About The Cold Cut...

The musings of a teenage audiophile. Indie, Rock, Hip-Hop, Rap, Dance, Dubstep, Garage, Metal... music crosses all boundaries. The Cold Cut is devoted to giving you a taste of what's going on in music at the moment.

About Me

A 17 year old taking his first tentative steps into the world of blogging. In my first year, its been up and down, from the slow first months to a busy time around the one year anniversary.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: New Lightspeed Champion Tracks And Live Review@ Paradiso- 8 PM, 31/03/08

Watch this band. If you do anything today, make sure you check out Lightspeed Champion. I can tell you now, without a shadow of a doubt, that Dev Hynes is going to be big. As in, he will be remembered as one of 'the great British songwriters'.

Explain? Well, a few months ago at the Paradiso, they blew me away. I've been a fan since Dev's Test Icicles days, but I still wasn't expecting this quality of performance. At around 8 PM, Dev (complete with fur hat) and his band strolled on stage, with no ostentation. None materialised through the set. He had this aura of 'niceness', and was totally chilled: 'so, what have you guys been up to today?' was the opener. Each song was ended with 'thanks everyone'. Here's a clear example of someone unaffected by fame (reassuring, considering there's much more to come). I hope Dev reads this- not an unreasonable expectation considering he commented on one of my earliest posts about Lightspeed Champion.

Thankfully, his stage presence isn't all I have to rave about. The music itself was brilliant. The band- Dev and his band (drums, bass and violin) swept through a well balanced set, with oodles of character and charm. Oh, and just to clarify something, Dev is really, really, really good at guitar. This doesn't come across in the record, and makes the live performance a lot more exciting. His backing band are much the same. With a trio of drums, violin and bass, and Dev himself switching between guitars and piano, the album is fully fleshed out.

The band previewed 3 new songs: although he's still touring the new album, Dev has already finished the follow-up (an inclination of how much music he writes). The set began with 'Happy Birthday', a song similar in sound to Midnight Suprise, with some nice development: the song starts with frantic picking and then settles into a steady rhythm. These news songs help us to form an idea of how good he will eventually be- over the course of the tour, he has already become much more of a showman, and new musical skills are being picked up every day.

Lightspeed Champion- Happy Birthday (Live At Paradiso)
(Link 2)

Dev also reproduced the now famous cover of 'Heart In A Cage', which is all the more impressive live. It arrives half way through the 16 song set. Sat alone on the stage, he cuts a sharp profile, and more than matches Julian Casablancas for pathos.

The second new song was 'Marlene' a 'funky' number that a more upbeat backing and some different lyrical topics: 'stick a spoon into your heart, and eat away all your Deutschmarks. Your money don't mean a damn thing. I'm wearing everything I own... Stop being cool'. The song also features a crazy solo by Dev at the end: no joke, he shreds!

Lightspeed Champion- Marlene (Live At Paradiso) (Link 2)

'Madame Van Damme' is another song likely to find it's way onto his new album. I admit I wasn't as blown away by the lyrics of this song as the other new additions, but it's still likely to be a hit when put through the recording process; that was only the fourth time it had been played live. The guitars are very retro, and the refrain has Dev repeating 'kill me, baby wont you kill me'. I'm not going to post it just yet, and final judgment will have to wait until I get my hands on the album version.

The set is full of character; from their rendition of the Star Wars theme (amazing)- which was joined together with a certain 10 minute opus- to the quips between each song,

Lightspeed Champion- Star Wars Medley (Link 2)

During 'Midnight Surprise', their pre-encore song, the band went a little psycho, and the music suddenly stopped. The band looked around, confused: 'Oops, I think we just blew out the power! That, guys, is the power of rock music'. After a few seconds of repairs, the playing resumed, and the band got right back into their breakdown.

Lightspeed Champion didn't have anything to prove to me at this gig. As I've said and will keep on saying: they're on the cusp of huge things, and are going to make a difference, whether or not the general audience admits it. As a band, Lightspeed Champion have it all: versatility (switching between instruments), depth (in the lyrics), impact (Dev), talent and tunes. Now all they need is an audience big enough to appreciate that fact.

'Falling Off The Lavender Bridge' can be purchased at Amazon. Dev's blog is a great read, and his official Myspace often features free Lightspeed Champion downloads. Photos courtesy of Tonie. Visit Fabchannel to watch the concert!

5 comments:

  1. harcor said...
     

    I've loved LSC from the beginning and I'm kicking myself for not catching them live when I had the chance a few weeks ago.

    Thanks a lot for this post, the new tracks sound fantastic. I especially like Marlene, I like the different style. Brilliant audio quality I must say..

  2. Ed. said...
     

    Just seen LSC up in Newcastle at Evolution. Their first UK gig of the year.
    Certainly got my £3s worth.
    Their musical rapport on stage was almost as sharp as Dev's hilarious wit. Sick.
    They played two new songs in their 45min set. Thanks for allowing me to relive them, as they really impressed!
    Also have to commend you on the Truly amazing sound quality (TM). Marlene is gonna be huge.

  3. Anonymous said...
     

    Hi any chance you could repost the Star Wars medley.Yousendit say the download limit has been reached and I want this song (I saw him do it live last week in London for the i-Tunes festival, he was great)
    Cheers.

  4. Will Hines said...
     

    Cheers guys- it's nice to see people who really appreciate Dev. I have a huge amount of respect for him- he once even commented on one of my posts about him! Was very funny.

    I will repost the star wars medley now.

  5. asgöhosfsdghiaiösdkgn said...
     

    Wow thanks for the uploads, I too really like Lightspeed Champion and managed to shake his hand and say hi =P. I found this blog searching for LC and im glad I did. Its kinda inspiring to see someone do something similar to what I do and actually have some success =)
    Keep up your bloggings.

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