Weekly News Roundup - 31/03/13 - Ft. Warm Digits, Cloud Boat, Record Store Day, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Warm Digits has released  "Terminus", the first film from their upcoming album "Interchange".

Cloud Boat streamed the new track from upcoming album, Book of Hours, which is set to drop on 27 May, on Apollo:



Record Store Day has announced full listings. Exciting! You can check out all the goodies on sale by clicking HERE

The Pastels, and Still Corners were added to the line-up for Indietracks 2013, along with a bunch of other absolutely killer acts. More info on their website: http://www.indietracks.co.uk

Phoenix has released a Blood Orange remix of 'Entertainment' - featuring backing vox courtesy of Mutya Keisha Siobhan.

The Flaming Lips released a tripped out trailer for their forthcoming release, The Terror:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have debuted the video for their brand new single, 'Sacrilege', featuring Miss Lily Cole.  Their forthcoming album, 'Mosquito', will be released on 15 April.  

Long Beach psych punks The Growlers have given away a free track, 'Someday' to celebrate the release of their new album, 'Hung at Heart'. I really like this track, sounds like The Walkmen, all dirtied up. 

Virginia Wing signed to Critical Heights this week - their 'Red Sails' 7" will be released on May 6. Check it out below:

Top3@ 3:33 - Warm Digits

With the last hews of summer fading and those forebodingly dreary winter nights getting closer on the horizon, we thought what better way to stave off the cold than with three tracks selected especially to keep you warm. We caught up with Andy and Steve from Warm Digits, who have kindly provided us with a most excellent soundtrack to this Thursday Top 3@3:33. 

Black Cat - Broadcast

We think broadcast are one of the best bands from the last 15 years and were so sad to hear of Trish Keenan's death at the start of last year. We're excited about going to see the film Berberian Sound System because of Broadcast's involvement with the soundtrack

Spasticus Autisticus - Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Andy) - I've been thoroughly enjoying the Paralympics, and hearing this song on the opening ceremony reminded me how great it was in so many ways... also a reminder that the Blockheads were "mega diy" even pre-punk She Screamed - Ultra Vivid Scene (Steve) - Seemingly forgotten amongst the current rehabilitation of so much late-80s indie, Kurt Ralske's Ultra Vivid Scene deserve a bit more attention for their pin-sharp pop vignettes, full of feeling and feedback.  This song provides the missing link between glam rock and "Psychocandy", and who knew we needed one of those?

The Warm Digits chaps have got a busy Autumn of gigs, starting this Friday (14 Sep) in London at The Shacklewell Arms, and Saturday (15 Sep) at the Incubate Festival in Tilburg.  Then over the coming months they're all over the UK including Birmingham's Supersonic Festival and some shows with Field Music in Southampton, Cardiff and Wolverhampton.  All the details are on the Warm Digits website.

Following on from their debut album "Keep Warm... with the Warm Digits", their next release is a 10" vinyl pressing of their collaboration with Field Music for BBC Radio 3's Late Junction, on Distraction Records. Snap it up HERE.

PHOTOS! Warm Digits + Pseudo Nippon + Gum Takes Tooth

Gum Takes Tooth





Pseudo Nippon





Warm Digits

Interview: Keeping Warm with the Digits

Fresh from releasing their debut last month, Keep Warm...With the Warm Digits, and receiving rave reviews  (as well as quite a bit of attention from those BBC Radio people), we caught up with the lovely lads from Warm Digits ahead of their SNH London show this week.  Prepare for tales of Pacman and boyband fame...well almost...

SNH: How did Warm Digits come together? Was there an idea of the sound you wanted?

Warm Digits : We had known each other for ages in Newcastle – both playing on each other’s projects (Cathode and The Matinee Orchestra). As Warm Digits, we were originally a laptop duo, making dubbed-out techno, heavily influenced by Basic Channel. After a few gigs, we were asked to do a live score for a work by (Canadian film maker) Norman McLaren. In rehearsals for this, it became clear that the dual laptop didn’t really work for the scoring project, and we decided to try using instruments that we both played – drums and guitar – and we soon realised that it worked better than the dual laptop, and we have developed Warm Digits in that format since then.

How did you come to call yourself Warm Digits?

Steve’s partner said to him that she had cold digits – Steve thought this would be a good name for our band. However, we thought it was to Northern European, and so changed cold for warm.

How would you guys describe your sound? Is krautadelic a fair description?

Blizzardwave, Trans-Pennine, Krautaphonic duo.

I can hear splashes of Trans Am & Neu! as well as a plethora of other musical greats. Who are your personal biggest influences in music?

Yes – Neu! and Trans AM. Bands that we have talked about around this project have a wide range of connections – My Bloody Valentine, Lindstrom and Prins Thomas, Chris Corsano, Kraftwerk, Can, Harmonia, Michael Rother, Bob Moog, Emeralds, Drexciya…

What’s your plans for the upcoming year?

We are releasing a 7” on Signals record label. Another tour. Another album…

You guys have played the odd show, any stand out gigs you’ve played? Any particular shows you looking forward to?

We enjoyed supporting Goblin at The Sage in Gateshead. Our album launch at the Star and Shadow in Newcastle was pretty cool. It was fun to go Berlin and play earlier this year. It is always great to support Field Music (which we did at The Deaf Institute in Manchester). We love playing live – and it’s nice to play outside of Newcastle – we’ve done about 30 shows there, and have a great following, so we are looking forward to taking our show to other cities.

With names like Weapons Destruction and Grapefruit, what are your songs titles about?


Weapons Destruction is an anti-nuclear weapons track. Often song titles come out of research – it’s great to read around things we are interested in and find titles there. Also some of our song titles come from experiences we have. For example, Trans-Pennine Express is the train line that we use to visit each other (Newcastle-Manchester), and, of course, it is also homage to Kraftwerk.
Weapons Destruction by Warm Digits

Can you give us a heads up on some of the lesser known bands in the Tyneside/Mancunian area?


Quack Quack are amazing. Silver Fox are great. Rachel Lancaster is amazing.

Beards from Leeds are brill. Razmataz Lorry Excitement played a blinder at a club gig we did recently.

Sometimes your music sounds like being trapped in a computer game. What computer
game are you (?), and what is the best video game EVER?!

We are a BBC programme-it-yourself computer manual. (Andy likes Pacman).
PLAY PACMAN HERE 

And lastly, an odd Warm Digits fact please?

One member of Warm Digits was in the original line-up of the 90s pop band Orlando (he left before the time of this video, due to musical differences) 

Catch the marvellous Warm Digits, along with Gum Takes Tooth and Pseudo Nippon on Tuesday 25th October for Free at The Old Blue Last. Details on our events page or Facebook here

Warm Digits + Pseudo Nippon + Gum Takes Tooth - 25 October - Old Blue Last - FREE!

The third free show of the Scene not Herd autumn sees three superb bands with debut albums out in 2011 light up the Old Blue Last with their mixture of electronics and live drumming.

Expect raw, thrumming and ferocious grooves, improvised and sampled electronics and whacked-out visuals.

For full details, sign up for our facebook event.

Warm Digits

Warm Digits is the krautophonic blizzard-wave duo of Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis, based either side of the Pennines in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Manchester. Warm Digits make a semi-improvised brew of metronomic rhythms, snowstorm guitar and radiophonic electronics, dual-laptop electro, swathes of no-wave guitar and frantic free jazz drumming, taking their cue from the hypnotic repetition of Neu!, the textural overload of My Bloody Valentine, the glacial otherworldliness of Emeralds, and the sensuous modernity of cosmic disco, along with a pinch of Brian Eno-esque melody. After remix duties for the likes of UNKLE and Maxïmo Park, Warm Digits coalesced these improvisations into a set of crisp, propulsive instrumental songs for their debut album Keep Warm... with the Warm Digits.

Warm Digits have already pricked the ears of Marc Riley who invited them in for a BBC 6Music session, and David Brewis of Field Music who asked to play bass on their album as a guest. The live show, recently aired around Europe in support of the likes of Field Music, Goblin, Modeselektor and Barbara Morgenstern, aims for fully engaged sensory overload with a live-mixed collision of colour-coded structural films and live-feed video cameras.

September saw the release of their debut album on Distraction records and this will be the sole London date on their UK tour.

Pseudo Nippon

Topless, shouting like a deranged preacher, and restlessly twitching across the stage, Pseudo Nippon isn’t your average frontman. He’s backed by cheap electronics and two live drummers who mimic, jam and interlock, and it all comes at you like an alternative soundtrack to a particularly frenetic Sega game. Come with an open mind and dancing shoes and catch them while you can. Shows like this don’t often stick around for long.

Pseudo Nippon recently released their debut album on One Inch Badge. See their live show here: http://www.pseudonippon.com/#!__live-video

Gum Takes Tooth

Gum Takes Tooth are Scene Not Herd favourites. They played our festival last year and basically make any show they play. Originally a two-some featuring the extraordinary live drumming of Thomas Fuglesang, sampled live and manipulated by electro wizard Jussi Brightmore, they have recently added a second drummer just to make things that bit more propulsive.
GTT’s debut album Silent Cenotaph was released earlier this year to acclaim from mainstream and underground press alike. They have an unrivalled ability to tread the line between wild and weird whilst remaining amazingly danceable.

The third podcast....FINALLY!!!!

The music we play on this August/September edition makes this worth the long wait. Enjoy :)

SNH Podcast #3 August September by scenenotherd
Featured tracks -
Ponytail - Easy Peasy
Bilge Pump - Thank You Very Much
Yellow Ostrich - Blue
Warm Digits - Weapons Destruction
True Widow - Jackyl
Collarbones - Don Juan

New Band of the Week - 27/06/2011 - Warm Digits

Brainchild of electro-duellers Steve Jefferis and Andrew Hodson, Warm Digits succeed in purveying a unique and remarkable blend of hypnotic no-wave that commands a listen.

The kaleidoscopic revellers smash together waves of sonorous electricity, spikey guitars and frantic drumming to create a textured, atmospheric combustion; like fireworks crackling and exploding like burning spiders across the darkness of a clear, crisp night’s sky.

Cosmic and celestial; hypnotic, repetitive, shimmering and flickering, they could be likened to both Neu! and Fuck Buttons simultaneously. Live, these guys indulge in a spectral, lucid stage show; layering semi-improvised drones, beats and bleeps against the video background of tripped out scattered rainbows and ignited star flashes.

Warm Digits are set to release their debut album Keep Warm, on 5^th September on Distraction Records (I’ve had a listen and it’s really good). In support of this, they will be touring in October so we hope to catch them live soon. 

  Lets Get Clinical - Warm Digits Remix by Warm Digits 

Warm Digits - Keep Warm (live) from Steve Jefferis on Vimeo.