Lucky Number Music

We are extremely thrilled to announce that we have officially signed (excluding US),  Brooklyn based band, Friends.

We recently released Friends debut release, Friend Crush, on limited edition 7” vinyl and instantly sold out on pre-orders alone. The band were placed at number 24 in the NME’s ‘best new bands of 2011’ and have also been tipped as one of the bands to watch for 2011 by Stereogum, Abeano and Boomkat who said: ‘This is the kind of debut single most pop-eyed acts would kill their mates for, with reverbed snare and ESG-esque bassline iced with synth and that super cool vocal!’

To celebrate the signing  we are pleased to present the video for Friend Crush. It’s a visually ethereal psychedelic pop gem, simultaneously washed out, yet aware of its subtle sexiness, and with lead singer Samantha Urbani’s unique style clearly visible.

Friends will be releasing a new single, “I’m His Girl”, in September and their debut album in early 2012.

“Girls On Medication” is now available w-wide on beautiful white vinyl (limited to just 500 copies) and digital download. Early praise for Caged Animals:

“A louche, sordid little number. It is an unnervingly frank confession of lust for an over-opiated young lady – and it also has one of the best choruses we have posted here in a long time…” The Line of Best Fit

“So good, so damn good.” I Guess I’m Floating

“Vin Cacchione’s songs sound thick, like a muggy summer afternoon haze… heavy doses of shoegaze and dreamwave while keeping its active pop ingredients.” Yvynyl

“On the surface, ‘Girls On Medication’ seems like a serenade to women with prescriptions, a fuzzy peon that singles out the sedated as dream girls. It feels ever so well, wrong. … a twisted pop plea for someone to make sense of it all. “I try to love you but I don’t know what I’m doing, so I’ll just sit near you for a while and smile,” he sings of his bedside vigils, his commitment tainted with confusion. Truth unwrapped, ‘Girls On Medication’ socks you right in the aorta til you’re as heavy-hearted as poor Vincent.”  Abeano

“…Sounds something like a hip-hop-influenced Velvet Underground.” The New Yorker

Order 7″ Vinyl from ourselves, Rough Trade(UK) or Insound (US) and Digital Download from all usual DSPs.

Darwin Deez US Tour begins today.  These will be the final round of shows in support of the debut album.  Touring non-stop since January 2010, the last month has seen Darwin tackle his biggest shows yet, with a prime slot on John Peel’s stage at Glastonbury, Germany’s monstrous Southside and Hurricane Festivals, a first trip to Spain, that included Ibiza Rocks, and most recently Brazil and a fantastic fan-funded show in Rio to 1,000 lucky Carioca.  

The full dates are below. 

U.S. Tour Dates

07/06 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill

07/07 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo

07/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s  (support Caged Animals)

07/13 – Washington, DC – Black Cat (support Caged Animals)

07/15 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom (support Caged Animals)

07/16 – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall

We’re delighted to premiere this remix by Brooklyn’s Teenage Desert, who have significantly upped the UV-factor of the first UK offering from Caged Animals, “Girls On Medication.” 

Teenage Desert’s main-man Z. Cole Smith, a long time friend of the Caged crew, was actually the person who introduced us to the band, via their limited 2010 cassette release, and was an original member of Caged Animal Vincent Cacchione’s alter-ego, Soft Black. He’s also known internationally for his relentless onstage energy and much-loved dreamy guitar drama as a member of both Darwin Deez’s and Beach Fossils’s touring ensemble. We’re delighted he has found time between recording his debut album and his duties on electric guitar in Beach Fossils to turn in this somehow upbeat, sun-baked, and psychedelic remix. 

Hold tight also for a forthcoming remix from Hyperdub’s LV, and also the official Girls On Medication video.

Thank’s Cole!

Thee Loving Hand, aka long-time LCD Soundsystem cohort, Tim Goldsworthy, and producer/engineer extraordinaire Bruno Ellingham (New Order/Goldfrapp), have flipped ‘Radar Detector’s’ madcap energy into an accentuated slo-mo syncopation, and imparted it with a powerfully contemporised Balearic languidity. The Balearic genre is often maligned with images of Euro-cheese and m.o.r. tendencies, and indeed it walks a fine line between cool and crass, but this mix is reminiscent of classics of the genre, especially 1989’s ‘Sueno Latino’, sampling Krautrock guru Manuel Gottsching, and also of DJ History’s no 1 Balearic tune of all-time, Tullio Di Piscopo’s 1983 Euro-hit ‘Stop Bajon (Primavera)’, and also The Cure’s ‘Lullaby’, a dreamlike groove, if ever there was one.

As ever with the Balearic tag the mix takes influence from several genres, this time threading the song loosely between dub-disco effects & elements of ‘tropicool’, mixing surreal steel drums, not to mention the tonne of funky timbales as the groove reaches a tumultuous climax, and adding esoteric voice affectation, as if from a space-age David Lynch production.

With the Summer upon us it’s undoubtedly the perfect ‘up’ tune for some seasonal sunshine fun, and we are delighted to offer it to you free in celebration of a wonderful 18 months for Darwin Deez and our label. Enjoy.

Radar Detector (Thee Loving Hand Remix)