Caught in the net: P-p-p-pick up a piece of Panda
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Your support makes all the difference.UK electro producer Gold Panda picked up a lot of attention last year for a string of sparkling EPs and remixes full of quiet beats and twitchy techno flourishes.
Now his debut album, Lucky Shiner, is on the way. The record is not released until 12 October, but in the meantime we can busy ourselves with one track from it called "Snow & Taxis": it's a free download at Luckyshiner.com and it's really great. Picking up where his early EPs left off and giving Four Tet's Keiran Hebden a run for his money, this is beautiful, low-key techno. Roll on October.
Might as well wait until September
28 September is going to be a big day for art-rock: first Deer-hunter announced they are releasing their new LP Halcyon Digest on that day, and now noisy LA duo No Age follow suit with their third record Everything in Between. I'm not claiming they've coordinated this but it's starting to feel like an indie version of that Kanye/50 Cent face-off from a few years ago. Before that No Age have 12in and 7in singles on 24 August, both led by the song "Glitter" from the album, but with different non-album B-sides. "Glitter" and the additional 7in track, "Infloresence", are available now at ind.pn/9SNurD. They're not a huge departure from previous efforts but there are still some good sounds to be heard.
The shock of the Neu! is revisited
Last week Andy Gill reviewed Neu! 86, a revamped version of the seminal Krautrock band's final recordings from the mid-1980s, compiled by sole surviving member Michael Rother. He described it as for "completists only". Perhaps more worthwhile for anyone with an interest in Krautrock, beyond mere completists, is another Rother project. The German has assembled a new band with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tall Firs' Aaron Mullan. The trio are recreating the music of Neu! in a series of concerts. One such neo-Neu! gig took place at New York's Lincoln Centre: the show was recorded by the WNYC radio station and it's a brilliant hour of pulsing rhythms and pioneering electronic artrock. Hear it at ind.pn/dw6ZQw
Crazy mixtape from the Coast
Best Coast have been one of the great breakthrough bands of the year. Fronted by 22-year-old Bethany Cosentino, their debut album, Crazy For You, has been received with acclaim for its blend of lo-fi surf-styled Americana. Add the fact that they have a famous feline mascot, Bethany's cat, Snacks, and the recipe for indie-band success is complete. This week, the group have put together a mix- tape featuring hits by such indie heroes as Pavement and Weezer, exclusively for The Independent, which can be streamed at independent.co.uk/artsblog.
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