Space Heroes of the People are superbly named. Not only does their group moniker trip poetically off the tongue, but it perfectly marries two ideas important to the music: other-worldliness balanced with earthiness. The former is most obvious from the dominance of eighties synthesiser lines and Daft-Punk vocoder vocals, the latter from the rather home-made feel of the production and the incorporation of real drums and Jo Edge’s rough-hewn double bass fills.

Their latest EP, ‘Motorway to Moscow’ begins with the kitsch masterpiece that is ‘Barbie is a Robot’. Daft Punk seems to be the main influence, but the cuteness and catchiness of the melodic lines both in the synths and vocals suggest the odd nod to Devo as well. Programmer Tim Science unfolds the material expertly, periodically throwing in new sounds and lines to keep the journey interesting. Did I mention that it is supremely danceable? Hats off to the improbably-named drummer Lizz Skywalker.

Following up is the Kraftwerk-inspired ‘Shiny, Shiny’, which maintains the dancey groove which makes Space Heroes such an enticing live prospect. The double-bass constantly threatens to drop out of tune, but never quite does; its function seems to be to add melodic interest and stop the track becoming too clinical, which it achieves pretty well.

Slightly less successful is ‘Steam Driven’ which starts prettily but then develops into something sounding like Matthew Corbett’s Sweep fronting Visage. (Come on Tim, there’s uber-Kitsch and then there’s just bloody annoying). The track is also a bit of a plod rhythmically, so it’s with relief that the listener moves onto the title track, which pings along the Autobahn in sprightly shuffle mode. Sonically, it’s a powerful combination of subtle organ-like lines, the sort of smothering, monstrous pads the Killers love to break out, and cheerful car-horn parps. The latter captures the spirit perfectly: the track, despite the grim Soviet undertones of the title, is less Stalin and more Mr Toad. Indeed, the spirit of that merry soul is present in most of this record; it has a dangerous carelessness, but its joie-de-vivre triumphs over all.

Space Heroes of The People Myspace

By Colin MacKinnon.

Photo of The Winchell Riots at The Wheatsheaf, 12.04.08 courtesy of Daniel Paxton. More of the same can be found over here.

You can now see The Half Rabbits’ recent MTV short film by clicking here. The band recently made it through to the semi-finals of MTV’s Get Seen Get Heard competition, which is run alongside Oxfam’s Oxjam - we’ll be following the band’s progress further in the competition here on the site.

The Audioscope charity festival last November raised a total of £1,200 for national homelessness and bad housing charity Shelter, taking the total raised to well over £16,000. Last year’s show was headlined by Kraftwerk and Neu! legend Michael Rother (pictured), and previous Audioscope shows have brought performances from Four Tet, Explosions in the Sky, Damo Suzuki, Clinic, Luke Vibert, Deerhoof, Electrelane, Oxes and many more. The organisers will be announcing plans for Audioscope08 shortly.

In 2002, Audioscope released a compilation CD featuring tracks from Cat On Form, Nøught, Pram, eeebleee, Souvaris, Fighting Red Adair, Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element, Dustball, Appliance, and Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia… A few copies of this have been unearthed in a recent clearout, and they’re free to good homes on a first-come, first-served basis. Just email them if you’d like one - donations to Audioscope or Shelter in return are welcomed.

Here is a video of ‘February Snow’ from The Winchell Riots’ show at The Wheatsheaf on 12 April. Happy viewing.

This week’s MP3 download is ‘Forever’ by The Gullivers - if you click right here, you can download it and listen to it.

Do you remember, ‘The Slaughtered Lamb’? For those with weak stomachs, it was the most unfriendly pub in Yorkshire, into which the ill-fated Yank hill-walkers strayed in ‘An American Werewolf in London’. Hopefully the welcome will be warmer for late-of-Oxford eight-piece Captive State when they take up their residency at the Farringdon branch of that establishment. They certainly deserve one.

Their current EP opens splendidly with ‘Mona’, a tune which can only be described as groove-based folk-pop. Is this a new genre? Perhaps, although there are echoes of The Super Furry Animals in there. Oh, and the producer is Lemon Jelly’s Nick Franglen, so the credibility levels are already pretty damn high. Captive State’s secret weapon is their horn section, which blows a lovely blowsy wind over the track. Warning! Hippy-haters should beware, as the lyrics are unapologetically of the ‘peace-out, man’ variety, and there is even what I call a ‘Send for Ravi’ moment, in which a sitar player takes a solo. Possibly the only misstep in a complex and wonderful piece of work.

Dave Gilyeat and Tim Bearder single-handedly justified the licence fee when they played the next track, ‘China White Doll’ on their BBC Oxford local music show last week. Imagine if Scott MacKenzie, instead of getting in a load of San Franciscan stoners to record his hymn to the city, had instead enlisted the Bilston Glen Colliery Band: hopefully this barmy idea gives a flavour of the unearthly gloriousness of this track. Ambitious, tender, passionate, timeless and brilliantly paced, this is the love song in epic form, culminating in an almost Schubertian piano coda. Quite simply, the opportunity to hear music like this is why I write reviews.

The remaining two tunes are pretty decent but don’t reach the level of the first two. ‘Weatherman’ starts with some annoying chirpy noises that sound like a saw put through an octaviser, before a rather unremarkable folk-rock number emerges. Think Kasabian fronted by The Beta Band’s Steve Mason. (Actually, don’t. It’s rather an unappetising prospect). Franglen does his best with various bleeps, bloops and loops, but he can’t hide the essential ordinariness of the tune. ‘Lost’ starts prettily enough with more lazy-day hippy-dippy vocals, before launching egregiously into a straightforward Robert Palmer-flavoured rocker that might have been in Patrick Bateman’s album collection in ‘American Psycho’. Actually, bombing down the M5 on the way to Devon, I quite enjoyed it as cruising-music, but then again, so would Jeremy Clarkson.

These reservations aside, Captive State have managed two brilliant numbers on a four-song EP, which promises much for the full album. I would recommend anyone to take a trip to Farringdon (two Fs, regrettably) to see them, but if the locals start telling jokes about the Alamo, to promptly scarper.

Captive State Myspace

By Colin MacKinnon.

This week’s free MP3 is ‘Motorway To Moscow’ by local kraut-pop robots Space Heroes of the People - click here and it’s yours to treasure forever.

Worthless musical revisionist Mark Ronson is amongst the big names confirmed for this year’s Wakestock festival on 27-29 June at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock. Other stars confirmed for the summer bash are former Truck headliners The Futureheads, Pendulum, Lightspeed Champion, Ty, Groove Armada, The Streets, Hadouken and local heroes Supergrass and The Young Knives. Tickets for Wakestock, which celebrates the cult watersport of wakeboarding, cost £110 for weekend with camping, £85 for weekend without camping and £40 for a day ticket. For more information, have a look here.

Blood Red Shoes, the band formed by former Oedipus and Cat On Form man Steve Ansell, took part in a photo shoot in Oxford for Love Music Hate Racism, along with local stars Mr Shaodow, Bethany Weimers and Pete and Charlie from InLight.