free – and so she thinks

Whistlejacket – Duck Soup

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:06:42 +0000

Whistlejacket have announced that they’ll be giving away a free download of Duck Soup another track from their upcoming What I Ate On Sunday EP, released on Feb 5th via Fierce Panda Records. Starting off like a shimmering Supersonic, it soon breaks out in urgent squealing guitars and clean drumming that merges psychedelic shoehaze and punchy rock. Early reception of Stay-N was pretty awesome, and I expect the same to be of this snarling, swirling piece of bristling and immediate superfuzz.

Three for Free

admin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:14:59 +0000

January 14th 2013

Weatherbird – Liar

B town bands abound, and Weatherbird are the latest on the scene. Their abrasive, rugged new tune Liar is angst fuelled an fast – and free.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGcoqwkj6m0]

I Swim With Sharks – Thunder

Mixing an array of sonic influences and styles, I Swim With Sharks are one of the most exciting bands around. Strong, sincere and rousing, Thunder is available a free download.

Shout Timber – Rich Man/East India Trading Company

Pop done with class, infused with indie and Indian styles, the brilliant Shout Timber are giving away their two track EP for free. Download Rich Man and East India Trading Company.

Chatting with The YuYa – and get Naked for free!

admin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:36:51 +0000

Yuya was a powerful Egyptian courtier during the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Signed to Dayjob Records The YuYa are an inspiring and eclectic duo who’s almost reggae folk fusion and dreamy indie tunes have been making waves amongst those who like their music with a dollop of authenticity and avant garde. It’s All Happening catch up with Eliseo Soardi and Constance Dalrymple, The YuYa Super nice folks, they have offered up Naked, their debut single, as a free download for you. Lovely!
For those who don’t know The YuYa, describe the band and your sound.
The YuYa is me and her. The influences of the band are very mixed and draw on the world of music. From rumba to waltz, jazz to reggae, acoustic soul to ska..all with our touch. We think that in these days of internet and the freedom it gives, everyone has developed a taste outside their cultural roots. This is due to a diversity never seen before; music is part of the same system and needs to be as diverse as possible, reaching places and mixing things no one until recently knew existed. Our sound, if it could be a colour, would be red.
Your debut album A Boy, A Queen and A Fish was out on 24 Sept– tell us about it.
The debut album is lovely to listen to. Nice songs, and to be honest we didn’t know we could make such good music :). Jokes apart, the album was written over 6 months in a London warehouse (Arena Massive) and then recorded in a wonderful theatre in the middle of the Italian Alps, in less than a week. It was winter and bloody cold! But it came out quite summery and that’s something we still don’t understand :). Many thanks to the Council of Pieve di Ledro, which gave us the place for free and Nilo Santoni who did an amazing job mixing the album and playing percussion for us!
The title of the album is taken from an African children’s story for wannabe fishermen…. it ends with a boy capturing the biggest fresh water fish that ever existed and the Queen of Uruba sparing the fish’s life to teach the boy a lesson! The metaphor of the story is that boys don’t impress Queens with just a fish!
You were the first signing to Day Job records – what made you decide to team up with them?
They look good and when we walk down the street together people are generally very pleased with the sight of us. Eli and Greg at the moment are in a beard growing competition that started last October…. and their credo was spot on for us as poor struggling employees!
You do both have day jobs – why do music? What does music, and being an artist mean to you?
Most of all, why work full time? Music means freedom to both of us.
You have both British and Italian roots, and have played all around the world, from Europe to Africa. There’s also a very diverse range of styles in your music, and the album was of course recorded in Italy – how does the world and culture influence you?
Constance loves rice and Eliseo loves pasta: two worlds and two cultures come together. It was difficult at the beginning of our musical relationship to combine our differences but we naturally came together and that’s because it is in the nature of things to mix and develop into a new one.
I’ve heard that you met at a fancy dress wedding – sounds amazing! What were you wearing, and was it the great costumes or witter banter than drew you to each other?
Constance was Billie Holiday and Eliseo was Amy Winehouse. Have you read The Secret? It explains how these things happen……
It’s Better is beautifully whimsical and rhythmic, which fits with the video – are visuals important to you?
Yes, very and we think the It’s Better video really gives an idea of what we are. Although the day of the filming on the boat was a mission! Constance does not like water! We couldn’t pee for 6 hours, and we had to put a pigeon out of his misery for reasons we can’t really explain here. In the end we had to row one boat to push the other for the whole day… But thanks to Lara (Jacoski) for the magnificent editing it worked well. Visuals are very important but I think the story is even more important. Have you ever seen a great film without a great story? Even Avatar had to have a story, special effects can only do so much….
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mWMYInaooE]
What have your highlights of the year been, and what’s coming up next?
We run a Festival in Italy called Mand’stock Festival, not to confuse it with man’s cock…. Last year was the first edition and it went really well! We had 45 bands and djs, a skateboarding half-pipe, rock climbing walls and great Italian food and drinks! 2000 people came and we think this year is going to be even bigger! It’s great to organize a Festival so we can invite bands we love. Damian Rice was at the festival on the Friday and we had a chat about music and business, we’re now friends 🙂 DJR and The Harrison Pub (King’s Cross) are also involved in the Festival this year.
2013 is a promising year, with the album out and gigs coming up you should keep checking our website or join our mailing list for any updates! God Speed!

The Standards – A Slight Distraction

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:29:01 +0000

Released September 4th on Schnapps House Records

Pop needs more bands like this. Not skinny jeaned clad hipsters. Not young upstarts suddenly starry eyed. Not meaningful and morbid ‘thinking’ bands. Straight up exciting songs from a bunch of mates who know how to use their instruments to great effect and for great sounds.
Debut album A Slight Distraction has been bubbling up inside The Standards for a while now. The sharp observations and soothing contemplations that strike through these ten songs have evolved over countless gigs and years. This means that copious influences, from life and music, abound and make the pervading genre other that of a mature and pithy gaze at life.
There’s the summer fair sound of Resignation Waltz, the wind in the hair chorus of Speed Up, the Jarvis lilt to the vocals on Mice, the Franz Ferdinand beat opening Slow Down (which you can get for free here) and the lamenting yearning of Drowning, When You Found Me which breaks into a very noughties dance beat complete with oohs, and the almost 80s Romantics chord finishing off She Came To The City.
Neil Winspear‘s voice is that of an outsider brought to the party, and the whole album is wrapped in that delicious pop gloom, a slightly off kilter reality that makes the sound tangible. Everyone from The Independent to FHM, BBC 6 to Feeling Gloomy have lent their support to The Standards, and if you like what you hear, remember to come down to It’s All Happening Fridays on October 26th at The King’s Head, Acton.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHn1zSfNPDU]

Competition – win two tickets to this weekend's Underground Rebel Bingo!

admin — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:20:14 +0000

WHAT: Rebel Bingo

WHERE: At a secret location somewhere in Shoreditch

WHEN: Friday 14^th & Saturday 15^th September

PRICE: £6 – £12 online & £15 on the door

TICKETS & INFO: www.rebelbingo.com

Juxtaposition is a wonderful thing, which goes some way to explaining why Underground Rebel Bingo has been such a success. Bingo is not just the reserve of blue rinse ladies – the rest of us like it too, but we like it with loud music, strong drinks, DJs, dancing and cool prizes.
Back from a world tour, visiting New York, LA, Las Vegas, Ibiza, Beijing and Madrid, among others, Underground Rebel Bingo returns this weekend, Friday 14th and Saturday 15th, to a secret Shoreditch den, with all the above, and its eclectic music policy of punk rock, indie, old school hip hop, garage, 00s stuff, 90s stuff, 80s stuff.
A night out for rebels who like fun, or those who like fun and feel a bit rebellious, the creators of the night recommend that if you like if you like music, dancing, playing, laughing and maybe winning stuff this is the place for you.
To celebrate the return of one of the coolest nights out, we have two tickets to give away one of this weekend’s events. All you have to do is tweet or facebook ‘Bingo, I’m an underground rebel @IAH_music’ and we’ll enter you in to the competition! Closing date is Thursday, at 12pm, so be quick!

Free songs for your Bank Holiday!

admin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:51:40 +0000

As the name suggest, each week we bring you three of the best free downloads that are kicking around out there. From straight up indie to Indian influences, rock’n’roll to reggae rhythms, grizzling guitars or soothing strumming, this is the place to open your mind and ears and check out something new. After all, won’t cost you a penny!

Frenetics – Ella

Frantic and frenetic as the name suggests, this is glam rock and swaggering pop from the Yorkshire band Frenetics.

Lord Huron – Time To Run

An eclectic and electronic endeavour Lord Huron‘s Time To Run is a happy clappy tune frpm debut album Lonesome Sounds, released on October 9th, just in time to herald the end of the summer.

Andy Burrows – Company

Andy Burrows is offering up Company, from his solo album of the same name, released on Play It Again Sam, on October 22nd. The former Razorlight member deserves kudos simply for not being Johnny Borrell – this piece of raw confident indie is just an added bonus.

Three for Free – August 20th 2012

admin — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:49:26 +0000

Coasts – Lions

You may have heard it on It’s All Happening’s July Recharged Radio show, but you can’t hear it too many times. Bristol band Coasts create charming summery indie that’s influenced by Foals and Future Islands. Second single Lions was recently released on Intruder Records.

Skint & Demoralised – When Saturday Comes

Some of It’s All Happening are more excited than others about the start of the football season, and they are joined by Skint & Demoralised‘s Matt Abbott, in this ode to the sport, When Saturday Comes, acting as a teaser to the forthcoming album.

Gallows – Last June

Fuzzy, pounding and intense, Last June is exactly what you would expect from hardcore emo punk rockers Gallows. Just don’t get involved in a twitter spat with frontman Wade MacNeil.

Make Do And Mend (Part 2)

admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:40:04 +0000

Yes, the summer’s finest EP is available on Monday 30th May, just in time for your party weekends and a long smooth summer.
Secret Rivals will be releasing Make Do And Mend (Part 2) on It’s All Happening Records, and you can buy it here.
Tracks
1 The Part That Kills
2 Once More With Heart
3 I Hope She Knows
4 I Know Something
5 Make Do And Mend (Part 2)
If you can’t wait, because we’re lovely people, you can get a free download of Tonight Matthew I’m Going To Be Myself, simply by telling all your mates about it!

Young Astronaut – Fawn

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:57:31 +0000

Released on 12^th March 2012

Reviewed by Becky Glass

Young Astronaut started as the project of two brothers, Chris and Pete Boakes, back in the halcyon days of 2007. Over four years working in their uni holidays they developed 10 songs, later attracting a drummer, Niko Battistini, and their bassist Paul Meeson. With some big names (which of course are totally unfamiliar to me) thrown in for production and mixing, they’ve brought out a debut album that’s downloadable for free.
It was in full knowledge of this scintillating life story that I listened to the album,, on Soundcloud. But rather than 10 fully-formed tracks distilled over years of self-analysis, what struck me about these songs was their jarring immaturity.
Their lyrics are annoyingly contrived, to the point where you can all but see the pages in the diaries from which they’ve been taken. ‘Lonely, lonely, dreams go to die… in the foothills of time’ – these sort of lines sound exactly like my own attempts at self-expression, age 13: overblown, grandiose, hollow statements about the meaning of life (admittedly with less obsessing over a boy called Tom Pinnock).
The one place the lyrics seemed to communicate authentic feeling was during ‘Shadows’, a song whose Bends-era Radiohead influence can’t be over-exaggerated. Throughout the rest of the album, the writers consciously steer away from the personal, tackling life’s big questions through a series of embarrassing metaphors (‘we’re liars, beggars, thieves, till your cards reveal your destiny’). The idea that they’ve consciously decided to be the sort of band that does this – ‘a band with a difference’ – is irritating to say the least.
The first time I physically winced, however, was at the abrupt change of tempo in Triumph – a moment that repeated itself in most of the other songs. I believe this is what the band’s press release refers to as ‘their harmonious and considered blend of music… the foundation of the bands [sic] delicate tonality’. It is not. It’s more akin to a musical interpretation of the Wikipedia page for ‘indie music’. They’ve thrown a bit of everything in; their result is a mechanical, awkward, pointless musical sycophancy.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and Sugar Is Sweeter Than Gold is one of them. The unified style here recalls the gentler moments of Dry The River, Stornoway and – dare I say it – Mumford and Sons. But the lyrics really take their toll on this song, with vocalist Chris singing ‘with our pockets full of joy, we are the princes of all the boys’; none of it convincing anyone that it’s anything more than nonsense. (See my diary, November 3^rd, age 14.)

Lest I be seen as unkind or unfairly reductive, let me say that there are glimmers of brilliance here – in fact Fawn is all the more frustrating for them. Triumph very nearly a hugely likeable song, but over-thinking has pushed it into being formulaic. However, it is clear that the immaturities that limit the songs now will disappear in time. There is a path to greatness for Young Astronaut – but to get on it, they’re going to have to stop trying so hard to be there already.

Fawn is available to download for free from the band’s website.

Spring Offensive wish you a merry Christmas

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:18:58 +0000

‘It’s a miracle it’s even happening. We’re just here to have a party. On our own terms.’
Sentiments It’s All Happening fully agree with – sometimes the blood, sweat and tears that goes into organising a gig is not wholly reflected by the number of bodies in the audience. That’s when you have to remember that good music and a good time are the real measures of success. From the looks if this video Spring Offensive seem to have had both. Selling out in less time than it takes for the UK to announce another recession, the top secret, ticket-holders-only, free Christmas show that Spring Offensive organized as their end of year celebration for the whole ‘extended family’ took place on 14 December, at the East Oxford Community Centre. Sam King from BBC Oxford Introducing was there, and captured the night beautifully…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgGt0vtZ8rE]