Sometimes it’s terribly hard to explain with words what and why a song makes you think or feel. Especially when we’re talking about a band so fresh and new that no music critic has yet had enough time for constraining them with silly labels. Yet.

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So we don’t really know why, but the angelical zombie Samuel and his human dragon make us move. Samuel & the Dragon have something truly special: maybe the singer’s ripped voice, the gentleness of their electronic melodies, the good use of the silences, the scenography, the visuals and the magic atmosphere they create on stage; lights off as if we were attending a classic cinema projection. Maybe the secret of all that sum of pop beauty is a careful mix of all these  ingredients. A wicked magic formula that makes us have butterflies in the stomach. And that symptom never fails.

Listen to them to understand it.
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If you want to know a little bit more of this –not for much longer– unknown gem, read Samuel answers to our Love & Hate Quiz.

♥ When you first wake up in the morning, what’s the first song or sound you most like to hear?
Blackbirds.

What’s the noise that annoys you the most in the whole wide world?
Radio 1 newsreader’s vocal intonation.
♥ Which are your top 5 bands at the moment?
Micachu and the Shapes
Imagine IAM
Pillers of the Community
Us…
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Climie Fisher

 Tell us one song you hate but can’t get out of your head because the lyrics keep on coming back to you.
The Washing Up song from Big Cook, Little Cook – in fact I don’t hate it I quite like it.

♥ What is the weirdest place you would like to perform in and why?
Doing a tour of old disused Woolworths shops would be good.. High street warehouse party tour – before they all turn into pound shops.

 What concert would you like to forget the most and why?
Bob Dylan at Cardiff Arena – £45 quid ticket – car broke down on the way – horribly enormous venue – £6 for a beer – and he was shit – and I didn’t really want to go in the first place.

♥ What do you enjoy the most about playing in a band?
People actually liking the music. Making loud noises.
 Can you think of any reason that would make you quit music?

A sense of comfortability and contentment in middle age? Slippers and that kind of thing.

They’ll playing an early slot on the 28th of August for our FREE FRIDAYS.

LIVE: MAPS + PONI HOAX + HOOK & THE TWIN + SAMUEL & THE DRAGON

DJS: BEN RYMER + RUN HIDE SURVIVE

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FREE ENTRY

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Last.fm will be curating the night of the 14th of August at Cargo, featuring none other than the acoustic guitar and tender singing of Finian Greenhall, a.k.a Fink (Ninja Tune), singing songs from his brand new album “Sort of Revolution”.

Fink will be playing at 10pm, sharing stage with Charlene Soraia, the Londoner PENS, Berliner dubstepper’s JazZstepPa and the Last.fm DJ Team. Read our interview with Fink after the video:
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Here you have our Love & Hate quiz by Fink:

♥ When you first wake up in the morning, what’s the first song or sound you most like to hear?
Anything by John Lee Hooker, something clean and pure and bit jaded.

 What’s the noise that annoys you the most in the whole wide world?
That neighbour, who seems to live everywhere in the UK, who seems to spend every single morning every weekend using some kind of metal saw.
♥ Which are your top 5 bands at the moment?
The Horrors
The Joy Formidable
The Boxer Rebellion
Fever Ray
Florence And The Machine

Tell us one song you hate but can’t get out of your head because the lyrics keep on coming back to you.
Metronomy – “Holiday” – I don’t hate this song, I love this song,  but it’s a bit like Stockholm Syndrome where the hostage starts to empathise with the Kidnapper… also, I’m in Berlin and Paris a lot…

♥ What is the weirdest place you would like to perform in and why?
I would like to play at Montreal Jazz festival. I think Montreal is cool, and although we have nothing to do with jazz, I’d like for me and the boys to go over there and tonk them hard in the face with some real music with some balls…

 What concert would you like to forget the most and why?
St. Tropez, 06, The Plage De Rock festival… in the middle of a real Tornado (we were in the papers the next day) the entire stage and light rig was blown over – we rescued a couple of monitors and our kit, narrowly escaped un-electrocuted and set up in the café bar and did the gig very wet and very drunk (it even made youtube) – I called our manager to, erm, outline the scenario and he told us to “stop moaning and build some memories…”

♥ What do you enjoy the most about playing in a band?
Last week we played a festival in Biarritz, cute surf chicks everywhere, we smacked a great gig, then drank free beers and smoked free weed on the roof of the Radisson hotel by the pool, and… we got paid for it! I love that shit! When you do a good gig the feeling is great… to know that you would have paid to see you is a great feeling – not all gigs are like that, but the more you play the more you yearn to get onstage and push it…

 Can you think of any reason that would make you quit music?
I dunno, what are the hours?

LIVE: FINK + JAZZSTEPPA + PENS + CHARLINE SORIA

DJS: LAST.FM DJS + BLACK CAB SESSIONS

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FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT

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We know more than one party where the announced secret special guest is only a fake worm used to lure a plentiful catch. But you know that we’re not that kind of fisherman. It’s time to take off the veil and let you drool with pleasure. Our surprise guest for our upcoming FREE FRIDAYS is none other than –drumroll, please!–  Tim Sweeney, DJ, ambassador of NYC’s DFA Records, and the man behind of what is probably the hottest two-and-a-half hour music radio show in the world right now, Beats in Space.

This guy is a musical encyclopaedia. He was 15 when he first deejayed in the Baltimore rave circuit, having been introduced to the electronica world by his older brother. He’s been influenced by many different DJs, producers and personalities –Steinski (one of the biggest hip hop producers ever, from Double Dee & Steinski) and DFA’s fat cat Tim Goldsworthy among them. This guy knew how to climb up! He started with both of them as a trainee, sucked all the great musical sage they were exuding and now he’s playing fireworks all over the world, mixed a DFA set for Muzik magazine, and collaborated with Goldsworthy on various DFA’s compilations, just to mention some of his achievements. On August 7th we’ve caught him for an unforgettable dance music master class. He’ll make our asses move as ever, after teenagersintokyo and O.Children live shows! Being lazy tonight could be one of these bad choices your friends will always remember you for.

Listen to Beats in Space live mp3 stream here every Tuesday night from 10:30pm to 1am, or check out the archived shows.

LIVE: teenagersintokyo + O. CHILDREN

DJS: TIM SWEENEY + STOPMAKINGME

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FREE ENTRY

Lovely though it is, there’s not much excitement to it except maybe some grass and some flowers and sometimes (if you have to go) you might hide behind a bush to pee. It’s free, yes, but it’s not how you’d spend your Friday night is it?

This is the Field

And they are exciting. And you can watch The Field live and dance to the music and maybe have a drink or 2 and eat and and and… Basically you can do loads of stuff that you can’t do in a field (at this time of year anyway). Also for free and at Cargo this Friday night!! & if you need to go, you don’t have to pee in a bush.

As if having XXXChange, Thunderheist, Boy 8 Bit and V V Brown playing for free wasn’t enough freeness already, we have 10 cracking pairs of brand new limited edition Nike trainers (hover over pictures below to see the sizes) AND 2 Goodhood limited edition tees to give away this Friday. You wan’em?  Well you’re too late. this competition is closed!

To celebrate the fact that the mighty Hot 8 Brass Band play Cargo on Thursday 31st July, Tru Thoughts has given us an mp3 to giveaway from their album ‘Rock With The Hot 8.’ Simply right click on the link below to download it.

Hot 8 – Its Real

To buy tickets to the night, click here.