Lightspeed Champion

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Lightspeed Champion
Lightspeed Champion, Barfly, Cambridge
Lightspeed Champion, Barfly, Cambridge
Background information
Origin United Kingdom
Genre(s) Indie rock, folk
Years active 2005–present
Label(s) Domino Records
Associated acts Whirlwind Heat
Lightspeed Heat
Test Icicles
Website www.lightspeedchampion.com

Lightspeed Champion is the name of the new musical venture by ex-Test Icicle Devonte Hynes, currently signed to Domino Records. Containing musical elements from a variety of genres, Lightspeed Champion is a radically different sound to Hynes' previous band. The band's name comes from a series of comic strips Hynes did as a teenager in his school maths books. Hynes was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Essex, England.

Contents

[edit] Falling Off the Lavender Bridge

In early 2007, Hynes went to Omaha, Nebraska to record Lightspeed Champion's debut album with Saddle Creek producer Mike Mogis, also a member of the band Bright Eyes. A number of Omaha-based musicians appear on the record including Mogis himself, trumpet player and pianist Nate Walcott (also of Bright Eyes), The Faint's drummer Clark Baechle and guest vocalist Emmy The Great - along with moonlighting members of Cursive and Tilly And The Wall.[1]

The result of those recording sessions is the album Falling Off the Lavender Bridge which was released on January 21st, 2008. The first single from the album is "Galaxy of the Lost", which was released on July 30th, 2007.[2]

Hynes has also recorded a number of bootlegs and unofficial releases, made available to the public through his blog and MySpace, these include an album written and recorded entirely in a day and an EP consisting only of covers originally by the band Green Day.

Lightspeed Champion have also received airtime on Radio 1 during Hadouken!'s late-night one-off show 'In for Zane Lowe'.

[edit] The Band

Members of the touring band so far consist of Dev's friends in other bands, including Florence of Florence and the Machine, Martin, aka The Train Chronicles and UK singer-songwriter Emmy the Great. Mike Siddell, formerly of Hope of the States, is playing violin and Anna Prior, former drummer of Leeds band Dead Disco and The Ivories, plays drums in the current line up.[3] Other guest members have contributed in live shows, such as Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, Faris Rotter of The Horrors[4], Jack Penate and Eugene McGuinness as well as We Are Scientist's Keith Murray on the June 6th episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Dev was voted 49 in music magazine NME's 2007 Cool List.[5]

[edit] Tour

In summer 2007 the band supported both Bright Eyes and Final Fantasy on tour, before launching a headline tour of their own in September/October. In fall 2007, Hynes performed solo in support of Patrick Wolf and Good Shoes on their UK tour. The full band played a headline tour of the U.K in early 2008.

The band appeared at the NME 2008 Awards which was broadcast on Channel 4 on February 29, 2008. The whole band appeared dressed as characters from Star Wars, including Princess Leia on the drums.[6] Hynes (and a violin player) will begin a short U.S. tour in March 2008, ending with an appearance at SXSW 2008. At SXSW they talked with "The Wombats", and supported them at a concert in the Albert hall. They are also headlining at this years T4 on the beach.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

[edit] Albums

[edit] Official bootlegs

[edit] References

  1. ^ Domino Records page. Domino Records. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
  2. ^ Domino Records listing. Domino Records. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
  3. ^ NME. NME.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  4. ^ Watch: Lightspeed Champion, Arctic Monkey, Ipso Facto, 'Fred Les' play one-off covers show. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
  5. ^ Template:Cite web..
  6. ^ Channel 4 music. CHannel 4. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  7. ^ Play.com listing. Play.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  8. ^ lightspeedchampion.com Blog Entry. lightspeedchampion.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  9. ^ lightspeedchampion.com Blog Entry. lightspeedchampion.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  10. ^ Vice.com. Vice Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  11. ^ lightspeedchampion.com Blog Entry. lightspeedchampion.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.

[edit] External links

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