On Paper


Lo-Fi-Fnk – US tour dates

By Amanda | Published November 7, 2011

Lo-Fi-Fnk are playing US shows! Edit: According to their Facebook they’ve encountered problems getting into the US, and won’t be here until Thursday, so their first show will be on 11/10 in Miami. Check Facebook for more info.

They announced these dates supporting Architecture In Helsinki and DOM a while back and we figured we’d wait till they were closer, then forgot about it for a bit. But now the New York show is less than TWO WEEKS away, so it’s about time everything is posted.

The Swedish duo, as you possibly already know, released their second album The Last Summer earlier this year and it is sufficiently amazing. Lead single Boom leans heavily to the electronic side of pop with some Daft Punk-like melodies and well, it’s very, very good. Listen to it here.

Their US dates are posted below, but first, watch this short video the pair made for the shows, which features some footage of them performing:
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Lo-Fi-Fnk will play:
MON 7-Nov US Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
WED 9-Nov US Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
THU 10-Nov US Miami, FL – Grand Central w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
FRI 11-Nov US Tampa, FL  - Crowbar w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
SAT 12-Nov US Atlanta, GA – Masquerade w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
MON 14-Nov US Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
TUE 15-Nov US Washington, DC – 9:30 Club w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
WED 16-Nov US Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
THU 17-Nov US Boston, MA – Royale w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
FRI 18-Nov US New York, NY – Irving Plaza w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM
MON 21-Nov US Chicago, IL – Metro w/ Architecture In Helsinki, DOM

http://www.lo-fi-fnk.com/
http://soundcloud.com/lo-fi-fnk

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Villagers: ‘Cecelia & Her Selfhood’ video and MP3

By Amanda | Published September 19, 2011

Villagers is taking a break from touring to make a follow-up to last year’s completely amazing debut album Becoming A Jackal, and as parting gift of sorts, offering up a studio version of ‘Cecelia & Her Selfhood’ for free download.

‘Cecelia & Her Selfhood’ has been one of those ‘played live but not formally recorded/released’ type songs for a while now and it’s great to see it finally get a proper release. They – Villagers is the solo work of Irish singer-songwriter Conor O’Brien on record, but he plays with a band live – performed it last year when we saw them at the Knitting Factory Brooklyn and it’s entirely wonderful live.

It’s great on record too, actually.

But before heading to the Villagers site for the MP3, it’s worth checking out the video for the track. It’s more a short film than a video really, a lovely animated piece that completely captures the melancholic and haunting feel of the song.

The email release sums it up as:
“The film charts the development of a young man as he navigates his way through an impressionistic landscape in search of an elusive monster which is intent on destroying his childhood home. Lost and confused for the most part, he nonetheless uncovers the beast; a creature whose origins are both terrifying and liberating.”

Watch ‘Cecelia & Her Selfhood’ below.
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Also, while flipping through Conor’s Twitter for news about this, we saw a link to an NPR show of some songs recorded earlier this year. It’s about 30 minutes long and shows just how good he is live. Listen to that here.

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RKC: Here Comes The Summer video + MP3

By Amanda | Published September 12, 2011

I’m a bit late with this, so apologies, but there’s a new song and video from RKC knocking about on the web that’s worth taking notice of.

I’ve written about RKC – previously known as Roses Kings Castles – a couple times over the past year or so, and can’t say enough positive things about Adam Ficek, the English musician behind the name. His indie folk pop tunes are some of the best around and the new song, ‘Here Comes The Summer’, doesn’t disappoint.

Based around an almost other-worldly sounding synth and slightly distorted vocal, ‘Here Comes The Summer’ is an unexpected but completely welcome surprise. Sonically unlike nearly anything else Adam has done with RKC/Roses Kings Castles, it sounds both fresh and exhilarated: a grooving, well-produced and entirely catchy tune.

‘Here Comes The Summer’ is set for independent release on his upcoming third album British Plastic later this year, but the song is now up for free download here (type ‘0′ in the name your price box).

Also check out the video for it , which features Ficek journeying around London in a rather dapper pair of shoes – his shoes being almost the only constant sight throughout. The camera is pointed downwards for nearly all of it as he walks, drives and takes the tube, making for a different and altogether enjoyable (if at times disorienting) video.

Watch that below, and then take a look at some upcoming UK tour dates and links and things of that sort.

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RKC will play:
Oct 25 – 93 Feet East – London, UK
Oct 26 – Cardiff Buffalo Bar – Cardiff, UK
Oct 28 – The Ballroom – Birmingham, UK
Oct 30 – The Victoria Inn – Derby, UK
Nov 03 – The Cluny – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Nov 04 – Seen – Darlington, UK
Nov 05 – The Battery – Chesterfield, UK

British Plastic is out on October 31.

http://www.rkcmusic.com/
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Bright Light Bright Light – Video for ‘Disco Moment’

By Amanda | Published July 2, 2011

New music from Bright Light Bright Light!

This time it’s in the form of a video for his upcoming single ‘Disco Moment’.

Like Pet Shop Boys and Robyn before him, Welsh producer Rod Thomas is no novice in creating a synthpop track that simultaneously makes you want to dance and cry a little bit, and with ‘Disco Moment’ he’s further exploring that line between the two.

Rod discussed the track with the Guardian, explaining, ‘A “disco moment” is that time you have when you’re having the time of your life, like when your favourite song comes on in a club, or when everything feels amazing and you’re like “life is great!” and the song is about watching someone you’re meant to be close to have that moment in front of you, but you’re not included.’

It’s very much that moment of realization that a relationship is over, with Rod singing “You make it so hard to be around / It’s no surprise that the line is breaking up, that we’re breaking up” as synths pound and pulse in the background.

The video features dancers wearing television sets on their heads and close-ups of them in a state where they’re seemingly not sure whether to laugh at the irony or cry at the injustice. It’s a pretty accurate representation of the lyrics. Watch it below.

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‘Disco Moment’ is out digitally on August 7th.

http://www.brightlightx2.com/
http://www.facebook.com/brightlightx2

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Win a Pair of Tickets to See Portugal’s The Gift at Bowery Ballroom June 14th

By Mark | Published June 8, 2011

**Paper Trail  Concert Ticket Giveaway**

Enter to win a pair of tickets to the upcoming The Gift / Xylos show!

To Enter, Simply “Like” Paper Trail on Facebook HERE, or E-mail HERE

Portuguese psych-pop group The Gift is making a rare U.S. appearance, where they’ll be headlining Bowery Ballroom on June 14th, w/ support from local indie pop act Xylos. The band’s beautiful new album Explode is getting a U.S. release in September, but they have plenty of new content to share if you can’t wait until then. You can check out their videos for “Made For You” (starring Lukas Haas & Isabel Lucas!) and the masterfully shot video for “RGB.” The band has been together since 1994, and they most recently toured the U.S. with The Flaming Lips in 2003. The band, featuring their amazingly versatile lead singer Sónia Tavares, is incredibly DIY for being one of the top-selling artists in Europe. They manage themselves, finance their own recordings, and produce some of the most visually-stunning live shows around.

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Fenech-Soler: New single ‘Stop and Stare’ + EP releases

By Amanda | Published April 18, 2011

Today Fenech-Soler release their latest single, ‘Stop and Stare’. It’s one of those electro pop tracks with shimmering synths and an explosive chorus that’s just meant to be danced to, and well, we’d expect nothing less from the UK band.

They premiered the video already, which features the quartet walking along a road interspersed with shots of a girl wandering about an electrical dump of old televisions. It’s all very dark and mysterious and we’ll be posting it below.

However, first we want to mention that following lead singer Ben Duffy’s recent diagnosis of testicular cancer, Fenech-Soler have decided to donate all the proceeds from the sale of ‘Stop and Stare’ to the UK’s Teenage Cancer Trust. There’s a Facebook event with more info about that here and we hope you’ll support the charity by buying it. All our best wishes to Ben for a speedy recovery.

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In other release news, the band has what they’re calling the White Versions EP up for free download on their site. It features four tracks from the album (including ‘Stop and Stare’) in a rather enjoyable stripped-down format. Of them, ‘Demons’ is particularly great, but it’s pretty amazing in almost any form (check out Sigma’s dubstep remix here).

Finally, speaking of ‘Demons’, Fenech-Soler recently made their first US release with the Demons EP, which is serving as a teaser of sorts for their self-titled debut album. It features ‘Demons’ in its album and White Version form as well as a couple other tracks, including ‘Lies‘. The album is due for a US release later this year and while we’re surprised it isn’t out yet –  it was released last fall in the UK – those things happen. The EP is quite worth checking out in the meantime.

http://www.fenechsoler.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/fenechsoler

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