friday wake up call

Here's a video for Foals' "Bad Habit", directed by Nabil Elderkin.



"Bad Habit" is off of the band's latest record, Holy Fire.

thursday wake up call

New Foals song + video entitled "My Number".



"My Number" is from the band's upcoming record, Holy Fire, out on February 11.

foals: total life forever

Foals’ debut Antidotes was my 8th favourite album back in 2008, so as expected, I was pretty eager to hear Total Life Forever, the band’s follow-up/sophomore album. Thankfully, it lives up to my expectations; in fact, it is a more superior album in every aspect! The album is moodier with that familiar mellow and rhythm driven math rock sound—it is ultimately a more stylish version of Antidotes. In spite of this, it did take me more than a few listens to get into Total Life Forever while I was hooked on Antidotes pretty much right from the get-go.

Several differences, or improvements include the epic momentum build ups/crescendos in songs like "Blue Blood", "Black Gold", "Spanish Sahara", and "2 Trees"—each one starts with a gentle beginning, then more layers are slowly added as the song progresses until it transforms into a grand multi-layers conclusion—this format does not get exhausting; in fact, Foals managed to keep each one interesting and exceptionally breathtaking! Perhaps the biggest change in Total Life Forever is Yannis Philippakis’ vocal style. In Antidotes, rather than singing, Philippakis' vocal is mostly choppy, almost shouting like (which was a perfect fit to the shifting meter and tempo throughout Antidotes). However, he actually sings on the new album, and what a fine attempt— his vocal is smooth, calming and even elegant in a few occasions. If you read most of this post, I don’t have to tell you how much I am enjoying Total Life Forever. It is simply a great album... chillingly epic and absolutely fantastic all at once!





visit Foals' MySpace here
buy Total Life Forever here

song of the moment

Foals released a brand new single, "This Orient", today as digital download and 2x7". The track is the second single off the band’s upcoming album, Total Life Forever, out on May 10th!

a couple of beautiful videos for your monday morning

Christopher Smith: Gently Gently


Foals: Spanish Sahara

foals: antidote

I can’t help but think of Menomena every time I listen to Foals’s new album. Whether the five lads from Oxford, England are aware of their similarities to Menomena or not, their debut full-length, Antidotes is one outstanding record! The album features Menomena-like multi-layered, mellow and rhythm driven rock style sounds; in addition, Foals effectively explored and experimented with the meter and tempo throughout Antidotes as well. What I enjoy most is how each layer and piece of sound is carefully incorporated in each song to create the exceedingly complex melodies heard throughout the album – the timing of the saxophone on "Cassius" and "Heavy Water" is just speechlessly perfect! If Menomena is your thing, you should definitely check out Foals’s Antidotes.

Cassius [super-wicked-cool song]
Heavy Water [wicked-cool song]
Big Big Love (Fig. 2)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

Antidote comes out on March 24th in the UK and April 8th in the US, you can pre-order it here (UK) and here (US)