[News] RockNess Festival Announced. Biffy Clyro, Deadmau5, Mumford & Sons to Headline

Scotland's RockNess festival has announced their initial line-up and it's an interesting mix. They've managed to get Scotland's very own Biffy Clyro to headline along with Deadmau5 and folk heroes Mumford & Sons. As well as the headliners a few others have been announced. Azealia Banks, Ed Sheeran, Justice, Metronomy and TEED also make up some of the bill. See above for everyone announced so far. 

The festival will take place in Loch Ness in the highlands on the weekend of June 8th -June 10th. Tickets are on sale now.

[SKOA Presents] The 50 Best Albums Of 2011: 10 - 6

10. Metronomy - The English Riviera [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]

With their first two albums, Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe) and Nights Out, U.K. four piece Metronomy established their niche with a somewhat-awkward-yet-completely-awesome blend of electronic synths, smooth basslines and subtle guitar riffs. With their third studio album, The English Riviera, Metronomy has shown that they know exactly what works for them and have gone a step forward by fully embracing it and perfecting it. The allure of this album comes with its undeniably awkward charm, with every song coming across as a little bit 'off,' and it is exactly that which makes this album so different and appealing when compared to everything else we've seen this year. From the charming presentation of "Everything Goes My Way," with its subtle whistles and the calming vocals of guest artist Roxanne Clifford, to the amazingly groovy bassline on "The Bay," to the catchy synth work throughout "The Look," it all just works beautifully to Joseph Mount's vision. And it is Mount himself who adds the largest dose of charisma to the project, with his lyrical style and vocal work working synonymously with the instrumentation that backs him up. The English Riviera shows Mount's, and the entire band's, ability to stand out above the rest. With a unique and visionary musical style and unquestionable talent, Metronomy have crafted an album that is one of the most charming and interesting packages released this year. —Adrian

9. The Kills - Blood Pressues [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]

Following up their 2008 release, Midnight Boom, Alison "Sexhair Mosshart" (as Rocko and The Audio Perv refer to her) and Jamie Hince released their fourth studio album, Blood Pressures this past April. The album is nothing short of sexy with tracks like "Satellite," "Damned If She Do" and "DNA." This was quite an abitious undertaking overall for the duo and they managed to pull it off quite well, with only a few less than stellar moments throughout. Mosshart has truly come into her own on this album in particular after solidifying her place as a frontwoman in her time working with The Dead Weather. I think it is safe to say that the SKOA staff will continue to look forward to more from the duo in the years to come. —Kibbe

8. The Roots - Undun [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]

The greatest band in late night hit the nail on the head with their most recent concept album, undun. The album tells the story of fictional character Redford Stevens (named after a Sufjan Stevens song) reverse-chronicling his struggle and downfall in the ghetto. Undun is vintage Roots material although it features a bit more singing than previous albums thanks to special guests like Icebird's Aaron Livingston, Phonte and Bilal and is filled with tons of emotion from the subject matter down to the music production. However, unlike any other Roots record, undun features four beautiful orchestral pieces, one being the instrumental song "Redford" from Sufjan Stevens that the main character was based on, which adds on to the all around feeling of the album. Although a late entry this year, The Roots prove to millions to why they are one of the greatest hip hop acts ever with this beautiful opus ,while other mainstream acts just stroked their egos putting out the same ol', same ol'. —Rocko

7. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l  [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]

tUnE-yArDs w h o k i l l is unlike anything else I've heard this year, possibly in my lifetime, and, in every way, this is a good thing. Merrill Garbus' experimental project is something magnificent, a jumbled amalgamation of African and Eastern influences and modern techniques and technologies such as looping and drum machines. On the surface, it sounds like something that would not and should not work, but, somehow, Garbus executes it wonderfully. Garbus herself is what makes this project, though, as her vocal work is so versatile and the way she presents her music, and herself, is so utterly carefree and delightful. Her use of looping her own voice in album opener "Bizness" is absolutely perfect, and, when combined with her powerful vocal range, it manages to work in a fantastically spine tingling way. In "Wooly Wolly Gong," Garbus' oft powerful voice takes an eery turn, embracing Thom Yorke levels of creepy-yet-beautiful subtlety, and "Es-So" sees her encapsulating a Beck-esque persona as her voice mingles perfectly within a slightly offbeat rythym. Garbus has somehow created something so different, so odd and unexpected, that it works in every facet. w h o k i l l is so unique in its presentation, so strong in its blend of vocals, styles, and influences, and such an achievement on Garbus' part, that you would be hard-pressed not to be impressed with everything she has done here. All I can say at this point is bravo Merrill Garbus, for you have crafted something so nontraditional and so beautiful that I can only be excited for what your talent will create next. —Adrian

6. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]

Unknown Mortal Orchestra took over the whole blogosphere as one of the freshest bands to come out in 2011 with their selft-itled debut album. The lo-fi, break-heavy psych rockers short but sweet album features a lot of memorable melodies with tracks like "Ffunny Ffriends," "Thought Ballune," "Little Blu House," "Bicycle" and the funk/soul tune "How Can You Love Me," and was a nice change compared to most of this year's releases. —Rocko

[News] Metronomy To Hit The Road In Spring 2012

In addition to prepping for their December 6th release of their remix EP Everything Goes My Way, Metronomy has also announced North American tour dates for spring of 2012. The Mercury Prize nominated band will kick off their tour in Atlanta, GA at The Masquerade and will be hitting cities in both Canada and the US.

The remix EP will feature remixes from Ewan Pearson, Jesse Rose, Psychermagik and Enchante. You can grab a listen of the Ewan Pearson remix below:

Metronomy - Everything Goes My Way (Ewan Pearson Remix) by Big Beat Records

METRONOMY TOUR DATES:
Sun Mar 25 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Tue Mar 27 - Washington, DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel
Wed Mar 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
Fri Mar 30 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Sat Mar 31 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
Sun Apr 1 - Montreal, QC @ Metropolis Theatre
Mon Apr 2 - Toronto, ON @ The Hoxton
Wed Apr 4 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Thu Apr 5 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sun Apr 8 - Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
Mon Apr 9 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Tue Apr 10 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Thu Apr 12 - San Francisco, CA @ Slim's

[Watch] Metronomy - "Everything Goes My Way" (Official Video)

Metronomy offer up the eye candy for their track "Everything Goes My Way"which features some guest vocals from Roxanne Clifford of Veronica Falls. It'll be the third track to come out from their great album, The English Riviera, and will be released digitally and on 12" vinyl through Because Music on the 17th October. Peep the Deer filled video at the top.

[Watch] Metronomy - "The Bay" Live @ Mercury Prize Awards 2011

Metronomy were another band who missed out last night at the Mercury Prize but damn did they put in a solid performance of their track, "The Bay". My Twitter feed was full of people bigging up this performance and after watching it back in the player above I can see why. The track features on their album The English Riviera which got them the nomination for the prize. It didn't win but you can still give them a pat on the back by purchasing the album over here.

[News] Metronomy Announces North American Fall Tour

In support of their third studio album, The English Riviera, English electropop group Metronomy will be embarking on a North American tour this Fall. But first, the band will be playing two album release shows in New York and Los Angeles on July 28th and 30th, respectively, following the official July 26th U.S. release of The English Riviera. The band's Fall tour will kick off on October 11th in Seattle, followed by shows in Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco, Costa Mesa, and San Diego before heading off to the East Coast. From there, the group will head up the East Coast, stop off in Toronto and Montreal, and end with a final show in Chicago on October 27th.

You can check out all of the tour dates after the jump.

METRONOMY EARLY SHOW DATES: 

7/28 in New York, NY at Pier 54

7/30 in Los Angeles, CA at Echoplex

FALL TOUR DATES:

10/11 in Seattle, WA at Neumo's 

10/12 in Vancouver, BC at Electric Owl

10/13 in Portland, OR at Mississippi Studios

10/14 in San Francisco, CA at Rickshaw Stop

10/16 in Costa Mesa, CA at Detroit Bar

10/18 in San Diego, CA at Voyeur

10/21 in Philadelphia, PA at Voyeur 

10/22 in Washington, DC at Rock N Roll Hotel

10/24 in Boston, MA at Brighton Music Hall

10/25 in Montreal, QC at SAT

10/26 in Toronto, ON at Mod Club

10/27 in Chicago, IL at Lincoln Hall

[Watch] Metronomy - "The Look" (Video)

Check out the new visuals from the british elecrto-pop-funk makers, Metronomy, for their new single "The Look". The track is set to feature on the bands brand new studio offering The English Riviera which follows up on their 2008 album Nights Out. Both of which are great albums and very much worth a listen if you like what you hear in the video. There's no confirmed release date for the new LP so keep checking back for more news as and when we have it.