now look back see how far you've come

Oh dear god, I just fucked up something so serious as my university admissions. Ok more music to calm my nerves.


With a sound partly inspired by New York avant garde noise maker Glenn Branca, West African Highlife Band guitars and Talking Heads funk, Foals are a fresh blast across the indie rock landscape. But success could take the Oxford band away from the house party scene that bred them, a prospect Yannis views as a mixed blessing.

“There’s a massive difference between gigs and house parties,” say Yannis. “At house parties we just arrive and play – there’s no rigmarole, there’s no barrier. They’re definitely different. I like the way you get to connect and meet people at house parties – I don’t like the idea of the hierarchy of the performer and the crowd.”

- mirror.co.uk


Foals - Miami
An extremely interesting and disconcerting video by Dave Ma, whatwith bodybuilders and women(are they women?) fighting, a bodybuilder and a chihuahua, set to a driving beat and hip-hop-ish funk. The bouncing reminds me of Herbie, if anyone actually ever watched that movie.

Foals - This Orient
Dave Ma has worked closely with Foals on their new album, producing the videos for Miami, This Orient and Spanish Sahara. The artistic direction is very apparent and suits the songs to a T. Kudos to him. Also of note is that he worked with Delphic on their songs This Momentary and Halcyon. On to the song, with a looped melody, this seems like a rock ballad to me which belies the springy intro that goes on to form the underlying rhythm for the song. Not sure if the lyrics "that gives me this western feeling" is meant as a direct contrast to the title.


I wanted lyrics that were more direct in their meaning or if they weren't, they would be more easily capable of instilling meaning and you know, more disciplined lyric writing, cause I think before, I was easy on myself in terms of... it was more of a treasure hunt.

There are themes like heroism, ancestry, the future, heartbreak, drugs and Mike Tyson.

- Yannis Philippakis on "Total Life Forever" via nme.com


Foals - Spanish Sahara
I've reserved the best for the last, and once you hear the song and see the video, it is understandably so. The haunting vocals and enchanting melody imbues this desolation in you, aptly portrayed by the lone man trudging across the vast whiteness, like a white sahara. The subtle 8 bit synths which intensify to a fury in the later half of the song reflects the progression of the song, from quiet and intensely sparse to rock-ish riffs and overwhelming desire.


Brilliant stuff by Foals really, awesome follow up to "Antidotes".