They say you should try to make more room for Intimacy in your life, and if you're free on Thursday, Bloc Party would like very much to get all up in your business.

On August 21-- as in this Thursday-- Bloc Party will digitally release Intimacy, their unexpectedly imminent third full-length LP.  read more »

British Sea Power start the final day and drive away any remnants of the morning's deluge. Unfortunately the wind, or the Main Stage's volume limiter, conspire to also wash away the sound, so only the manic flag waving at the front gives hint to how good they are.

Cramming the Alternative Stage and spilling out the sides into the roasting sunshine, it seems everyone is here to see Michael Macintyre entertain with hilarious over-the-top take on social stereotypes.

"Tantrum of the Weekend" award goes to The Mystery Jets, when they're told they only have eight minutes remaining. Instead of making the most of it and giving everyone two more fine indie songs, they moan and whine at the crowd, trying to insight a riot, and then when that fails, they stomp off stage kicking over a couple of mic-stands on the way.  read more »

The last day of the festival. It threw it down on Saturday Night but when The Blackout came to the main stage, they had a little battle with the elements. The rain came down, they played harder, the rain tried a little harder, they played louder, the clouds parted and the sun came out to play. The day was bright and The Blackout had done exactly the opposite of their name. Creating a bit of competition between Leeds and Reading they got the crowd up and moving and the two vocalists launched themselves into the crowd toward the end of their set which livened things up 10-fold. Their tracks were lively and fun and jam packed full of aggression! They told everyone to check out other home grown talent including Kids In Glass Houses and You Me At Six, flying the flag for the UK. I enjoyed 'blacking out'.  read more »

Russell Lissack's Pin Me Down plots first single, three London dates

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Photo by Francis Chung

When we rang up Gordon Moakes of Bloc Party after the announcement-- but before the digital release-- of his band's third LP, Intimacy, he told us what we'd be downloading a little later that week wasn't quite what we'd be holding in our hands when the disc made its way to record shops this month. "I think that we're still sort of finalizing what the physical release will be," Moakes noted then, adding, "I mean, you've got the record there pretty much and maybe an additional bit of material, but we're not sure quite what format it will take."  read more »

Photo by Leo Stefansson  read more »

Some cool videos that have come out recently, with two new music videos and one viral something or other from Kanye West.

The Bloc Party video shows just how much the upcoming American election is around the world...a UK band making what seems to clearly be an US election year video, with US states and all. Interesting concept, and a cool song as well.

Nas' video is the first single from his upcoming album "Untitled", which is actually title 'the n-word' but probably changed due t ... READ MORE >>  read more »

ARTIST: Bloc Party
TITLE: "Mercury"
WEB DEBUT: July 7, 2008

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: If the phrase "Bloc Party tries to refashion 'Toxic' in its own image, only with tauter drums and some skronky horns lurking in the background at the end" interests you in any way, you might do well to listen to "Mercury," which pretty much reappropriates that formula. Of course, "in its own image" means that the vocals are more Kele Okereke-bark than Britney-coo, and the lyrics are more about the world's problems than about bad love, but hey, it still sounds pretty good to me.  read more »

Bloc Party play a 17 song set at the Forum, including six tracks from their new album Intimacy.

On the surface, Hissing Fauna... is a, at times screamingly camp, fun electro pop record - a style that of Montreal have been edging towards for a while but which they fully embrace and dry-hump here - but that was just a front for one of the darkest, most emotionally naked albums of the year. It's no less than what should be expected from a record whose opening line is "We just want to emote 'til we're dead", really, but of Montreal's latest practically fizzes along, jerking and shunting from one piece of sunshine pop to another. It's tears of a clown syndrome however, as the lyrics, which paint a kind of bildungsroman of Kevin Barnes' fractious divorce and subsequent breakdown, are frazzled and fevered, running the gamut of emotions from denial to anger to, ultimately, acceptance.  read more »