This week on State Of The Union we ask questions of the first set of Sabbatical Officers (Academic Affairs, Campaigns and Involvement and Activities) before the upcoming hustings, as well as discussing the future of The Scholar and Refugee Awareness Week.

This week on State Of The Union we announce the candidates for the University Of Leicester Student Elections 2012. Listen below:

Here is their song ‘The First Time’, taken from the band’s exclusive performance in the Square: 

The band joined LUSH Radio for a mid-set chat and we talked about everything from touring Europe to being given Zane Lowe’s hottest record of the week accolade. This year boys have shared the stage with the likes of Morrissey, The Pigeon Detectives and The Wombats and with their album due to be released in March 2012 they show no signs of slowing down.

You can listen to our interview with the band right here: 

Their current EP is available to download now from: http://www.alltheyoung.co.uk/. LUSH Radio will also be playing the Square Session tracks on air, so if you like what you hear send in those requests.

Don’t forget to check out the events tab or join the Facebook page here for details of this semesters Square Sessions!

Born in 1976, Nu:Tone started playing piano at the age of 8, and joined Jesus College choir in Cambridge a year later. He studied music at Durham University, and while having secured a college radio show, met a young John B. They shared broadcasts, established a local clubnight called “Substance”, and Dan went on to engineer studio sessions for John. Dan’s mutual collaborations and growing friendship with John led to a debut vinyl release on John B’ Beta Recordings label in 2001 (‘Grand Central’ / ‘The Boss’).

Since signing to Hospital in 2003, Nu:Tone has come through the ranks to become a highly respected producer, with other drum & bass producers & DJs such as LTJ Bukem and Dillinja playing his tunes in their DJ sets. He also introduced his brother Matt (also known as Logistics) to drum & bass production through their collaboration Nu:logic, which led to Matt also being signed to Hospital Records.

His debut album Brave Nu World  was released in 2005, with the drum & bass community greatly supporting it. DJs such as Norman Jay M.B.E. and Tom Middleton made Nu:Tone a favourite of their eclectic sets. Off the back of this success, Nu:Tone has taken his DJing all over the world, from USA to Asia to Australia. He has also remixed tracks from Alice Russell and Quantic, and has produced a track for Jenna G- as mentioned last week on the official LUSH Drum & Bass and Dubstep show.

Nu:Tone released his second album, Back of Beyond, on 18 June 2007 on Hospital Records. It features guest artists such as Talc, Logistics, Commix, Pat Fulgoni,Natalie Williams, and Ernesto. It was released on LP, CD, and as an MP3 download from Hospital’s web site.

His most recent album, Words and Pictures, was released on 28 February 2011 on Hospital Records, and was made available on 2xLP, CD, MP3, and limited edition vinyl. Words and Pictures features contributions from 4hero, Ben Westbeech, Natalie Williams, Logistics, and Heidi Vogel, among others.

Here is a few quirky facts about Nu:tone (aka Dan Gresham):

1. Dan Gresham (Nu:Tone) is also a fully ordained priest within the Church Of Universal Acceptance.

2. Up and coming drum and bass artist Logistics is Dan’s brother and they often collaborate under the name Nu:logic.

3. He was one of the first artists to be signed to Hospitality records, and now boasts company such as Netsky, Camo & Krooked, Shy FX, London Elektricity, Danny Byrd and High Contrast!!

If I had to recommend one album, it would be Words and Pictures, his latest. Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best drum and bass albums of the past few years. Check these tracks for a taster:

After nearly 50 releases, it’s clear that RFC has found its niché. Looking at the broad range of acts on offer, from the atmospheric noodling of CSTVT, to the droning alt-punk of Balance And Composure, through to the straight-up pop-punk of The Wonder Years, it would seem at first glance that there is little to tie it all together. When you look at the offerings of other (perhaps larger, more corporate) labels, however, it becomes clear. Every Run For Cover band has taken its own element of punk/hardcore, the kernel around which RFC has been built, and adapted it, reinvented it into something new and engaging. Listen to Tigers Jaw or Hostage Calm, and the influences present are undeniable, yet you would nonetheless struggle to find a single conventional ‘punk’ band on the label.

Perhaps it’s this nurturing of fresh ideas which has kept Run For Cover at the forefront of the post-2000 punk revival, providing a supportive base for such success stories as Man Overboard and Transit, and winning over (for now) modest, yet dedicated fanbases for label-mates in Tigers Jaw and Seahaven. Indeed, the Run For Cover ethos seems to be ‘quality over quantity’.

For a taste of what the Run For Cover family has thus far produced, you can stream the recently released compilation, entitled ‘Mixed Signals’ below.

Mixed Signals Compilation on Bandcamp

Run For Cover Records Official Website

Be sure to catch Hostage Calm when they play Leicester Soundhouse with Apologies, I Have None on Monday 12th December. Tickets are only £4 and available right here.

YouTube is an incredible tool. It gives the power for anyone and everyone to showcase their talent to an entirely connected planet in seconds. Unfortunately it has instead become a haven for the ungifted masses, ignorant to their own atrociousness, to squawk their lungs away to the latest chart tunes on their laptop webcam. That and dubstep remixes. Yet just sometimes, amongst the thousands of regrettable uploads, we catch a glimpse of something that grabs our attention for reasons other than our shared desire to mock the unfortunately-voiced.

One such needle in the YouTube haystack comes in the form of  the pair Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sule. The 90s-born, BRIT School educated, Brighton duo are better known as Rizzle Kicks, and attracted popular interest with their eclectic ‘indie-hop’ contributions to the online video database. The boy’s Channel plays like a confused video mixtape of classic indie tracks from the likes of The Strokes, The White Stripes and the Arctic Monkeys with the key addition of an impressively fast-paced and brashly witty Stephens rapping over the top. The raps are quick, clever and fit so naturally into the songs that they play like something created by musical giants. When it started becoming popular Rizzle Kicks made the fourteen-track mixtape, named ‘Minor Breaches of Discipline’, available for free download; in retrospect a wise move given the fact that their tracks are now regularly featured on TV.

Yet since their rapid rise to success, the release of an album, ‘Stereo Typical‘ and several highly acclaimed singles (‘When I Was A Youngster’, hitting the Top 10 in early November, with the delightfully cheeky opening lyrics “wanted to be a fireman, then I lost the desire man, the second I got old enough, to buy myself a cider can”) the mixtape has been somewhat left behind. It’s importance however cannot be understated; it’s the Rizzle Kicks kind of creativity that has the power to inspire the few and the gifted into uploading their talent to the world. Luckily for you, LUSH Radio can bring a sample of them for your listening pleasure for this week’s Tuesday Tip. Head over to their YouTube channel for other early videos, their site for more information about Rizzle Kicks, or HERE to download ‘Minor Breaches of Discipline’ for free.

I managed to catch up with Kasabian’s lead singer Tom Meighan backstage before the show. We discussed influences for the new album, why the Band will never play with Noel Gallagher and Tom’s rebellious past.

On October 17th, Leicester’s O2 Academy saw the arrival of the 5 piece English indie-folk group. As the gig began, the lights dimmed and the haunting instrumental of ‘First Days of Spring’ played as the band joined us on stage, at first appearing sombre and a little reserved. To everyone’s surprise, they burst into ‘Shape of my Heart’ lightening the slightly dark ambience they’d previously installed into the audience. Fink greets the audience, oozing an alluring sense of charm and charisma, he informs us all that they’ll be two parts to the gig; one section will be of romance and heartbreak, and the second altogether more hopeful and happy. Inevitably the romance and heartbreak section is clearly centred on the second album, and luckily they play this section first.

Noah and The Whale deliver this half of the gig astoundingly, their on stage personas seem to revert them into stiff, lifeless individuals. It’s captivating. In a breather between two songs, someone screams about how amazing the band are, Fink responds with a simple ‘Thanks’, encouraging laughter from the audience, breaking the sombre mood as the avid fan continues screeching about her love of the band. It’s perhaps a moment well needed as this section of their performance has left a lot of the audience appearing far too intense and motionless to really appreciate the band.
Despite the first section being performed brilliantly, the second section is definitely well needed and arrives just in time. The heartbreak section was perhaps a bit too long winded as the crowd seem unenthusiastic as their feel good section comes into play. Thankfully, after a while they begin to lighten up. Here we see in full action the new album, riddled with nostalgia and hope the striking differences between the second and third album appear crystal clear. While in the first half we’d all been downplayed by one man’s heart break, we are simultaneously bought back up as they perform songs such ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N’ and ‘Five Years Time’ embedded with their self-titled notion of making everyone feel good.

They go on to perform other songs from the current album such as ‘Just Before We Met’ and ultimately finish with ‘Tonight’s The Kind of Night’. It’s the perfect end, in one gig we’ve all gone through the motions with the band, at one point solemnly appreciating the discomfort of a breakup to regaining the knowledge of the possibilities of hope and of life itself echoed in each and every song.