Neko Case is a bit of a Neon Filler favorite whether that be with her role in the New Pornographers, playing wonderful live sets or on her own solo albums.  The last of these was Middle Cyclone which made it in to our top ten albums list when released in 2009.

So we are very excited that she is back after more than four years to release The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You via ANTI on the 2nd September. Case says of the album:

“My brain wilderness is more dense and dangerous than I thought,” says Case. “It was an embarrassing and hilarious march, but I now feel like a more streamlined being. It’s a good feeling. Four years of my life took ten years hostage, then gave me back twelve.”

The album was executive-produced by Case and recorded at Wavelab in Tuscon, as well as Portland, Los Angeles and with Phil Palazzolo in Brooklyn. Tucker Martine, Case and Darryl Neudorf mixed the album, with backing by guitarist Paul Rigby, bassist Tom V. Ray, vocalist Kelly Hogan and multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse. Other guests include M. Ward, Steve Turner, Howe Gelb, and members of The New Pornographers, My Morning Jacket, Calexico, Los Lobos and Visqueen. In addition to eleven new songs written by Case, The Worse Things Get… features a cover of ‘Afraid’ by Nico.

The first song from the album. ‘Man’, featuring M.Ward on guitar, is available to view below and gives good reason to be excited about what is likely to be one of the best albums of 2013.

By Dorian Rogers

Squeeze and ex-Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook’s band The Light are among the acts confirmed for this year’s one day Splendour Festival in Nottingham.

Taking place on 20^th of July in Wollaton Park the line up includes Jake Bugg, Maximo Park and KT Tunstall. Local act Dog Is Dead is another to play the event.

In addition the event’s comedy stage will be playing host to among others Craig Murray and Andrew Bird and Splendour also features a kid’s area and funfair.

Interesting festival fact is that Wollaton Park is the grounds of Wollaton Hall, which doubled up as Wayne Manor in the last Batman film.

For more information and ticket information visit here. Discounts are available for local residents.

by John Haylock

The Great Escape Festival announce today another hundred acts for the event to be held at various venues across Brighton between 16th and 18th May this year.

The festival is primarily aimed at showcasing new and emerging talent, the discovery of new and exciting acts being the best thing about the weekend, and there are many unfamiliar names on the list. Some established acts announced include Brighton locals The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and Billy Bragg, who joins Bastille as one of the big Dome shows taking place over the weekend.

The full list of acts announced today is as follows:

A TRIBE CALLED RED / AA WALLACE / ANDY SHAUF / ARCANE ROOTS / ATLAS GENIUS / BABE / THE BALCONIES / BEACH FOSSILS / BIG WAVE RIDERS / BILLY BRAGG*/ BLUE HAWAII / BROOKE CANDY / CAIRO PYTHIAN / CAIRO KNIFE FIGHT / CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN / [CHAMPAGNE] / CONCRETE KNIVES / DANIEL DRUMZ / DEEP SEA ARCADE / DIANE / DIIV / THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER / ELISAPIE / EYE EMMA JEDI / FARAO / FIMBER BRAVO / FINDLAY / GIRLS IN HAWAII / GOLDEN FABLE / HACKTIVIST / HIGHASAKITE / HOUNDMOUTH / THE HOUNDS BELOW / HUSKY RESCUE / IGGY AZALEA / INDIANA / IS TROPICAL / JACKIE ONASSIS / JAGWAR MA / JENNY HVAL / JOE BANFI / KAMP! / KIMBERLY ANNE / KINS / KODALINE / LITTLE GREEN CARS / LONDON GRAMMAR / LORD HURON / LOSTALONE / LOWELL / MARIKA HACKMAN / MAUSI / MAZES / MEL PARSONS / THE MIDNIGHT BEAST** / MIKAL CRONIN / MO KENNEY / MONOPHONA / MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY / MURDER BY DEATH / MURMANSK / NO CEREMONY /// / AN ON / ONLY REAL / OWLLE / PARLOUR / PARQUET COURTS / PHANTOM / PINKUNOIZU / PLASTER / RAH RAH / REBEKKA KARIJORD / RUBIK / RUEN BROTHERS / SAINT MICHEL / SARAH MACDOUGALL / SAY YES DOG / SHARKS / STEVIE NEALE / STORY BOOKS / SUSANNE SUNDFØR / SYRON / TALL SHIPS / TEMPLES / DANCING YEARS / THE ELWINS / THE GRISWOLDS / THE OTHER TRIBE / THE STRYPES / THREE TRAPPED TIGERS / THUMPERS / TODDLA T SOUND / TRIPWIRES / TROUMACA / UNNO / WARM MYTH / WHITE FENCE / WOODS / YAN WAGNER / YOUR FAVOURITE ENEMIES

This is in addition to the list of artists previously announced:

THE 1975 / ALLAH-LAS / ALUNAGEORGE / AWAKEN I AM / BΔSTILLE / BEAR’S DEN / THE BLACK HEART REBELLION / BLACKEYE / BLAUDZUN / BRODKA / CAITLIN PARK / CHARLIE STRAIGHT / CHILDHOOD / CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS / CHVRCHES / CLOUD BOAT / COUSINS / CUB SCOUTS / DAN CROLL / DARK STAR / DAVID RAM JAM RODIGAN MBE / DEL BARBER / DINGUS KHAN / DINOSAUR PILE-UP / DRENGE / DUNE / EAGULLS / ECHO AND THE EMPRESS / EDDI FRONT / ED HARCOURT / ELIZA AND THE BEAR / FIST CITY / FOAM LAKE / GALLOPS / HOW TO DRESS WELL / HUMANS / HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY / INDIANS / JACCO GARDNER / KING KRULE / LAB COAST / LAWRENCE ARABIA / LEWIS WATSON / LUKE SITAL-SINGH / MAC DEMARCO / MADE IN JAPAN / MARMOZETS / MERCHANDISE / MØ / THE NATURALS / THE NEIGHBOURHOOD / NEIGHBOURHOOD YOUTH / NICK MULVEY / NIGHT ENGINE / PHOSPHORESCENT / PORTASOUND / RAINY MILO / ROYAL CANOE / RYAN KEEN / SAN ZHI / SKATERS / SKIP&DIE / SNAKADAKTAL / SOAK / SPECTRES / STONEFIELD / SUPERFOOD / SWEET BABOO / SWIM DEEP / TELEMAN / TO KILL A KING / TOM ODELL / TOMORROW’S WORLD / TOWNS / TRES B / THE TROUBLE WITH TEMPLETON / THE UPSKIRTS / UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA / VELCRO HOOKS / VELOCIRAPTOR / WALL / WOLF ALICE / YOUNG RIVAL

Festival tickets are available for as little as £45 if you get in quick and take advantage of the early-bird offer. Dome shows are available on their own but can be added to your weekend pass for a £7 “top-up” fee. More details and links to ticket sales can be found at http://mamacolive.com/thegreatescape/

By Dorian Rogers

After a month of deliberation Neonfiller’s co-editor Joe Lepper and his fellow Glastonbury Emerging Talent judges have whittled down more than 8,000 acts to a long list of just 120. These will now go to a panel, which includes festival organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, who will select a shortlist of eight who will battle it out for the top prize of a slot at Glastonbury Festival 2013.

Our selections are Swindon based Nudey Bronque, Nadine Shah from the north east of England and maths rockers Super Squarecloud. Good luck to all three.

For a full list of those who made the long list click here.

And here’s a recap of our final three choices:

Nadine Shah

Nadine Shah’s influences include Scott Walker, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey and it shows on this throbbing, atmospheric and downright frightening track she submitted called Aching Bones. The sparse piano and her croaky voice all add to the mystique of this track, which is part Portishead, part gothic horror sound track. Scary and beautiful music from this north East of England singer ,who has recently completed her debut album Love Your Dum and Mad, has really caught my attention

Nudy Bronque

There were two things that leapt out when I heard this track Allsorts from Wiltshire based Nudy Bronque. The first is that their lead vocalist sounds like the late great Vivian Stanshall, of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band band fame. The second is that the track has been mixed and mastered by Colin Moulding, who given their Wiltshire location must surely be Colin Moulding from XTC,  another hero of ours. So I had a look through some of their other tracks and, yep, they are good as well. Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band meets XTC; I don’t think influences can get any better than this for our website. It’s worth checking out their more upbeat tracks as well, especially Fond Of You.

Super Squarecloud

Next band that has stood out so far is Super Squarecloud, a five piece that bills itself as Maths rock. Even after a few seconds you can tell they are a little bit different,  on their very mathsy track Lolly Moon. The opening heavy guitar riff jerks in and out in time seemingly only with itself, while their vocalist  Jo Ford sings sweetly over it. It jerks about a bit more, giving the listener no chance to even get  an abacus out to calculate the rhythm.

It’s odd, strange, beautiful pop that you certainly can’t dance to and is all the better for it. Great stuff, especially for fans of other innovative UK bands such as Free Swim and Special Benny. The three of them should tour together; it’d be one hell of a show.

 by Joe Lepper

Ok, I’m heading into the final straight now. Just a few days left for me to make my final decision on the three bands I’ll be submitting  in my role as a judge in the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition, writes Joe Lepper.  For a quick recap on our involvement click here.

So far I have featured four bands that have impressed me (see here and here). For this, my last article before I make my  final choice,  I have picked out two very different acts. Both have raised their heads above the parapet and begged me for inclusion.

Nadine Shah

Nadine Shah’s influences include Scott Walker, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey and it shows on this throbbing, atmospheric and downright frightening track she submitted called Aching Bones. The sparse piano and her croaky voice all add to the mystique of this track, which is part Portishead, part gothic horror sound track. Scary and beautiful music from this north East of England singer ,who has recently completed her debut album Love Your Dum and Mad, has really caught my attention

Nudy Bronque

There were two things that leapt out when I heard this track Allsorts from Wiltshire based Nudy Bronque. The first is that their lead vocalist sounds like the late great Vivian Stanshall, of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band band fame. The second is that the track has been mixed and mastered by Colin Moulding, who given their Wiltshire location must surely be Colin Moulding from XTC,  another hero of ours. So I had a look through some of their other tracks and, yep, they are good as well. Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band meets XTC; I don’t think influences can get any better than this for our website. It’s worth checking out their more upbeat tracks as well, especially Fond Of You.

So here’s the drill. We are one of a number of online music writers helping the Glastonbury Festival to find the winner of their Emerging Talent Contest. We’ve got lots to wade through before we hand over our top three entries to a panel that includes festival organisers Emily and Michael Eavis.

Each week as we plough through the entries we’ll highlight a couple of bands that have caught our ear and could be in with a chance of winning the top prize of a main stage slot at the Festival.

Already we’ve highlighted the excellent maths rock of  Super Squarecloud and the beautiful Welsh tones of Swnami . For more about the competition and to hear Swnami and Supersquarecloud click here.

Here are our next two acts.

Young Believers

It was the intricate acoustic guitar picking that drew me into this track Fear Walks With You from this folk band from the north west of England. While the track on first hearing plods along there’s a real sense of atmosphere here that elevates it above so many other songs we’ve been hearing. It also sounds a little like US band Low in places. We had a look at their Facebook blurb and were impressed to find out they formed from a mutual love of the late great Bert Jansch and Special Brew. A heady mix indeed.

Yellow Bridge

The beautiful Irish lilt in Ciara Donnelly, aka Yellow Bridge’s, vocals hits you hard. Not only is she a great singer but her vocals are honest, and true to her Waterford, Ireland, roots. She works with a variety of producers and other musicians and is a fairly new artist on the scene, spending some of her time writing tracks for others and even radio jingles. Her submitted track Circus has proved a perfect showcase of her and she’s certainly impressed us with her superb voice.

by Joe Lepper

As a judge in the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition I’m spending the next few weeks wading through around 200 tracks of up and coming indie/alternative/folk acts, writes Neonfiller.com’s Joe Lepper.

There’s around 40 of us music blogging journalists judging this year, all tasked with picking our favourite three tracks with the aim of creating a long list of talent to go to festival bosses, including Emily and Michael Eavis.

In total 8,000 acts submitted entries and eventually a shortlist of just eight will emerge with the bands asked to battle it out at the Pilton Working Man’s Club for a chance to win a main stage slot at the festival.

It’s a great prize but the competition also gives bands the chance to make contact with the online music journalism community. So even if you don’t win the top prize, or even make the long list, its still a great chance for publicity and to make contact with music journalists.

In this first update I’ll be introducing you to a couple of the acts that have caught my ear in the early stages of judging. Their inclusion here should obviously be taken as an indication that I like them, but not that they will be in my final top three. I’ve plenty more to wade through before I make that choice. Also I ask that any bands that I mention here or in further updates do not get in contact with me during the judging process.

Swnami

First band to interest  me was by coincidence the very first clip I clicked on, Wales’s Swnami and their track Mynd a Dod. They look about 12-years old but play with the confidence of a far older band, with their tracks full of the epic indie rock qualities of Sigor Ros mixed with the smart pop of early XTC or early Foals.

Their unique selling point, not that its that unique in Wales, is that they sing in Welsh, with it’s beautiful rolling vowels giving their music a real edge and a welcome change from the usual Americanisms and mockney we hear among indie rock bands.

Super Squarecloud

Next band that has stood out so far is Super Squarecloud, a five piece that bills itself as Maths rock. Even after a few seconds you can tell they are a little bit different,  on their very mathsy track Lolly Moon. The opening heavy guitar riff jerks in and out in time seemingly only with itself, while their vocalist  Jo Ford sings sweetly over it. It jerks about a bit more, giving the listener no chance to even get  an abacus out to calculate the rhythm.

It’s odd, strange, beautiful pop that you certainly can’t dance to and is all the better for it. Great stuff, especially for fans of other innovative UK bands such as Free Swim and Special Benny. The three of them should tour together; it’d be one hell of a show.

We’ll post more updates after our next trawl through the entries.

Canadian synth pop legends Men Without Hats will be performing in the UK for the first time this week (Feb 1)  to promote their latest album Love In The Age of War.

The UK date at London’s Islington O2 Academy will mark the start of a European tour that also takes in dates in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Sweden. Full details can be found here.  We’ll be at their London show with a review to follow next week.

This latest tour  for the band,  which is fronted by Ivan Doroschuk,  follows a US tour last year with The B-52s and The Human League.

While 1983’s single The Safety Dance is their biggest and most well known single it is their 1984 album Folk of the 80s (Part III) that has most impressed us during their career. Here’s a clip of the title track, one of our favourites from that album.

by Joe Lepper

Robin Guthrie to a generation of stargazers and shoegazers remains the unlikely godlike guitar hero who accompanied the suitably ethereal vocals of Elizabeth Fraser in the legendary Cocteau Twins.

His often beautiful guitarscapes became an integral and iconic part of one of the eighties most revered and influential bands, creating such classics as Victorialand, Heaven or Las Vegas, Head over Heels and Treasure. Their music still resonates and reverberates, it remains timeless.

Since the Cocteau Twins split in the late nineties Robin has gone on to forge a large body of instrumental solo work, working with such luminaries as Harold Budd and currently ex-Ride frontman Mark Gardener.

His immediately recognizable style with its  great swathes of hugely melodic FX , echoing and billowing, like snow falling on amplifiers, is also evident on his current album ‘Fortune’

Next month (Feb)  he is heading out on the road for a 17- date UK tour. We will be reviewing the first date at Nottingham’s Glee Club. For full details of the tour click here.

by John Haylock

We are pleased to announced that Neonfiller.com has been selected as one of 40 online music websites to take part in the judging for the Glastonbury Festival emerging talent competition.

The prize is a main stage slot at this year’s festival. Entry is free but bands have to be quick as the competition is only open from 9am Thursday 17 January to 5pm Thursday 24th January. More information about how to enter can be found here.

As a judge Neonfiller.com’s co-editor Joe Lepper will help compile a long list of 120 acts by sifting through tracks over the coming weeks and listing his favourite three acts.

The long list will then be whittled down further to just eight by a judging panel including organisers Michael and Emily Eavis ahead of a live final showcase in April.

Joe will be blogging regularly on Neonfiller.com  throughout the judging process with articles about the acts that have impressed him. His role as a judge also means he will be attending and reviewing this year’s festival.

Previous winners have included Stornoway, The Subways and Ellen and the Escapades.