I decided it was time to start a new feature on my blog at the Times-News Online that covers recent finds of new music and new discoveries. It’s obvious to me now that I find little excitement in listening to old classic music and there are plenty of new songwriters who still create great new music. The Internet is a great vehicle for discovering new bands and Dave’s Diggs will be a frequent update on the latest and greatest tunes to come through the wires.
Last month, I started off on my vacation with a travel disc – over 150 new songs gained through various friends for review. I usually listen to a number of Internet radio stations, keep notes on what I like and dig deep into each band’s offerings to find new tunes that make for a fresh soundtrack for my day to day.
Of all the new music I heard last month, Athlete is at the top of my “must-own list” with the release of their third project, Tourist. This indie band’s home base is Deptford, United Kingdom and they are starting to gain serious momentum with a recent opening slot on the U2 Tour and a feature song in the upcoming Ridley Scott film, “A Good Year” staring Russell Crow.
Click the video for ‘Wired’ from the Tourist LP. Click more for more about the band and other video…
Athlete knows well how to craft melody and hooky pop lines to create a stellar sound, but their songwriting shimmers with a modern fresh sensibility that is cultured and no doubt will gain in buzz over the coming months as the tour comes back to the United States.
From their Myspace website at http://www.myspace.com/athlete, Athlete’s drummer Stephen Robert’s explains ‘The last album was quirky pop. And it was good quirky pop,’ says Stephen, no doubt to the agreement of fans who bought 2004’s Vehicles And Animals and the judging panel that shortlisted it for the Mercury Award. ‘But we wanted to push ourselves further.’ ‘We’ll always love good melodies,’ agrees Joel Pott, vocalist. ‘But pop in itself wasn’t enough for this record.’
They mix extraordinary conventions into this album citing influences from Beck to Flaming Lips and it’s hard not to notice the influence of U2’s The Edge with the effects-laden guitar hooks that embrace this music. There are moments I even hear old flashbacks to the Alan Parsons Project, but we’ll leave that to the late-boomers to figure that one out. I especially like the tasteful and up-front keyboard work from Tim Wanstall who delivers a sound that is hardly trite and masterful in the harmonics of his tones.
Their website refers to the notion that they liked the balance that Neil Young acheives between a grand sound and a lyrical intimacy of which Potts goes on to say, ‘We said, “let’s get more personal on these songs”,’ remembers Joel. ‘Let’s be more honest and open.’
You’ll find Tourist, the new album from Athlete an extraordinary, honest new sound that has an emotional punch and memorable melodies that make you want to listen more than once and the perfect pass-along to friends who like new sounds.
The video above is their latest single ‘Wired’ which Potts describes as, “It’s about a moment when you feel like you could lose somebody you really love,’ he say. ‘But the feeling of relief when you realise they are going to be alliight.”
You can visit their website at http://www.athlete.mu or their Myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/athlete
Here’s another cool live video from Youtube…