Since we interviewed James Welsh, aka Seams, in May 2010, he’s moved to Berlin and has toured with Gold Panda and Dam Mantle, amongst other things. He’s just signed a record deal too, with London label Full Time Hobby.

His first release for his new label is imminent, but to tied over fans of British electronica, he’s giving away new track potential. Get it below.

When Little Death guitarist Nathan Hewitt began solo project Cheatahs, he’d play shows with a rolling lineup made up of friends from other bands. Hence the name – Cheatahs.

He soon released a debut 7″ single on London indie Young & Lost Club, but the project has since been on the back foot while Hewitt hit the road as the second guitarist in Male Bonding. Cheatahs is back though, and as a main (four-piece) concern, not a side project.

Next month, Hewitt and his band finally follow up his debut release of 2009, when they give us 4-track EP ‘Coared’, via Marshall Teller Records on June 25th.

You can stream the title track below, and if you like what you hear, pre-order the record here.

If you’ve picked up this month’s issue of Loud And Quiet, you will have heard how ex-Lovvers frontman Shaun Hencher moved back to his hometown and learned to love the sound of his own voice.

Virals is his new solo, doo-wop project, and his debut EP, ‘Coming Up With The Sun’, on May 7th.

Download new track ‘Gloria’ below. Pre-order the 12″ here.

Having signed a new deal with Berlin label Souterrain Transmissions, San Diego’s Crocodiles return next month with third album ‘Endless Flowers’, out June 4th.

Recorded in the German capital, you can download the album’s title track below, ahead of the band hitting the road with The Cribs for a UK tour. They’ll then launch ‘Endless Flowers’ aboard a boat on the Thames on June 7th, 35 years after The Sex Pistols’ infamous boat party of 1977.

Crocodile tour dates…

MAY
7th NOTTINGHAM, Rock City (supporting Cribs)
8th LONDON, Troxy (supporting Cribs)
9th BRISTOL, 02 Academy (supporting Cribs)
10th PRESTON, Mad Ferret (headline show)
11th GLASGOW, Barrowlands (supporting Cribs)
12th MANCHESTER, Academy (supporting Cribs)
13th EASTBOURNE, Winter Gardens (supporting Cribs)

JUNE
2nd LONDON Field Day festival
7th LONDON The Royal Princess Cruise Liner Boat Party

George Lewis Jr. – aka Twin Shadow – will release a follow up to his 2010 debut album, ‘Forget’, on July 9th.

The album is called ‘Confess’, and below is a taster in the form of album track ‘Five Seconds’.

Of ‘Confess’, Lewis says this…

“One winter I crashed my motorcycle , with a friend on the back. I shouldn’t have been riding that day, but I was young and fearless of the black roads, fast and easy in my ways. As the bike slipped from under us my head filled with words. The slow motion moments of calm just after surprise and just before regret are bliss. I remember in that moment I wanted to say everything to him. How could I say everything in a split second? How could I bury my words in his heart?”

“I got a new bike and went to LA to record what is now called Confess. I took the bike out at 6am one morning after not having done much riding in the couple years between Forget and Confess. I noticed my head clearing as I came slowly down a hill where the road around a reservoir began. I pulled back slowly on the throttle with my right hand, and felt the bike start to come to life. My head was still crystal clear…nothing. As I kicked the bike into 3rd, I pulled almost all the way back and jumped forward leaning in towards the gas tank, fighting the wind. I got up to 75 and saw that no one was out but the runners and their four legged friends, the sidewalks became a blur of barking dogs and heads all turning. My mind was empty. I put the bike in 4th and hit 90. The engine jackhammered under my legs. My mind was clear. I inched toward 100 on the speedometer and punch the last five. TON UP! My mind is filled with words. My heart is full of love. This is where i want to be. I want to stay here, and I want to tell you everything.”

For Yorkshire’s Beacons festival, 2011 was the year that never was, as torrential rain cancelled the event days before its very first outing. It’s back in 2012, though, and featuring a lineup that looks set to make it the best new festival of the year.

You can find out where all the excitement is coming from over on the Beacons’ site, along with vital information like the festival’s time (August 17-19) and place (Skipton, the Yorkshire Dales). And below is a mixtape of the acts so far confirmed, compiled by upcoming DJ/producer Oh’Mobbs – yours to stream and even download.

1. Mount Kimbie – William/ Serged – Mount Kimbie
2. Oh’Mobbs – A’Prophet (Demo.IV)
3. Roots Manuva – Here We Go Again (FaltyDL Remix) – Roots Manuva
4. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers (III) (Oneohtrix Point Never White Knights)
5. Jessie Ware – Running
6. Washed Out – Get Up
7. Abe – Thieves of The Rock (oh’mobbs Rework)
8. Kwes – Hearts In Home
9. Oh.Mobbs – Fools Delight (demo. edit) – oh’mobbs
10. Wild Beasts – Hooting Howling (Forest Swords Rework)
11. Nite Jewel – One Second of Love (Peaking Lights One Love Mix)
12. King Krule – The Noose of Jah City
13. Ghostpoet – Survive it (dBridge Limbo Remix)
14. Peaking Lights – Marshmellow Yellow (Ital Remix)
15. Maya Jane Coles – Don’t Tell Me
16. Julio Bashmore – World Peace
17. Jam City – Scene Girl
18. Lunice – The Good Kids
19. Pearson Sound – Footloose
20. XXXY – Kerpow
21. Jacques Greene – Arrow feat. Koreless
22. Sara Sayed & XXXY – The Earth Got Round

A couple of weeks back, Off! - the latest band from ex Circle Jerks/Black Flag front man Keith Morris – offered up a free download of ‘King Kong Brigade’. They’re following it up by giving away ‘Cracked’, also taken from the band’s 16-track debut album that’s over in as many minutes.

Download ‘Cracked’ here.

See Off! at the following dates…

02-Jun    SP            Barcelona              Primavera Sound
04-Jun    IT             Segrate (Milano)  Circolo Magnolia
05-Jun    CH           Zurich                   Dynamo
07-Jun    NL           Eindhoven             Area 51 Skatepark
08-Jun    GER         Leisnig                   Sucks’n'Summer
09-Jun    GER         Munster                 Vainstream
10-Jun    GER         Cologne                 Underground
12-Jun    GER         Hamburg                Hafenklang
13-Jun    DK           Copenhagen         Pumpehuset
14-Jun    SWE        Stockholm             Slussen
16-Jun    SF            Seinäjoki                Provinssirock
18-Jun    UK           Brighton                 Haunt
20-Jun    UK           London                  Garage
21-Jun    UK           Glasgow                 King Tut’s
22-Jun    UK           Newcastle              Academy 2
23-Jun    UK           Leeds                     Brudenell Social Club
25-Jun    UK           Manchester          Sound Control
26-Jun    UK           Nottingham           Rock City Basement

On May 2nd The Rapture return to London to play Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and we’ve got a couple of tickets to give away for the show.

If you and a friend would like to go, email the correct answer to the below question to info@loudandquiet.com by 12pm Friday 27th April.

WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF ALL THREE RAPTURE ALBUMS RELEASED SO FAR?

Forthcoming Rapture UK shows:

May 01 O2 Academy, Oxford
May 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
May 03 Norwich Arts Centre Norwich, Norfolk
June 10 Parklive Festival, Manchester
June 12 Liquid Room, Edinburgh
June 13 Sugarmill, Stoke
June 14 Arts Centre, Colchester
June 16 Roadmender, Northampton
June 17 Lovebox Festival, London

Since leaving Nine Black Alps, Martin Cohen has been making music in his Manchester bedroom as Milk Maid. Last year he released his debut album, ‘Yucca’, recorded on a 16-track tape deck.

Not much has changed for ‘Mostly No’, Milk Maid’s second album, coming June 26th via Fat Cat.

Grab a taster by downloading new track ‘Do Right’ here.

Montreal duo Purity Ring have signed to 4ad and will release their debut album, ‘Shrines’, on July 23rd. Following in the footsteps of label mate Grimes, it’s a experimental electronic pop record worth all the excitement that’s been buzzing around the band since their early release on London indie label Transparent.

Below is a taster, called ‘Obedear’, which you can download here.

‘Shrines’ Tracklisting:
1. Crawlersout
2. Fineshrine
3. Ungirthed
4. Amenamy
5. Grandloves
6. Cartographist
7. Belispeak
8. Saltkin
9. Obedear
10. Loficries
11. Shuck

Next month London’s O. Children return with second album ‘Apnea’, out May 28th via Deadly People. Here’s a taster in the form of a free download of new track ‘PT Cruiser’.

The latest project from ex Circle Jerks/Black Flag frontman Keith Morris, OFF!, will release the debut album proper on May 7th via Vice Records. It’s self-titled and clocks in 16 tracks in 16 minutes.

The first track to come from the hardcore record is ‘King Kong Brigade’, and you can download it for free here.

Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham interviewed Keith Morris for us last year. Read it here.

FULL TRACKLISTING
1. WIPED OUT
2. I GOT NEWS FOR YOU
3. ELIMINATION
4. CRACKED
5. WRONG
6. BORROW AND BOMB
7. TOXIC BOX
8. MAN FROM NOWHERE
9. JET BLACK GIRLS
10. KING KONG BRIGADE
11. HARBOR FREEWAY BLUES
12. FEELINGS ARE MEANT TO BE HURT
13. VAPORIZED
14. 503
15. ZERO FOR CONDUCT
16. I NEED ONE (I WANT ONE)

Brooklyn rapper El-P has long been a driving force in alternative hip hop, but it’s been more than five years since his last solo album, ‘I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead’.

He’ll finally follow up the 2007 release this May (28th), with ‘Cancer for Cure’, coming via Fat Possum – a label said to have been John Peel’s favourite, and one that until now has heavily specialised is all things garage rock, rather than hip-hop.

The first track to come from the album is ‘The Full Retard’, which references the movie Tropic Thunder. You can download it for free below.

The wait for a second album from Santigold has been long. Four years, in fact. It’s coming though, on April 23rd, entitled ‘Master of My Make Believe’. Before then there’ll be new single ‘Disparate Youth’, released on April 9th, remixed here by The 2 Bears, and free for you to download.

Photography by Timothy Cochrane

On May 28th, Toby Ridler will release his debut mini album as Becoming Real – a project that has seen the London producer explore UK Garage, funk and techno for the last couple of years, and tour with Salem and SBTRKT.

‘Solar Dreams/Neon Decay’ will be released via the Moshi Moshi-affiliated Not Even label, and below is taster in the form of ‘Snow, Drift Love’, free to download.

London’s Weird Dreams have come a long way since we interviewed them three weeks into their existence. Next month [April 2nd, to be exact] they release their debut album, ‘Choreography’, via Tough Love, and they’re currently midway through a tour with The War on Drugs.

Today they’ve made ‘Little Girl’ – one of ‘Choreography”s highlights – free for all. Download it below. See Weird Dreams live at the following dates…

28th Feb LONDON – Electric Ballroom w/The War On Drugs
29th Feb BRIGHTON – Concorde w/The War On Drugs
21st Mar BRISTOL – Thekla
3rd Apr LONDON – White Heat w/Savages and Indians
5th Apr LONDON Rough Trade Instore
6th Apr LONDON – Dalston Boys Club

On June 4th San Diego’s Crocodiles will release their third album, ‘Endless Flowers’, via a new deal with Souterrain Transmissions.

Before then they’ll release the record’s lead-off single ‘Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)’ on March 26th, which you can stream and download below, and on June 7th they’ll launch ‘Endless Flowers’ with a boat party cruise that just so happens to also mark the 35th anniversary of The Sex Pistols‘ boat party of 1977.

Hosted by London promoters Sexbeat, the Royal Princess cruise liner will up anchor at Westminster Pier, London, at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available here.

Following their debut single on Dirty Bingo Records last year, London trio Novella will release a self-titled EP via Italian Beach Babes on March 19th.

Veronica Falls are such fans of the garage psych duo that their taking them on tour with them, hitting the below dates.

21st Feb- Shakelwell Arms
8th March- Leaf, Liverpoow w/ Veronica Falls
9th March- Deaf Institute, Mancheter w/ Veronica Falls
10th March- Stereo, Glasgow w/ Veronica Falls
11th March- Stereo, York w/ Veronica Falls
13th March- Haunt, Brighton w/ Veronica Falls
14th March- Scala, London w/ Veronica Falls

You can listen to and download ‘Don’t Believe Ayn Rand’ from the EP below…

It’s Valentine’s Day and Gabriel Bruce – a man who has already impressed us greatly with debut single ‘Sleep Paralysis’ – has given us this love token, a cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid’.

In Bruce’s baratone drone it’s a bit fucking creepy. Still, it’s the thought that counts.

Next week he play’s London Electrowerkz, on February 23rd.

With a new album (‘Out of It and Into It’) coming March 12th via ATP Recordings, and a performance at the Jeff Mangum-curated ATP in the same month, New York trio Tall Firs have good reason to celebrate, and they’ve decided to do so in a pretty neat way.

The band will release a series of cover songs, originally recorded by other artists also on the Jeff Mangum bill, free to download. The first is Thurston Moore‘s ‘Fri/End’, which you can grab below; the final installment of the project will come the day before the event, on March 8th.

For more ATP news, check their site.

It’s been a long time coming, but London based synth duo Visions of Trees have signed an album deal with local indie label Something in Construction (Memory Tapes, The Concretes, The Gay Blades).

Their debut album, which follows a 7″ release on Moshi Moshi and countless remixes for the likes of oOoOO and Everything Everything, is due Spring. Before then though, below is the non-album track ‘Deep Than Sleep’, which you can download for free here.

If you went to see Toro Y Moi in 2009, you may well have picked up a CD-R of material that was only made available at shows. Since then, Chazwick Bundick has released two albums and an EP, and now he’s repackaging ‘June 2009′ as a boxset.

Released via Car Park Records on April 23rd, ‘June 2009′ comes in CD and download formats, and across 5 7″ records.

Download ‘Dead Pontoon’ for free below.

Disc 1  1. Best Around, 2. Take The L To Leave. Disc 2  1. Girl Problems, 2. Dead Pontoon.  Disc 3  1. Ektelon, 2. Drive South.   Disc 4  1. Sad Sams, 2. Talamak (First Version). Disc 5 1. Warm Frames, 2. New Loved Ones.

Following the success of Shabazz Palaces‘ ‘Black Up’ LP last year (the first hip hop album to be released by Sub Pop), the Seattle label will unleash two more urban records in 2012, including the second album by South Africa’s Spoek Mathambo.

‘Father Creeper’ is the musician’s second album, which will be in stores from March 12th. Before then you can download new album track ‘Let The Talk’ below, by trading your email address.

The debut album by THEESatisfaction, called ‘awE naturalE’, will be released via Sup Sop on April 9th.

Robot Elephant – a London indie label that deals heavily in weird, frightening electronic music – last year teamed up with kindred spirits Disaro Records (a weird, frightening, electronic label from Hollywood) to give us the rather brilliant Isvolt compilation.

Now they’re at it again, this time collaborating with Tundra Dub (yeah, still weird and frightening etc., but from Oakland) to release a second compilation for fans of witch house and avant garde dance music.

It’s called ‘Robot Elephant Vs Tundra Dubs’ and is released 3 March 2012.

You can pre-order it here and download a track from each side below, including ‘Flowers’ by Italian terror duo Husband [pictured].

Husband – Flowers by Robot Elephant Records

Funerals – Water Over Night by Robot Elephant Records

Last year, London label No Pain In Pop re-released ‘Geidi Primes’ – the debut album by Grimes [real name Claire Boucher] that until then had only been available in the musician’s native Canada, on tape cassette and as a download.

It sparked interest from various larger labels, and rightly so, and last month 4AD announced that they had signed Boucher and will be releasing her next album, ‘Visions’, on March 12th.

We’ve been listening to ‘Visions’ a lot. It’s an extraordinary electronic pop album, combining iced vocals with RnB, chipmunk’d chatter and 90s drum machines.

Below you can download ‘Genesis’ from the record. It’s nowhere near the best song on there.