The Bird Man Cometh!

Thursday night saw Andrew Bird and homies Dosh and St. Vincent come to the Scala for a blistering night of whistling and mad skills. I totally recorded 'Fiery Crash' on my ridiculously inept Sony Ericsson so I could share a nice live mp3 from the night, but my phone ate the song and spat it god knows where. But never mind! Instead I am giving you the marvelous Armchairs. It's long, but stick it out till he sings "You didn't write you didn't call" - the shivers you will get are a total pay-off. Live, this song absolutely took my breath away. Dude can sing!

Andrew Bird - Armchairs



Now onto St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, session guitarist for bloggers favourite Sufjan Stevens amongst others. On record, S V creates swathes of layered sound, blending fractured beats and swirling melodies to create an almost ethereal sound-scape not totally dissimilar to dudes like Yeasayer. In person, she is completely different. We saw her stripped down (tragically only aurally) and accompanying herself with just a guitar and foot stamps, and is kinda reminiscent of Regina Spektor (Whom I LOVE!). I have to admit, I prefer this experience as her incredible musicianship really only shines when given a blank canvas against which to unfurl. She plays the guitar like a freakin' piano, I mean, c'mon!! After grabbing the following mp3 you really need to check out her MySpace and listen to 'Marry Me'. It's sublime.

St. Vincent - Paris is Burning

Dosh, St. Vincent and Andrew Bird baby!

Coming soon...

Last night I saw Andrew Bird supported by the magnificent Dosh and the quite frankly adorable St. Vincent play their last show together at the Scala. Yes, it was bloomin' fantastic. I'm at work at the mo but check back later for a full review and mp3 goodness!

Hit the road, Jack

Well it's officially summer since even the emo kids near me have abandoned black and taken to the neon 80's revival going on here in LDN; walking through town you may well be blinded by guys and girls in shocking pink, electric blue and neon yellow... all in the same pair of pants.

The good news of course is summer means holidays and holidays mean leaving the city, which means getting to drive again! So here are a few classic summer songs for driving along to.

The first, Shoulder to the Wheel is an absolutely perfect song for a road trip. As soon as the vocals kick in and you hear "Please Dave, just drive" you can feel the road beneath you and the wind in your hair. Or maybe you're standing by an open vent. But whatever, it's got a nice beat as my grandma would say.

Our second pick, 1000 Miles Per Hour eases us into the slow lane as the boys from Ok Go cruise by wheat fields and water towers in a gentle cross country voyage. FYI, the girls love this one... or at least I do!

The final track here isn't driving themed, but the lovely Praise Chorus by the deftly evolving Jimmy Eat World takes me back to summer every time I hear it. There's also a nice "get up and go" sentiment to the song. The lyrics "I'm on the street, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go" can't fail to put you in the mood to head out into the night and put pedal to metal. So buckle up and get moving!

Saves the Day - Shoulder to the Wheel

Ok Go - 1000 Miles Per Hour

Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus

A Manic affair to remember...

So Sunday night Wales' finest export after sheep-related humour came to Truro, Corwall's only city, for an intimate gig before their just announced arena tour. I was there, I took the above shot from my place smooshed up against the barrier like the hard-core manics fan pro I am, and am thrilled to announce it was bloody good. The band played with the confidence I guess only nearly 20 years on the road and losing a band-member (and surviving) can give you and the crowd were absolutely 'avin it large.

I did manage to film James Dean Bradfield's acoustic and heartfelt tribute to missing Manic Richey Edwards but you'll have to wait till I've YouTubed it for that visual masterpiece (oh sony ericsson, I love you, then I hate you...) but for now enjoy this twin-set of stadium-rock offerings from the Welsh kings of pop-rock themselves. The first, The Second Great Depression is from new Album Send Away the Tigers and second track, Enola Alone is an excellent pop-rock song from the hugely successful come-back album after Rickey's disappearance, Everything Must Go

The Second Great Depression
Enola Alone

(with both files, right-click; save as)

Like a drunk, but not...

First post, first post, gooooo team!!

Ok, so welcome to 'Dance Anthem of the 80's', a music blog from the only British city worth its' weight in pirate gold.

I will be bringing you news, reviews, shoes, possibly excerpts from Blue's Clues... and anything involving 'ooohs' that's happening in the music scene (yep, the whole scene and nothing but the scene). But to kick us off, lady Regina Spektor performing the awesome 'Dance Anthem of the 80's' live in San Diego...

Regina Spektor - Dance Anthem of the 80's