Lightspeed Champion... is Champ

I've already called it that Lightspeed Champion will be a huge success in the indie world, but as a lot of the other music blogs out there are doing, I need to declare it in a post.

I saw Lightspeed Champion perform at Rough Trades East in London on Monday and I was impressed by his live performance, solid and true to the recorded tracks, something I value as opposed to Andrew Bird-like shows. Anyways, what I didn't realize is that Emmy the Great was providing backing vocals. Was she at the in-store? Probably. Can I be sure? No, because I couldn't see anyone but Dev Hynes, Mr. Lightspeed Champion himself.

The London anti-folk scene is a bit incestuous. Emmy the Great, once a member of Noah & the Whale, playing with Lightspeed Champion as well as solo. Laura Marling, amazing solo as well, replaced Emmy in Noah & the Whale. Noah & the Whale... I'll devote a new post to them later.

Here's the full 10-minute version of "Midnight Surprise" by Lightspeed Champion. I like it better than the radio edit. It's got the variety that say... Rilo Kiley's "Pictures of Success" accomplishes in its 7 minutes. It's also got a bit of the twang that RK has incorporated in their later work. Enjoy! (My favorite part starts at about 7:54 and lasts 'til the end)