capital at the beginning of the new millennium - Booka Shade aka Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, M.A.N.D.Y. aka Patrick Bodmer and Philipp Jung and Thomas Koch aka DJ T.

Booka Shade - 'Panoramic'

DJ T - 'Lucky Bastard (Desaster Dub Mix)'

Jona - 'Smart-Cats vs Dumb Dogs'

Find out more about Get Physical and buy their records from here.

Get Physical are currently celebrating their 5 year anniversary with a full tour including a night at London's Fabric on the 5th May. Tickets are available from here.

Manic Street Preachers - Send Away The Tigers

Manic Street Preachers return with their eighth album ‘Send Away The Tigers’ on 7th May. The title of the record is taken from a Tony Hancock phrase said when the great comedian was drunk.

Originally formed in 1986, the group have changed completely from the four young punks from Wales who wanted to be ‘4Real’. It’s been 12 years since the disappearance of Richey Edwards, at the time one of the bands principle songwriters and at least 11 years since the band biggest success, ‘A Design For Life’ in 1996 and the world is a different place for the Manics circa 2007.

The band have heralded the follow-up to 2004‘s ‘Lifeblood‘ as the return to their ‘classic’ sound. The new tracks on ‘Send Away The Tigers’ are grand and more epic than tracks from their previous efforts. ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘The Second Great Depression’ sound massive and echo the sound from 1996’s ‘Everything Must Go’ album.

The sound of ’Everything Must Go’ also echo’s on the punchy rock tracks. ‘Underdogs’, ‘Imperial Bodybags’ and the lead single ’Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ are again, grander and more punchy than on previous records and better than anything off ‘Lifeblood’.

The Manic Street Preachers are finally happy with their sound and this album reflects it, the tracks on 'Send Away The Tigers' are not full of pomp and the lack of experimentation and simple riffs works in their favour. Overall this is a very good album and could possibly see the start of a resurgence for the Manics.

The Manic Street Preachers are playing a sold-out UK tour in May and are also playing V, Glastonbury and Rockness festivals. Info and tickets can be found here.

Manic Street Preachers - 'Underdogs'

Manic Street Preachers - 'Imperial Bodybags'

Manic Street Preachers - 'Indian Summer'

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

It was never going to be plain sailing was it? Arctic Monkeys burst onto the scene in 2006 with two number one singles, the fastest-selling debut album in British music history and the highly sought after Mercury music prize for good measure. Not bad for a band that started "because it were just something to do'. Media frenzy ensues. The band are heralded as saviours of British pop music, politicians are name dropping them for the 'down with the kids' vote and who could forget Peter Crouch's 'I Bet You Look Good...' inspired robotic World Cup celebrations?

Fast forward just over a year later and the band return with 'Brianstorm', a song that is far from bad but just felt like a heavier rehashed version of 'A View From the Afternoon'. Instead of the promo video displaying the originality of their past efforts (i.e. 'Leave Before The Lights Come On') we were greeted with some jiggy R'n'B Hype Williams knock off. Top marks for not trying indeed.

Saying that, it isn't all bad news in the Arctic Monkeys camp - far from it. As these freshly leaked tracks display, Alex Turner has lost none of his lyrical dexterity and the fresh production duties coming from Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford aren't as worrying as Klaxon's debut might have led you to believe. '505' with its haunting organ is beautiful, adventurous and hopefully a good sign of things to come.

Whether ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare' will stand up to success of 'Whatever People Say I Am...' remains to be seen. What is clear is that it's going to be a damn site better than hearing fucking Muse on the radio all day.

‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ is released on Domino Records on 23rd April and is preceeded by the single ‘Brianstorm’ on the 18th April. The Arctic Monkeys are confirmed as one of this year’s headliners for Glastonbury and are also playing 2 massive outdoor shows at Lancashire CCC. Here's a preview of the new album.

Arctic Monkeys - 'The Bad Thing'

Arctic Monkeys - 'If You Were There - Beware'

Arctic Monkeys - '505'

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

Nine Inch Nails are to release their new album ‘Year Zero’ on the 17th April.

Formed in Ohio in 1988 by Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails are pioneers of the industrial rock/metal scene of the mid-90’s and have sold in excess of 20 million albums worldwide. Trent Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and is responsible for the musical direction and the output of the band, taking on the role of singer, songwriter, musician and producer for the majority of Nine Inch Nails projects.

The new album ‘Year Zero’ is being launched with a mass-media viral marketing campaign orchestrated by Reznor and clues to the albums ‘concept’ have been found on the internet and on tour t-shirts.

The new album is a good progression on the poor ‘With Teeth’ and probably the most consistent album Nine Inch Nails have released since 1994’s ‘The Downward Spiral’. The familiar heavy guitars and harsh metallic drums still remain but the beats have got bigger, several tracks sound like they’ve been given the Aphex Twin treatment - sampled, looped and distorted out of recognition.

Despite all the studio trickery, this album can sound bland and highlights are few and far between. The first single ‘Survivalism’ and ‘God Given’ - the latter track sounding like an updated version of ‘Closer’ are high points on a very forget-able LP. ‘Year Zero’ is a good album but it lacks the knock-out punch to be a great album.

Nine Inch Nails are returning to the UK to play the Carling Weekend as support to the Smashing Pumpkins.

Nine Inch Nails - 'The Beginning Of The End'

Nine Inch Nails -'God Given'

Nine Inch Nails - 'Survivalism'