Tracks from the stack

Hola Amigos

2012-01-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

New year, and the same old delivery schedule. Everyone has already shot their wad with their Ones to watch, and Tips for the Top.

My only tip this year is Daughter. Caught them at lounge on the Farm, and they were very good. Think post rock and new folk wrapped into a tight embrace.

Records to avoid - The Lemonheads Hotel Sessions. Full review is up on DiS. 3/10 says it all for a band I once loved. Sloppy addition to their catalogue, general poor shew all round.

Records to seek - New Nada Surf is a mini thrill ride.
If you like American Indie Rock, you will almost certainly like this album.

I predict - Toronto'sMemoryhouse to take the critical world by storm. I've had the album for three days and every play gets a little more pleasant. It is Elitebait for critics, and they're playing up a vague Arcade Fire-ness in the PR gumphf. It's there when you listen to them, for sure, but there is something else that I can't quite put my finger om yet. A cold insouciance . They're giving away a couple of tracks of it over on SubPop, streaming the singles here.

Under the radar, everywhere in the universe - Caithlin De Marrais' Red Coats LP. Streams here, another late 90's emo hero makes good with a solid solo record. Those people are setting patterns, and getting totally fucking ignored by mainstream media. No press, no radio. It's all groundswell and hard yards, they've become the troubadors of old. I suppose it keeps indie indie, huh?

End of Year Lists - Note for listmakers

2011-11-29T08:59:00.000-08:00

If your list doesn't include either the Destroyer album, or the True Widow album, it is invalid.

Also, you are dead to me.

A Place To Bury Strangers announce new E.P, has nice picture on cover

2011-11-10T05:06:00.000-08:00

Great little picture on the sleeve, isn't it? Very Zeitgeisty, with the ancient ruin contrasting and lining up against a building of finance gently leaning back, as though it were about to collapse. All cultures fail, and time is absolute. Onwards to the Wall, why that just hints at an uprising of the people doesn't it? At the same time, with the picture in mind, it is onwards towards death.

Tracklisting:

1. I Lost You

2. So Far Away

3. Onwards To The Wall

4. Nothing Will Surprise Me

5. Drill It Up

Onwards To The Wall will be released February 6 on CD/12"/Digital formats. 'So Far Away' is up on Pitchfork. See what you make of it.

Jeff Buckley & Elizabeth Fraser - All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The S...

2011-11-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from True Widow at the Macbeth - Click for larger

2011-10-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Wild Flag review is Up and Atom

2011-10-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

And here it is. It's a very good album on its own merits. Feel quite guilty for mentioning the band that prefigured this one so much, but what can you say? THERE ARE SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THEM.

True Widow at the Macbeth tomorrow night. There will be a few pictures, I imagine.

New Frank Ocean video... solid

2011-09-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

Once you go mersh, you can't go back...
and how swiftly those OMGWGKTA players move to the majors, eh?
Still, solid work from Mr Ocean.

True Widow play tiny London show for a mere seven hundred pennies

2011-09-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

The day of reckoning is upon us. True Widow play the tiny Macbeth in Shoreditch in less than a month. My tickets are already in the bag.
Yours should be too.
Would just like to point out I paid more in fees, per ticket, on a Ryan Adams Union Chapel gig this morning. Is Ryan Adams goin to be five times better than True Widow, including fees? I have my doubts.

Their full three date UK jaunt.

October 10^th – Glasgow, Captain’s Rest
October 11^th – Manchester, Star & Garter
October 12^th – London, Macbeth

Get to the merch table. I know how expensive it is to bring US bands over here, am pretty sure you'll be filling their petrol tank and putting food in their mouths.

The Get Up Kids - Rally 'Round the Fool (Official Video)

2011-09-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

Good progressive choice of single noted. Seem to remember Pitchfork said something nasty about the song, but I think very much the opposite. By the way, Pitchfork have NEVER given The Get Up Kids a positive review. They seem almost grudgy about it, in a too cool for school sort of way. Once more, a critical failure on their part.

Anyway, the video.

Home of Metal - Parts One and Two / Screaming Trees - Final Words

2011-08-25T01:51:00.000-07:00

Both interviews with Mark Wilkinson and Tony Iommi are now available on DrownedInSound, as is my review of the "new" Screaming Trees album. I'm submitting my reviews for the Pure X album, and the most recent Drugstore release (trailed below) soon, and that'll be me for a while in terms of reviews. I'm hoping to concentrate on and improve my live music photography, and am hoping to push that along for the end of the year.

In the meantime here are two portfolio sets. The first is a Hevy set via eFestivals, who I got the pass from, and the majority of the shots have already been used by them; the second is my work from the Sziget festival. I originally intended to shoot Sziget for DiS, but felt the standard wasn't quite there. Neither set can be used for any commercial purpose, all rights are reserved, and all wrongs will be reversed.

Wild Flag - Album Teazer

2011-08-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

Wild Flag - Album Trailer from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Back from Hevy

2011-08-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

and band of the weekend were for some Touche Amore, but for me latecomers to the bill, Feed the Rhino impressed greatly. I'm absolutely amazed they're still at club level.

They won't be for very long.

Catch them at the Camden Barfly for £8.50. You will not be disappointed.

N.B. Hilda May also added to the bill, which is good news for your girlfriend.

Drugstore are returned to us

2011-07-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

For those who have forgotten (and how could you?), Drugstore were one of the better bands from the 90's, with Isabelle Monteiro's soft, drawling voice mounted upon a dynamic, supple indie rock base. They gained a little extra fame from a Radiohead endorsement, Thom Yorke singing on one of their bigger singles, El Presidente. Their debut album was a nervy mix of lyrical genius and tension and release, but the band disliked the bare bones production, if memory serves. White Magic For Lovers was the sequel, and improved production and continued high quality songs really put them on the map. They opened the main stage at Reading 1998 (and were in fact the best band I saw at Reading 95. Look at that bill and tell me it isn't a compliment), but then seemed to vanish after the slapdash Songs for the Jet Set. Isabelle said "Things spiralled down", and that spells ten years of hard times.

But after many years in the wilderness, a great Glastonbury performance and a few more sell out shows, Monteiro has reassembled a crack unit of players under the Drugstore moniker. No half assed Marion style reformation here, as the band have signed to the once legendary Rocket Girl label and released a new record, Anatomy. After a ten year lay off, I'm hoping for a solid piece of work with a few flashes of brilliance. Realistically that's all you can ask for from a band that's come back froim the dead (see Satchel's Heartache and Honey for a good example of that), and it's a real shame that I'm out of the country for their August shows. They play a free show at Rough Trade East on the 11th of August, and a sold out album launch on the 18th of August in St Giles in the Fields. I had that bookmarked in my tickets to buy tab, but it had sold out by the time I looked at it again. So the only chance I have to see them is at their December 8th Scala show. We'll see if I haven't been skinted by Christmas cheer before that one then. Listening to this album over the weekend, and will let you know how it shapes up shortly....

Sziget is booked

2011-06-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

and the line up keeps improving. Big adds were Prodigy and Kaiser Chiefs today. Two big bands who love to work a crowd. They won't have to work hard to do that in Budapest.

Added both of them and a few others to my now epic Spotify playlist.
The 2011 line up eats the lunch of the line up from last year.Tickets from http://www.szigetfest.co.uk

Other news... Suede Dog Man Star review did well, shared by 40 people which was a little record for me. Ozzy reviews for Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz also went up.

Will be writing up a Lounge on the Farm 2011 review for eFestivals, and Destroyer is a go for the end of the month. Until then... twiddling thumbs.

Good old Bernie teaches you Animal Nitrate

2011-05-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Great Bazan set on KEXP - Highlight 'In Stitches'

2011-04-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

"If you can't say something nice..."

2011-04-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Accurate review of sub-par album by well-loved major band = Look Ma, Mo' Trolls.
Funnily enough, if you read any other of the more negative reviews listed on Metacritic, they all get trolled to fuck. While it would be slightly disingenious to suggest that the hand of The Man is at play here, there are many riotously strong opinions that don't actually challenge the criticism head on, and just go straight for the jugular of the reviewer. They speak and say 'UR OPINYON ISN'T VALID'. When I see fresh sign ups attempting to negate 'bad' reviews by jumping on the reviewer (on all review sites with talkbacks), a part of me does instantly think of it as damage limitation from a PR team. Bad reviews are forever. Why not slant their interpretation?

Now, people generally don't like it when you let them know that you think their favourite band is delivering very, very average work these days. And why should they, as effectively you've just told them their taste is rubbish and the faith they had in their musical heroes has been misplaced. You should wipe your cock on their curtains on your way out, just to make up the set. But what they generally fail to see through that thin red mist is that music criticism isn't aimed at their tastes, at what makes their cultural shape. Music criticism is exactly that, to think critically, to approach each album or musical event in the whole, in the context of history. Bands are judged by their previous works, the standards set by others in the field, and in the opinion of the writer, whether that music is good or bad.

If you don't like any given opinion, you'll always be able to find one which is more like your own, or in troll terms, correct. If you can, why not think why music critics write 'bad' reviews? There are thousands, and thousands of reviews placed everywhere, in newspapers, magazines, on the internet, fanzines, and each is a singular view. A positive review of any band sweetens the life of the writer a little. Let's call it the 'When you're smiling the whole world smiles with you' effect. Fans are pleased their acts are championed, PRs will remember the writers name more often, send them cds and tickets on spec, maybe even give them news tips, or access to the artist themselves. A negative review pleases no-one. It doesn't please readers expecting to have their views and choices validated, it doesn't make PR teams love you, and it almost certainly lowers your chances of access to information on, or to, the artist themselves.

So why write a 'bad' review? There are certainly fewer of them these days, and that stems from

A) Music PR has improved drastically in the last ten years. They target writers, write better blurbs, chase more and generally earn their money. If any independent act wants coverage, without a PR team on a release they may as well be submitting a demo to a dead address. Someone must fight your corner, and in a world of a million bands, word of mouth just doesn't cut it any more. In fact, it might well be said that the idea of word of mouth became a PR ruse in itself, but that's a whole different story.

B) Editors want access to information and artists to get more hits, more sales, more ad sales and revnue. As such postive reviews favour them on multiple levels.

C) 'Good' reviews lend themselves to positive appraisals of the writer, the site, and to PR itself. They feed the machine nice quotes, and show the world PR does its job.

But negative reviews have their place in criticism, because they need to be there to balance out the stream of glowing ones. I'm not talking about those vitriolic 'zero star' assaults on bands written only to salve the writing ego and to get website hits. I'm talking about reviews that give a honest opinion. As much as the industry likes to warm up writers and radio teams by calling them 'tastemakers', the more valid role of a critic is as 'gatekeeper' or 'sifter'. Let's not forget, most people have a limited amount of funds and time to spend on music, and music criticism helps channel those resources more effectively. And let's also remember where there is wheat, there is definitely chaff. The general public should get a balanced opinion on which is which.

28th June. Mark it in your notebooks. The Guns and Roses of Japan are here, finally.

2011-04-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

Presale is on now at Blue Room. This will sell out.

My brain hurts just thinking about this. The preamble uses the words "skill set", and despite a passing mention to the contrary, is obviously a cast-me-plea for the biopic that went into pre-production last year. Don't know how to feel about the clip, because he's actually doing a reasonably good job of impersonating Cobain. It definitely doesn't make me dislike Leto any less.

2011-04-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

Johnny Greenwood - Norwegian Wood

2011-04-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

Forgot about this, but it's been up on DiS for a while.
Good review, but mistakes got picked up on the talkback.
Hate it when that happens...

Very, very close to booking Sziget tickets now.

2011-03-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

Not for the watchable slow motion car crash that is bound to be the Amy Winehouse set, but to see
The Deftones rip the still-fucking-beating heart out of a Budapest crowd. There isn't anyone who I'd rather see play a set there (with the exception of The Cure and Morrissey), and even with those exceptions, who would put on a better show for the metal loving kids of Hungary? Once again, I hope their security is up to the challenge, and think if they're on before Judas Priest the old boys will have to be on the very, very top of their game to avoid being upstaged.

Regina Spektor - No Surprises (Radiohead Cover)

2011-03-13T01:59:00.000-08:00

The National - Conversation 16 Video

2011-03-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

The National

Ghost House Rescue Squad - 'Electrons' (Practice Session)

2011-03-10T03:14:00.000-08:00

Insane Suede Reissue

2011-03-08T04:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.suede.co.uk/band/dog-man-star

There other albums are up there, but this is the peach from the best, first three. There it is, nestling on disc two. The oft spoken about but as to this point unsighted 15+ minute version of the Asphalt World.

And Christ, did this record need remastering.

Sziget 2011 is tempting me

2011-03-08T02:30:00.000-08:00

Bands I love, and would like to see again.

The National (Absolutely Key)
Pulp (Saw their last show with this line up... in 1996!)
Interpol (New bass player... mint)
Skunk Anansie (Nostalgia purposes. Have seen them three times already)

Bands I haven't seen, but would like to

Judas Priest (On their farewell tour)
Crystal Castles ( Have heard they've improved drastically in the last year. Must've been touched by Greatness)
Motorhead (Lemmy won't be around forever. There's only so much the human body can take!)
Chemical Brothers (Don't judge me. I'm here.... for the light show?)

There's going to be more to come. I hope for Morrissey or The Stooges, maybe some 2001 vintage Emo action, but technically this bill is strong enough fo me to lay my money down already. The only problem I have is the cost of flights, but I'm balancing that out against the facts. Namely that Sziget is

A) cheaper for food and drink than other festivals by some considerable distance.
B) a five day break in the sun compared to a weekend in Reading.
C) ...for which I'd have had to shell out for travel anyway.
D) has the most enthusiastic fans of any festival I've ever been to.

I was thinking that Hungary gets skipped by a lot of touring bands, and Sziget is the only chance they get to see bands like The National and Pulp. And lest we forget, Heavy Metal is INSANELY popular there. Judas Priest's final show? I pity security on that one.

New Asobi Seksu - Perfectly Crystal

2011-03-08T02:12:00.000-08:00

And about time too. They've been eating My Bloody Valentine wheaties again. Talk about a wall of sound. That woman is an absolute fox, isn't she?

A few more for DiS

2011-02-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace - Excellent

Pete Yorn - Pete Yorn - Weak as a drugged kitten
(N.B. The review mentions a nice picture of Pete Yorn on the sleeve, but the review shows the plain PY promo cover. I hope that isn't a switch on the covers by the record company so late in the game...)

Fresh from the boards

2011-01-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Magic.

Thanks Johnny. You've made magic happen.

True Widow

2011-01-14T07:21:00.000-08:00

Their album is due, and about time too. This band are brilliant, and need to hit UK shores as soon as humanly possible.

True Widow Album II Teaser from Justin Wilson on Vimeo.

More work for DiS

2010-12-11T03:20:00.000-08:00

A Kill City review that didn't get a pasting for being honest. There's a dude disagreeing with the review, but he's a passionate fan, and no troll. I've replied to him.

Blurry Blue Mountain by Giant Sand. Another fairly yawnsome late career alt country album.

A Spoon interview that went very well. One of the few bits of writing that people have contacted me to tell me how much they liked it. Probably the best bit of work I've done all year.

In related news, DiS released their end of year poll. The National were my pick, but came second to Emeralds. On giving the Emeralds record a spin, can't say I'm 100% behind that choice, but at least I know it's a quasi-democratic process.

The gig photography blog has stalled, due to film processing costs and turnaround. I'll release the best few pictures I've taken over the year on here by NYE. Hope to have a couple more to bolster the set by then.

Spoon Covering Jay Reatard - No Time

2010-11-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

This one is ripped from the DiS piece yesterday.

Great version of this song, with excellent camera work. Enjoy!

Matador | Myspace Video

Videos, videos, videos

2010-10-27T03:43:00.000-07:00

Too sick to write, trying to get strength back up for Suede at Bush Hall tonight.

Bo Ningen prepare for World Domination

2010-10-08T06:06:00.001-07:00

With performances like this, all other bands are fucked.

Bo Ningen- Koroshitai Kimochi from Stolen Recordings on Vimeo.

More stuff on DiS

2010-10-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

Full length Sziget review.
It's a long read, the odd grammar mistake, but I was pleased with it.
Doesn't include the Jared Leto story. Ask me about the Jared Leto story. Then ask me if I've touched Johnny Marr.

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
Not really satisfied that this was good work, can't shake the feeling it's a dull read.

Crystal Fighters - Star of Love
Much happier with this one. It's a better record than the Maiden, too. Grew on me, it did.

Sneak peek at the Soundgarden video for Black Rain

2010-09-15T09:08:00.001-07:00

Holy Fuck. Soundgarden v Dethklok?

Modlife // BLUE BLOOD BLUES RELEASED TODAY

2010-09-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

A perfectly good way to ruin some choice vinyl from your man Jack White.

Modlife // BLUE BLOOD BLUES RELEASED TODAY

Citay are coming

2010-08-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

and they're bringing Wolf People in tow. It's at the Windmill, soon. A very cheap ticket, especially if you consider the guitar porn levels of technical ability the headliners bring with them.

Wow, this post was just so link heavy. It's like being in 1998 again. Hypertextlicious!

Arcade Fire v Libertines. A quick word on BBC coverage

2010-08-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

The Libertines pounded through their suport headline slot. Sadly Pete, the whitest man alive, was barely fit for purpose. He stumbled around looking generally unwell and fucked up most of his solos. That version of Can't Stand Me Now was bobbins. It was one of those sets the more hyperbolic music papers will call LIFE CHANGING, one of those ones people will discuss that might end with the attendees screaming 'You weren't THERE, Man. You don't KNOW!"

The Arcade Fire had a funny old mix early on ('More ukelele!'). They were the right choice of headliner, but for next year when everyone knew the record, and perhaps should have put a single from Funeral as first song. They aren't fully reliant on energy in the same way that The Libs are, instead they operate on magic and perfection. Without one or the other there, they can fall flat.Tough to get perfection on a festival stage, and despite a pretty poor set, technically, The Libertines nicked all the magic.

Sadly they'll probably pawn it for skag later.

An overlooked METAL classic. SADISTIC MAGICIAN - MUNICIPAL WASTE

2010-08-27T14:28:00.001-07:00

This band deserve your AWESTRUCK adulation just for having the nerve to make a slime horror video. This is a masterclass in brutality! SADISTIC! MAGICIAN!

New Soundgarden Track!

2010-08-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it's 18 years old, technically. But still, it's going to be the lead single from Telephantasm, a rarities and hits comp they've got on the way. That's going to be available first with the new Guitar Hero game due out, if memory serves. Still, here's the track, Black Rain.

Black Rain by soundgardenworld

Hola Amigos - Sziget preview

2010-08-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

Apologies for Slackness during July.

I've gotten around to updating this badboy today with a Sziget preview I wrote for DiS. On Thursday I travel to Hungary to see the festival in all it's glory. Or almost. Ironically, I can't see two of my must see acts due to flight times. No GWAR, and no Monster Magnet. My inner 19 year old is crying. Still, PiL, Maiden, Nina Hagen, a plush looking hotel and potentially, touch wood, full backstage access to the largest festival in Europe. It's exciting stuff.

What are you going to do with the rest of your life?

2010-06-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

I dunno. Wrote some reviews though, eh?

The Cure - Disintegration (Deluxe)

Dan Sartain - Lives

The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

Photoblog is building up nicely, but let me tell you this... avoid Snappy Snaps for anything other than C-41 processing. Their true black and white and E6 prices have left me reeling!

Bawl - Beyond Safe Ways

2010-05-24T03:43:00.000-07:00

What a great track this was. Where are Bawl now?

Nada Surf review up on DiS

2010-05-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/15332/reviews/4139826

Would have been my record of the year so far if I hadn't heard The new National album today.
It's so good, and I'm seeing them at the Ballroom tomorrow.
Ultimo score, as they said in the early 2000's.

The Sister Ruby Band

2010-05-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Recieved a quick email this afternoon from a young London based band bringing out a new EP themselves.
It's good stuff, reminds me a little bit of Grant Lee Buffalo. The EP is called 'Shot in the dark', might be worth a dabble if you were A) Looking for a band to sign or B) Fond of alt-country and wanted to stretch your musical horizons a little. Here's a video, anyway. See what you think.

The Sister Ruby Band "Sweet Georgia" (live)
Is that an ES-5 copy? Nice

Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever - One more for DiS

2010-04-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/15330/reviews/4139817

Live review of Daniel Johnston

2010-04-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

He was very good.

Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart - DiS review

2010-03-30T01:33:00.000-07:00

March comes late

2010-03-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

Have been working on the photo blog. Two posts in, third on the way... it's looking good so far.

Most recent music writing is this review of... christ I've forgotten their name already... Black Daniel.
rffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft9c vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvtfgrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Cat on the keyboard. Sorry.

Working on a review of the Jawbox album For Your Own Special Sweetheart. It's going to be positive. Very positive.

Satchel are BACK

2010-02-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

Finally back on the road, Satchel seem to have been a little rusty (note the count ins), but damn, they sound absolutely fantastic. UK Date... come on!

Mascis and Martsch - Together at last?

2010-02-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

A thing that guitar solo loving indie nerds the world over have openly wept at the thought that it might one day possibly happen IS happening. ATP are putting this on.

ARTIST: Dinosaur Jr
SUPPORT ACTS: Built To Spill
VENUE: Shepherds Bush Empire
DATES: Tuesday 18th May 2010
TICKET PRICE : £20.00, plus booking, I imagine. On sale this Friday.

With both of them onstage, it could be like this, but only better. Won't someone get them two boys onstage together? And while we're on wish fulfillment, shouldn't Fender have given Martsch the sig by now? I feel a petition brewing...

Why did no-one tell me Sade had come back?

2010-02-13T04:47:00.000-08:00

There are little riffy bit towards the end, which reminded me of the Airbus Reconstruction that Portishead did. I've just relistened to that b-side nugget, and it's aged something awful. That said, a Sade Adu vocal with Massive Attack or Portishead providing a backing would surely equal solid gold. I'm just saying.

Citay - Dream Get Together

2010-02-04T11:17:00.001-08:00

Decent effort from the San Fran studio band. Apparently they're going to tour it. Best of luck with that.

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/15079/reviews/4138990

One Hundredth Post

2010-02-01T08:31:00.001-08:00

And it's nothing but a NIN video fest. A version of Bela Lugosi's Dead from Murphy, Reznor, and TVOTR and a cracking HD version of 999,999/1,000,000 from the free This One Is On Us Tour DVD.

David Bazan - Curse Your Branches

2010-01-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

Average review of a really good album. The last sentence is un-wonderful. Bonus points for noticing spelling mistakes and bad grammar.

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/15069/reviews/4138965

Going to see him at the Borderline for the photo column tha's starting to seem like the nuclear threat. Often talked about, but very rarely seen.

Another cracking cover from Katsen

2010-01-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

It's not the mind-melter that the album cover was, but it still gets filed under 'Messed up'. The new extended version of Florian is very nice, too. It's out on the 15th of Feb, look for it in the shops. You won't have to look that hard, obviously.

I'll give you a tip + True Widow

2010-01-08T06:21:00.000-08:00

Never tie your shoelaces in a revolving door.

Also spotted these on Twitter via a Rough Trade retweet.

http://www.myspace.com/truewidow
http://www.aquariusrecords.org/bin/search.cgi/exkeyword=truewidocd

They're fucking excellent. Crunchy, drone heavy guitars, solid melodies, indecipherable lyrics.
A little bit psych, a little bit post-rock, but not really falling into either camp. Formerly described as Sonic Noir, a phrase so staggeringly pretentious that i may have to start using it myself.

Free track, Duelist, on this MASSIVE label comp

Free track I.N.O, from Last FM.

Get stuck in!

Hole - Back in the UK - February

2010-01-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

Hole have announced their first UK date since I was a little lad, 17th of February at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. I have tickets and will be writing it up for someone. Before we get too excited, let's remember the last outing from Miss Love was America's Sweetheart, an album that had three good tracks on it and a shitload of filler.

Before that, Hole's last official outing, 11 years ago. Remember how they reacted to the jock-ism of Nu Metal by, err, making their guitar sound really Manson-ish and muddy, and soundtracking a movie about American football?

I remember how fucking great Hole were, though, and have spent my last penny making sure I could get tickets for this show. If you can, do. The o2 presale is still up, and the general sale starts on Friday. Get clicking.

Pavement Comp

2010-01-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

I'm not the first but I won't be the last blogger to embed

Brad/Satchel Playlist

2009-12-23T02:36:00.000-08:00

http://open.spotify.com/user/teepee_uk/playlist/2NzIqjyouro1J9fINttN5u

I hear they're looking for UK dates. More news when I have it ;)

The sound of Commerce

2009-12-21T12:48:00.000-08:00

It's a beep, beep sound as thousands of pounds pass before your eyes. From the door alarm, from the scanner. Christmas songs, potentially until you die. The tills are playing up, the queue is out the door, I've personally fucked up many simple transactions, and have cost customers valuable quality Xmas time with family members. While looking like a spastic. Is it OK to use that word? No? Spasticspasticspasticspastic.

Despite all this, I really like the new job; and would love to make it permanent.

"Su-Bo is outselling everything. EVERYTHING. All that stood before her is crushed and scorched by the wayside. It is over, Earthlings. Over. 10:47 PM Dec 15th from web"

Still true. The Buble (sp) is doing well too, might have actually kept up today. Will Young also battled bravely, but there is no stopping the Titan, the Mecha Godzilla, Cthulu levels of might Su-Bo wields.

Front line retail

2009-12-02T02:16:00.001-08:00

is all about the detail, apparently. I'll be able to see it in it's full glory as of 12pm today, when I become a HMV Christmas staffer. This means blog updates will be a little irregular til the new year. There'll be the now obligatory best of lists, and a sneak peek at the new column I'm starting for the 405.

Wish me luck. I'm going in.

A worthwhile 8 bit mix

2009-11-22T06:22:00.000-08:00

With a nice bit of visual display if you get bored.

http://blipfestival.bandcamp.com/

Strange musical instrument

2009-11-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

The Halo, based on the Hang idiophone. $1500 dollars. Nice!

Spacemen 3 review is up

2009-11-05T05:23:00.000-08:00

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14845/reviews/4138344

Instead of correcting the mistakes, I'm just going to leave them in. Every time I think I've proofed something, it will be a lesson to me to have one last look.

Cassette from my Ex book is out worldwide now, feauturing a short piece from me in it. Indiscreet? Possibly, if you know me personally. Readable? I 'd like to think so.

Get Up Kids - Daytrotter session

2009-10-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to link to the page itself. You need to be a member to download, and it's their content, so that make sense.

The reason I'm posting is that it features a brand new track, Your Pretty Pretty Things, and a Vitreous Humor cover they haven't committed to tape before. The new track is one of nine, which isn't a Star Trek reference, but does means the next album IS on the way.

Thoughtyou'dwanttoknow.

Also next year, new Rival Schools + new Get Up Kids +supposedly a Bright Eyes album = It's all gone a bit 2002, no?

Tom Waits live album in the pipeline / Eye-f*@king Anamanaguchi album website

2009-10-13T03:17:00.000-07:00

This excerpt is taken from the CMU music update. If you haven't signed up to it yet, you should. It provides news, sometimes without even knowing about it, to a lot of music blogs and major websites. Being on their mailing list means you get the news first. Instead of reading it second hand, like you're just about to.

"WAITS TO RELEASE A CD OF BETWEEN SONG RAMBLINGS
Tom Waits will next month release a two disc live album documenting his Glitter And Doom tour from last year. It'll be interesting in that while disc one will have sixteen songs tapped from ten different nights of the tour, disc two will consist exclusively of Waits' between song ramblings. Here are the tracks that appear in on the first disc (with where they were recorded in brackets).

Lucinda/Ain't Goin Down (Birmingham)
Singapore (Edinburgh)
Get Behind the Mule (Tulsa)
Fannin Street (Knoxville)
Dirt In The Ground (Milan)
Such A Scream (Milan)
Live Circus (Jacksonville)
Goin' Out West (Tulsa)
Falling Down (Paris)
The Part You Throw Away (Edinburgh)
Trampled Rose (Dublin)
Metropolitan Glide (Knoxville)
I'll Shoot The Moon (Paris)
Green Grass (Edinburgh)
Make It Rain (Atlanta)
Story (Columbus)
Lucky Day (Atlanta)"

I can tell you that the in between song ramblings are worth the price of admission alone. Buy it!

-----------------------

Anamanaguchi released an album last month. The promo website is stupendous, and will leave you having a seizure like at the end of the Simpsons. I give you fair warning, your retinas will never be the same. The music is also terrific.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Walcott / One - a Musique video

2009-10-11T11:36:00.001-07:00

An interesting short "walking show" from last year. Going to see them this week. Excitement? 7/10

more about "VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Walcott / One - a M...", posted with vodpod

Missed this (Cure related)

2009-10-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

Deluxe Cure reissue of Disintegration gets a tracklist. No 5.1 mix, eh Rob? Cheers. I buy a player that can handle 5.1 DVD audio, and this is how you repay me? You're dead to me now.

Info from slicing up eyeballs after the jump

"...why does being poor, make you a more credible musician?"

2009-10-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

It doesn't. But sometimes it can seem like the route to fame is littered by dilletantes who just didn't have the songs or the chops to deliver them live. The Others and Jo Lean and the Jing Jang Jong spring immediately to mind.

There's a feeling that you can throw a shitload of money at a band, record them really well, get them bought on to big tours, expose them with well-funded, well connected PR and watch the results. None of which relies on talent. So the first hurdle any well-to-do artist will face when put in the limelight is 'Are they credible?'. Not just from critics, but from the paying public; because some might feel they've sidestepped the selection part of A&R, or perhaps there's the notion that they haven't paid their dues. Instead of honing their craft with blood, sweat and tears some coin has opened the door for them instead.

That's obviously an (irksome) class issue on the side of the listener. In the end, all that matters critically is if the music holds up. And opinions on that have been known to vary.

Doug Paisley - Doug Paisley

2009-10-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

One more for the box marked DiS. Feel sorry I couldnt have been more positive about this one, but I nearly dropped into a coma listening to it. On the plus side, have now realised that the Oneida album is a contender for album of the year.

Pavement to headline ATP Next Year!!!!1!!!11!

2009-10-07T07:58:00.001-07:00

"Pavement will headline and curate an All Tomorrow's Parties weekend from May 14 to 16 at Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead, Somerset, UK. This is the band's first non-US appearance of the reunion tour to be revealed. More will follow soon!

Tickets for the weekend are priced at £160pp for room only and £170pp for self catering and go on sale this Friday at atpfestival.com. They will sell extremely quickly if last month's sales for New York City in September 2010 are to be any indication."

Huge news!!! Guaranteed sell out, and my credit card isn't anywhere near ready. Drag.

But surely this means shows! Score!

Joy Fromidable - Whirring (Acoustic) NME video

2009-10-01T02:18:00.000-07:00

Usually touching anything NME related will make me feel a bit dirty.
This acoustic version of Whirring is excellent, however.

Katsen - It Hertz!

2009-09-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

Katsen - It Hertz! Release Date - 28th September Label: Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation

You think this cover is pretty messed up. And you're right. But be warned, this is just the beginning. It folds out into a full on assault on the senses, a collage of cats heads on girls bodies, superstars of the 50's (Curtis/Taylor/Newman/Lancaster), an accordion, more cats, the Eiffel tower, leopardskin print, keyboards, lipstick, a trench coated cat detective wearing a fez... I'd best to stop there before I have a seizure. Frankly, it's one of the the most batshit insane covers you'll ever see. It will fry your mind, and I urge you to examine it in it's full glory should you ever get the chance.

There's no way the music could match the impact the cover makes, but the Brighton based boy girl electro-pop duo of Chris Blackburn & Donna Grimaldi are decent enough to give it a go. Opening with 'Let's build a city', it's obvious via smooth waves of Casiotone, beeps, blips and crisp drum sounds that Katsen's aesthetic is drawn from crunchy 8-bit and smooth 80's synth pop. And the combination works most of the time, on the single, in the straight, reverent cover of The Passions new-wave-classic 'I'm in love with a German Film Star'. When things start to go off piste, there's usually a redeeming quality to the songs to make them worthwhile. 'I'm a Doctor' is simplistic and appealing story, but there isn't much to the song. It's made (or saved, depending on whether you see the glass as half empty) by a decaying sample of a child moaning 'Not wellllll'. Their Pixies cover, 'Cactus', is more plaintive than the original, but lacks the meat on the bones that a clanging guitar offers. It feels honest, a good attempt, but slight.

These plusses are balanced out by the ZettaOmegaFail of 'Island in an Island'. Sample lyric: "He's an island in an island in an island, with a camera taking photos of a photograph". It's a looping mantra, a tautological feast. There's a number of ways you could interpret a lyric like that. Could it be a simplistic look at the reflexive nature of photography? A veiled reference to music criticism? A nod to the idea that a moment can never truly be experienced except when lived first hand? As the lyrics circle and the delivery grows more terse, the realisation dawns that it doesn't really matter. The sound is straight from the Shoreditch of old, sounding like it's been knocked together by a bunch of arch Hoxton chimps with Garageband and a G5. Ostensibly, when the naiveté of this duo is taken away, so is their charm.

The title track is a well constructed instrumental held together by a throbbing early Cure bassline (from an actual bass guitar), with what sounds like a half-cut Kraftwerk trying to get a song done in one take playing over the top. The record then does what few albums seem to do, in that it closes strong. 'Constellation' and 'Where nobody can find us' sound like the sort of singles that would have sneaked into the top 100 for a week and made the Festive Fifty in 1984. It closes with another excellent Kraftwerk nod in 'Florian', named after the founding member who left at the start of the year. A paean of fan love, genuine and very pretty, and easily the best thing on here, it shows Katsen as ones to watch. It Hertz! isn't a perfect album , but then I doubt it was created with perfection in mind, and the final few tracks are a pointer to where Katsen could be going. It's good enough, and it shows promise. That's enough for me as a listener. Perfect debut albums are so 2004, anyway.

7/10

------------
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14696/reviews/4138009

End September, End

2009-09-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

Another faintly emo Spotify playlist. You can never have enough though.

The Posies - Frosting on the beater

2009-09-26T02:17:00.000-07:00

Lost my copy a couple of years ago, had to buy another in the week.
Stuck it on this morning, and it's even better than I remember it being. Solid power-pop gold! Why weren't they massive? Dream all day, Solar Sister, Flavour of the month, BURN AND SHINE, How she lied by living, Coming right along...

If anyone's reading this and haven't heard this album, don't seek it out on Spotify. It isn't there. Once more, good old Youtube comes up trumps.

Burn and Shine (session)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If8ChYjdFdE

Solar Sister (song only)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnQ28HahHtk

Dream all day (Mmmm 1993 video!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbhYb_qGXZg

Flavour of the month (song only)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSOoPk2q280

Coming right along (song with Basketball Diaries stills)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i71U2jZZEis

Monsters of Folk / New Foo Fighters greatest hits announced by Rolling Stone

2009-09-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14665/reviews/4137925
Very pleased with it, but missed a couple of proofreading errors. For shame. All fixed now.

Katsen review is in, more to review today.

New Foo Fighters hits comp outlined in Rolling Stone. Just goes to show you how fast they fell off since 2002. A complete double disc chronological singles set with perhaps a limited best of the B-sides bonus disc would have been more worthwhile for the fans. But I'm sure there's some weaselly little fucker in marketing who thought that was a bad idea. And of course, two versions of Everlong was a good idea. Their tracklisting.

All My Life
Best Of You
Everlong
The Pretender
My Hero
Learn To Fly
Times Like These
Monkeywrench
Big Me
Breakout
Long Road To Ruin
This is a Call
Skin And Bones
Wheels
Word Forward
Everlong (Acoustic)

Slayer to tour UK

2009-09-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

It's hot for me, but then I love a bit of metal.

London dates are 25th/26th of November. The later date is preferable, because you'll only have one day of extreme whiplash at work, then a weekend to recover from that and those terrifying moshpit bruises.

Tickets go on sale Friday, 9 AM.

You snooze, you lose.

http://tiny.cc/SlayerUKdates

Darkside / Lightside

2009-09-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

Got a Cave Singers review up on DiS that I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago. Felt bad for slating it, but people have got things harder now. Not Depression era hard, but a little more hard in the way of spending choices; a tenner spent on a bad record is a tenner that can't be spent on a good show. Belts tightened and all that. People don't like writing bad reviews for bands thay like though, and I've got to say, that wasn't a fun one to write. Doesn't mean I like getting trolled though. You've only written two comments and one of them is disagreeing with me, or rather slating my review approach? That is in no way suspicious, sir.

In related news, a trip to Canada is being funded by selling tickets on the internet. I feel bad about it, really bad, because I remember what it was like to not be able to get to shows because they'd sold out thanks to tout scumbags. Recently I was dismayed to have almost have missed out on the show of the year thanks to touts. Now I am a tout. Maybe not on purpose, at first. But I'm selling two standing Pixies tickets for the last night at Brixton. Two days left. Eighteen watchers. £123. That's a full 100% profit, but damn do I feel dirty.

Recently picked up 2 Ash tickets to a tiny London pub show (see previous post). It's sold out, and tickets are up for a buy it now price of £49 from a tout. I'm considering offering up the ones I've bought at face value to an Ash messageboard to redeem myself, bring a stroke of good karma back around. If you're angling for the good karma, looking for the payback, does it count?

Other news... Bella Union free show tonight near Liverpool Street. I'm hoping for a Dirty Three/Explosions in the Sky/Snowbird triple header. Any one of those would do though.
Will take pictures and write up if I can find a few minutes tomorrow.

A-Z Ash tour - With Map!

2009-08-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Posted after CMU and DiS, this hardly seems worth a mention, but I've picked up a couple for one of their London dates, an impulse buy that I'm already regretting, and that will probably have to be sold on in due course. Should I be unable to eke out a small profit from that, well, I'll just have to go to the show. It's in the Irish pub they used to film the pub scenes in Spaced, anyway. That place must be some kind of late 1990's geek Mecca. The odd messageboard naysayer has been knocking the tour as a gimmick, one that the band and their tour bus will live to regret. While is is a bit of a gimmick, a closer look at the route shows it to be a very well mapped jaunt, some of the big jumps are done over two days, and it runs to something around 4,100 miles (wouldn't let me have the Z on the Google map. Sorry). It's the sort of tour that reminds me of the old days, when bands weren't afraid to hit the road hard to support a product. None of that two hip London instores and a six week break here. This is solid graft. Shame their last free single 'Return of the White Rabbit' was a half-hearted mish mash then. Let's hope the rest are stronger.

Ongoing vinyl sale

2009-08-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

It feels weird, not posting a review, just posting ebay stuff

Steely Dan Pretzel Logic in great shape
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220470019729&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

John Lennon Mind Games Apple 1st Edition
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220470008240&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Benny Hill (Not Kidding!)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220469998314&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

There's plenty more besides. Have a look!

P.s. The Pearl Jam review was just : Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Great show! Might have more on it for the end of year stuff.

It's raining today - The Big For Sale List

2009-08-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be selling a LOT of records soon.

I've estimated it as about 150 CD albums and the same again in CD singles.

Here's the list (so far), if you want to put a bid in for anything, let me know. Most albums are £2-3 unless double disc sets which are £3-4, with rare (as priced), slipcase, magazine promos and card sleeves are £1, and are three for two. Singles are £1, double sets £2, one track promos are 50p, or again, rare as priced. Group purchases will give you a bit of leeway to negotiate price (Ex: £10+ = a free single, £15+ = a free album, etc)

Outkast - If U didn't know, you do now (Promo hits comp, commercially unavailable, £5)
The Postal Service - Give Up (£2)
Jet Johnson - Micropolitan (£2)
Joel RL Phelps and the Downer Trio - Customs (w/Bonus disc)
Beach Boys - Endless Sumer (Marked sleeve £1.50)
R.E.M - Out of Time (£2)
Massive Attack - Karma Coma 2CD single set (£2)
Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea (CD/DVD set) (£4)
Tomahawk - Anonymous (£3)
Monster Magnet - Tab/25 (£3)
Tindersticks - The Hungry Saw (£3)
Bailter Space - Wammo (£3)
Pacific Ocean Fire - Strangers and deranged patients (£2)
Polysics - Polysics or Die!!! (£3)
Sparta - Wiretap Scars (£3)
Xiu Xiu - Chapel of the chimes (£3)
John Coltrane - Ultimate Jazz and Blues (£2)
Ennio Morricone - Very Best of (£2)
Counting Crows - August and Everything After (£2)
Geraldine Fibbers - Lost Somewhere between the Earth and my home (£2)
The Clientele - The Violet Hour (£3)
King Creosote - King Creosote Rules OK (£1.50)
Mogwai - Young Team (original) (£2)
Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows (£2)
Dark Side of the 80's - Compilation (poor condition double set *FREE*)
Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love (£3)
AC/DC - For those about to rock (£2)
NME Kurts Choice sampler
The Fall - Grotesque (£2)
Aerosmith - Greatest Hits (£1)
Finch - Say Hello to the Sunshine (£2)
Harry Pussy - You'll never play this town again (£2)
Liars - They were wrong, so we drowned (£1.50 Library stock)
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Morrissey - Welcome to the west end (bootleg £4)
Wild Cool and Swingin Lounge Comp
Harkonen / These arms are snakes Like A Virgin split single (£2)
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene (£2)
Puressence - Planet Helpless (£1.50 library)
Peter Wyngarde - When sex leers it's inquistive head (£3)
This is cult fiction comp (£2)
Hood - Cold House (promo)(£3)
Six by Seven - All My new best friends single
Querelle mini LP (£1)
Sub Pop 200 (£2)
Monster Magnet - Powertrip single
The Jayhawks - Blue
Future Sound of London - Far out son of Lung... single
Future Sound of London - My Kingdom single
Weezer - Beverly Hills single
The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea (£2)
Murder by Death - Red in Tooth and Claw (£2)
Joanna Newsom - Ys (£2 - no card outer)
Kiss - Greatest Hits (£2)
Smog - Suffer (Library £1.50)
Sons and daughters - The Repulsion box (library £1.50)
Pole - 90/90 pt 2 maxi ep (£2.50 as new)
Soundgarden - Blow up the outside world disc 2
DJ Shadow - High Noon
Canada - This Cursed House (£2)
Sea of Love OST (£2)
S*M*A*S*H - (I want to) kill somebody
Nice and Easy comp
4AD sampler
Columbia Jazz sampler 1 and 2
Yegevny Sudbin - Tchaikovsky ~ Medtner (SACD £4)
Joe Farrell - Moon Germs (£4)
Classic Female vocalists of the 1930's - Falling in Love Again (£2)
Dmitri from Paris - A night at the Playboy mansion (£2)
The Fall - Dragnet (£2)
Ash - Orpheus single
Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet with Butterfly wings (single)
R.E.M - At my most beautiful single
Turin Brakes - Fight or Flight (promo with insert £3)
Rocket Girl compilation 2CD set (£3)
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Sleepless Nights (£3)
Fuzz Townsend - Hello Darlin' ( 1 track promo *please take this away from my house*)
The Who - Then and Now (£3)
Spiritualized - Amazing Grace (£2)
The Breeders - Last Splash (£2)
The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall (£3)
Lemonheads - Creator (£3)
John Parsh and PJ Harvey - That was my veil single (£1.50)
PJ Harvey - To bring you my love (32)
Very nice french magazine compilation Les Inrocktibles 1988 (£3)
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic (£2)
Symphonic Elvis (£2)

and

and

and

lots more CD singles and magazine comps that would take a very long time to list including the likes of Seafood, Von Bondies, Mojave 3, tricky, Pearl Jam, Kinky Machine, Suede, Grant Lee Buffalo, Backwater, Belle and Sebastian, Whistler, Interpol, Mudhoney, Menswear, Kula Shaker... OK. Let's just stop there.

And finally on the CD front, I'm NOT announcing the super rare stuff yet.

I'm welcoming all enquiries on those I've already posted.
In addition to this, I'm putting up some music books as pictured, and a lot more books. They'll all be at charity shop prices, with the exception of a couple of out of print rarities.

Sweet baby Jesus, I've just got a ticket for Pearl Jam at Shepherd's Bush!

2009-07-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

My friend Nigel and I were desperately trying to get a pair of tickets for Pearl Jam's not-so-secret Shepherd's Bush Empire show on the 11th of August. They were playing the Enormodome (to which I will NEVER return*), and neither of us got one in two presales, or the sale proper. He went through a booking system crash once, and I got frozen out by the internet twice. It was tough luck, or so I thought.

Thanks to that system crash, Nigel was sent a link for the last few seats. By the time he got to book it, there was one left (unreserved nosebleeds), and he didn't have a card. So he made the ultimate sacrifice, and I booked the ticket. How do you repay that level of friendship?

Anyways, the review will be coming for that. Bet your life on it!

(*Unless my mum wants to go and see Aerosmith)

Blur at Hyde Park 3rd July

2009-07-08T07:32:00.001-07:00

A fun link. If only someone had an audioripper, eh?

Unnecessary competition

2009-06-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is a one time deal. I've made a compilation CD, and am putting her up for a competition prize. As long as you aren't related to me in any way, and haven't received a comp from me in the last 6 months, then this exciting mix can be yours. Note hand crafted sleeve, pencilling, and messed up handwriting and sweet tracklist.

The comptition has one question: In the bottom picture, in the top right hand side, there's a picture postcard. Who painted the picture?
Answers to comments, first correct answer wins.

Or you could just hit up the shorter Spotify version. Interesting test for Spotify actually, of 21 randomly chosen tracks it had 15. Not bad, but no gold star.

John & Jehn - Cinema Lumiere Sunday 21st

2009-06-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

"...and what did you do then, Uncle Tom"

"Well, I hung around outside the French Institute and tried not to look like a pervert who was there solely to check out Gallic girls who I was old enough (theoretically) to be teaching.

Eurodisco pounded in the background as the sun went down, and tanned youngsters who were loitering around, taking long drags of cigarettes with exotic names. Gauloise, Gitanes.
The air grew colder as I watched the record store man pack up.

A barbeque pitched up white grey smoke into the pink sky, as the throng milled and dissipated around it. Overall, the event had the feeling of a casual society mixer, or maybe a very laid back, slightly-cool-but-not-too-cool upper sixth form disco. It would have been insufferable if there wasn't a thick line of people snaking up the marble stairwell, past a looming nude statue. Knowing the line was there, and what the line led to, was the reason we were here in the first place. John & Jehn were on tonight. Each slow step upwards, as security let ten people at a time into the cinema, was a step forwards, towards righteous excitement.

Or at least I thought it was. The event was running seriously late, and instead of John and Jehn, I got the second act on the bill, Krystle Warren. And she was good value, with just an acoustic guitar she tore through a set. Obvious lazy comparisons to Ani DiFranco's guitar style and easy charm onstage will abound with her, I'm sure. But there are worse people to be compared to, worse things to do than own a cinema of people with a perfect ease and mellow charm. Her story songs were a suprise treat, and the crowd were very receptive. Later on, I was to find out just how receptive a crowd could be.

A word on the venue, quickly. If you have a carpeted cinema, in the warm summer months, and stage lights that the air conditioning weren't designed to cope with, and a full house, you're going to have a lot of heat. It's the sort of thing planners of events inadvertently overlook in preference to the solid logistics. That was the case as John and Jehn took the stage. And if you add heat to students... well, strange things are afoot in the circle K.

"This song is about anal sex. It's called Black Train".

That's a hell of a way to introduce yourself onstage, isn't it? From the lips of a beautiful, tall French woman wearing a short shift dress, I could almost hear the sound of denim tightening across the auditorium as the words were uttered.

The heat was getting intense now, the kids had gotten up from their stuffy seats and were dancing in the aisle. It was very 1950's, with a tang of retro rebellion to it. Jehn urged them forward to get a better view, and suddenly the front of the venue packed out tight with a swinging international audience of beautiful young things shaking their stuff. It got hot, damn hot. John rolled up his sleeves and wiped his brow. Jehn's hair stuck to the side of her face when she switched to from keys to rocking out with a bass. And the band played hard and fast, driving the kids wild. As a London show, some might say this would rate as a one of a kind event.

But all good things come to an end, and after a barn storming Make your mother proud, they vanished into the night. The crowd spilled out into the bar, into the cool night air, to a DJ downstairs. The techno made more sense now. And we drank, and we danced, and we talked, and we all went home."

Yndi Halda / Snowbird at Union Chapel

2009-06-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

As promised, pics from the Yndi Halda show at the Union Chapel. I didn't really get any good shots of Paul Marshall (RIP), but got a handful of decent ones of the main turn, Canterbujry's finest, Yndi Halda and a few of Snowbird too.

The Snowbird support was by far the better of the two, with all the songs having a warm and soft vibe and lyrics using country wildlife (white mice, foxes and owls) as metaphors. Their record is now eagerly anticipated by me, and I'll keep you up to speed on that when I have it.

From what I could make out of the new Yndi songs, there is more of the same deep instrumental depth as you'd expect, and they rocked out very hard towards the end. No setlist, but I did hear We flood empty lakes in there half way through. And the handchime moment, where the band took turns in ringing out the chimes reminded me of school music lessons, and had me grinning like an idiot. They're looking like the best post-rock band in Britain, with the possible exception of Mogwai. The new album is very nearly ready to emerge. When it does watch the 5 star reviews fly in.

Hawking your wares - Volume One - Heathen

2009-06-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since an update. Yes, I am shamed, the stereotypical blogger who gets caught up in real world events. And let me tell you, the real world costs. Just yesterday I spent £7.60 for two cups of tea and a slice of cake. The shock very nearly sent me to an early grave.

In order to recoup, I've been forced to sell a very rare David Bowie curio. It's a limited edition SACD version of Heathen, his last good album. And I have to say, even though I'm selling it, and I am obviously biased, it is absolutely fucking choice. Audiophile sound quality. Bonus tracks. Two alternate mixes of the entire album, with some tracks on the album gaining significant amounts of time making them versions that don't appear anywhere else. In fact, if you think about it, both mixes don't appear anywhere else, so all of the versions of those tracks are unique to this release.

Sadly, I don't have an SACD player . Only one person I know has, via an early edition of the PS3. But in the item description I mention 'A Better Future' is improved by being trimmed. How can I say that without actually having heard it? Well, it's the one weak track on the album...

Anyway, here's the listing, if you know an audiophile Bowie fanatic, be sure and tell them for me.

More news as I have it. This weekend is Yndi Halda/John & Jehn time. Both are playing free shows, Yndi at the Union Chapel on Saturday at noon, the other is taking place at the French Institute at 9pm on Sunday night. I'll take pics and let you know how they all were.

Yours,
Living the dream, as long as the dream is full of ennui and general debauchery,

Tom x

Update: Six watchers, 53 views, 3 days left. That's auctionsniper territory. This baby is shipping worldwide too. I'll probably have to send it to Belize or something.

ATP Vs The Fans II Round Up

2009-05-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Back at work now, but have a couple of notes and a few pics from a great festival. Came back totally rested after sleeping in a proper bed rather than camping. It makes the world of difference once you hit 30, y'know.

Surprise of the festival: Beirut. Liked them much more than I thought I would. Clean sounding, and very uptempo. Did a bit of dancing.

Best Soundcheck: Spiritualized. It was a little bonus midday set, very mellow. Went nicely with coffee and a fruit slice.

Best Set: Shearwater. New stuff was good, and they closed with Home Life. Thor got the zither out. Super points.

Band I never liked before but do now: Harvey Milk.Downloading the back catalogue when I get back.

Band of the weekend: THE JESUS LIZARD. David Yow redefines both batshit and creepy, and boys went into the moshpit and came out men, with fully formed beards. While technically Shearwater were the performance of the weekend, the Liz were the experience of the weekend, and everyone wanted a slice. I have the bootleg from the second night, pm me if you want an upload. Be warned, it could take the rest of your life on this connection.
Set the kids got, but I didn't: The Mae Shi. A fair portion of the crowd went ape, but they didn't do it for me.

Worst taunt: "Why don't you throw your guitar at someone?" to Alan Sparhawk towards the end of the Retribution Gospel Choir set.

Best taunt: "Didn't you use to be in Best?" to Andy Falkous from me. Eventually we agreed that I'd go back in time and destroy all copies of that single. I should get on that, really.

Best handshake: Drummer from Retribution Gospel Choir. Firm and expressive, not bone-crushing and functionary.

Three star sets: The Cave Singers, Pink Mountaintops (hobbled by bad monitors, still a good show), Jesu.

Pictures are here, as you can see. I've thinned the herd and shopped them, but even I can't get average shots to look good. Must get closer next time.

Happy Birthday to me / Opening the Vaults

2009-05-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

Little babies learn a lot in a year. Some little geniuses are walking and talking within that time. This little blog-baby is one today. Since I've started it, I've been to about 20 shows, and three festivals. I've briefly written for DiS, seen Tom Waits, started a couple of jobs, met a nice girl, took a great Art Brut photo that very few people saw, and at the end of the week am going to my first All Tomorrows Parties festival. It hasn't been a super busy year, but it's been more fun than most.

Yeah, I know. I should get out now and then.

Another Marion post

2009-05-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Long term readers of TFTS and those who know me will be aware of my fanboy love for the on-again-off-again Macclesfield minstrels, Marion. From what Spotify has to offer, here's a new primer on them and a 'new'-ish version of Fallen Through from a Club Quattro gig in 1996. Note Jaime's vampish Mötley Crüe style hair. Old school, indeed.

Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love

2009-04-19T02:41:00.000-07:00

Do you know how you know? That sometime you'll look at someone's face, and for whatever reason, that face is like a key that turns the lock inside you. Until recently, I've not been a strong believer in that idea, but I knew that others believed in it, and I could see why. It's an attractive concept, that love just hits you, changes you immediately from something cold to something alive. Your eyes are newly open, and the world is in Technicolor.

While it can't be said for certain that Stephen McBean can attest to this romantic ideal, it could be suggested is that Outside Love is the work of a romantic mind. The opening question in the opener 'Axis: Thrones of Love' "How deep is your love?", while once being the territory of hacks like the Bee Gees, when handled by McBean and his cast of thousands becomes a genuine metaphysical question. It's a death march before rebirth, a funereal waltz rich with echo, cello, and soul. It gives you a hint at how good this album is.

"Promise me that in the end, we will find our true love again."

Another romantic notion, separation and recovery, and a key lyric in 'Execution', track two. This one's a finely timed stomper, another delicate statement of intent, and like 'Axis', faintly psychedelic.

"If I could find your heart, I'd pull it from your chest, and smash you with my fist, till it was beating..." ('While we were dreaming')

Jesse Sykes is guest vocal on 'While we were dreaming', a certain single, and as close to perfection as any song is likely to get. It sounds like the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" multiplied by the Velvet Underground. Chiming guitars, sweet vocals, and sensational lyrics. Track of the year, already?

The rest of the album can't match that level of quality, but doesn't veer too far from the path of righteousness. The title track is another a high point, a shimmery slow burner, laying apocalyptic words on the death of something great. Vampire is another strong track, which you'll find all over the blogs right now, a smooth, rich, densely layered love song; the musical equivalent of a dark chocolate Bounty. Hmmm. I'll try to lay off descriptive terms like that in future.

Pink Mountaintops are now my Must See At ATP, but if you aren't going, they're playing the Borderline on the 11th of May. It's definitely a worthwhile ticket.

Getting things done - Gigs and playlists

2009-04-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

The writing, it's been hard to get time to do it, lately. Having any sort of real work schedule throws me off my writing for a few weeks and this time is no exception. The last review I wrote was for Outside Love by Pink Mountaintops, out at the start of next month. It went up too early for the liking of their record company, so that's sitting in drafts for the next two weeks to make sure piracy isn't encouraged. Fair play to them.

I'll give you a trailer... it's a very positive review of a great record.

For now, I haven't got any new records lined up to review, so I'll just tell you about some shows I recommend, and hand you links for some Spotify playlists.

Gigs

The Ghost Frequency and O Children are playing at the Lexington for Club Cog (the club night runs for a good few hours afterwards) tomorrow night. It's a cheap ticket for two up and coming bands, but with bonus support from the unknown La Shark and the club afterwards, I'd say in value for money terms, that's pretty fierce.

Art Brut will be playing a free show at Pure Groove on the 20th to promote their new Frank Black recorded album, Art Brut Vs Satan. Eddie will be delighted to show off his art rock move collection for you, but you'll have to get there early to see anything but the top of his head thanks to the lack of a dedicated stage at the record shop cum venue. It's a guaranteed full house.

Obscurists will remember Edie Sedgwick well. The transgendered reincarnation of a the Andy Warhol darling will be returning to our shores for an intimate date at the Windmill at the end of this month (the 28th to be precise). Expect to hear the anti-dance classic Martin Sheen and tremble with awe.

In the slightly more distant future, the mighty Shearwater are playing another church, the acoustically perfect Union Chapel on the 12th of May, after ATP. That combination alone should be enough to have you reaching for your wallet. Support is from the Cave Singers, and that should seal the deal for any music lover. If you're feeling flush (ie: haven't been skinted by ATP), why not go see Pink Mountaintops at the Borderline the night before? I'd post a link, but Wegottickets have sold their allocation, and I don't endorse the excessive charges of See. At least they aren't as bad as Ticketmaster.

Spotify lists

18 track best of The Cure

Reworked and improved Classic Rock (now featuring sleaze classics Still of the Night by Whitesnake, Hot and Bothered by Cinderella, and Lovin' You is a Dirty Job by Ratt).

Finally, a very decent Pulp playlist from Royer Hatfood with some early stuff I'd never heard before on it. And that's your lot!

Download 2009 - Taking the piss?

2009-03-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

At £175 including booking, Download is not a festival ticket everyone can afford, and I'm reluctant to spend it to spend the weekend camping with drunken heavy metal teenagers. So I'm on the lookout out for a day ticket to see recently added reformation du jour, Faith No More. It makes sense. It'd be cheaper, I won't have to camp or pay extra to watch Def Leppard. I won't lie, the rest of the bill is pretty damn fine, but just I can't do the camping thing anymore.

Alas, no day tickets this year, according to the Download website, although their position may change later on. There are plenty of upmarket camping options available, if you want to spend £300+ extra per person for a POD cabin / tipi spot. These reside in the slightly more exclusive RIP camping area, where they keep the feral children out with high prices. There are nice plumbed toilets, proper showers, and being interestingly specific, a "cash bar".

That part caught my attention, because there has been some talk of a cashless Download being rolled out this year, with wristbands loaded by punters with credit. Downside of the cashless system for the punter, all that leftover credit on the wristbands. That would be a mini boon for festival organisers though. All the 50ps and pounds on wristbands... only worthwhile getting that money back if you're leaving the site and it's easy to do (with no queues). Most people won't bother for small change, and think about that multiplied by 60,000. That's how much money that could make back against the massive cost of installing the system in the first place, and every year following. In a direct quote from the Gigwise article above

"Other ideas Probyn is exploring is keeping credit on one wristband throughout the festival season and allowing fans to use any money leftover at certain retailers after the festival has finished."

So LiveNation might well be holding on to the cash then. Maybe making a little percentage for redirecting traffic to HMV or Itunes. That would be just lovely. While earning interest, and keeping what isn't spent (it'd have to have a time limit). Oh Christ, imagine if they could charge up front for the wristband itself? They could hit you up on the way in and on the comeback. This thing could be a mini goldmine in the long term (albeit after the potentially major initial costs)!

Remember the cash bar for the slightly higher rollers? That sounds like a nicer luxury now, doesn't it? Although the arena bars and food stalls will be cashless, so even they will be tapped up. Everyone is a winner, no? No?

Neko Case at Bush Hall

2009-02-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's hard not to feel for the support band. You've got a full house, forty minutes or so to turn the audience your way, but nine times out of ten no-one gives too much of a shit about your act. They'll talk over you, wander off, come back, take phone calls by the stage. It's a real suckfest to play support, especially to an artist with a die hard fan base. Eric Bachmann, from a project called Crooked Fingers, but probably better known for being a key member of Archers of Loaf, fares a little better than that. But not by much.

There's still the 'half century' polite applause each time he finishes a song, and my attention begins wandering to guitar porn halfway through the set. Is that a thinline Tele modified with a Bigsby trem he's playing? Very nice. After he plays a song that sounds like Tom Waits (singing over a music box melody with a megaphone will do that for you), I look around the room. One man is counting out some change for the bar. Someone else is glancing around, checking out a prime position to walk to once this set is finished and other people have gone to the bar. Others have already done this. The room, with its curlicued white art deco panels and grandiose glass chandeliers, prepares for another dance. When Eric plays his last note, there is a delicate rush of bodies in opposite directions, stageward and towards the bar. My companion for this evening wryly notes that John Cougar Mellencamp called, and he wants his songs back. We walk towards the front, and when we find the right spot, are both in agreement that if you can't get a good view at this venue, you just aren't trying hard enough. The room is very warm, though, and gets warmer. A few songs in, Neko asks if it's "psychedelically hot in here". She's not wrong.

But it's a full house this evening, and when you cluster us people together we do pump out some heat. Everyone knows the show tonight is about the new album, and pleasingly all the new songs go down very well, the title track 'Middle Cyclone', about being "a tomboy in love", gets as big a round of applause as the classics that get aired. 'Deep Red Bells' is a highlight, but the songs I've been craving don't show tonight. Strangely, this is something I don't notice until the walk home. Most of the night is spent in awe at the awesomely tight country band Neko has assembled, who laugh and joke through their early nerves. Neko cracks the crowd up when she lets them in on a secret of a false start. "He (points at the guitarist) keeps whispering 'TITS!' at me". Presumably he's talking about the staggeringly talented harmony vocalist Kelly Hogan (who I've recently learned has her own impressive back catalogue). She and Neko are note perfect all night long, and their voices are so beautiful and clear it almost breaks my heart. The rest of the band all wear smiles on their faces, and the family vibe that the whole outfit exudes adds an extra layer of warmth to proceedings. It's almost like walking into a farmhouse idyll to hear angels singing over a honey drizzled country slide guitar. I've honestly never heard anything like it.

It's over too soon, and we leave for another bite at the mighty King Solomons next door. It's been some night. I can only say, should you get the chance to catch Neko Case live, don't pass it up. She's definitely made it into the 'Best Shows I've Ever Seen' category.

N.B. Found an EXCELLENT youtube clip of this show. There's a nerd with a camera in shot early on. That may be me.

Harsh Shark - Chris Cornell's solo career

2009-02-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

has veered from one car crash to another. If you were a charitable listener, you could say that there might be enough material for an ok-ish album from his first two efforts, and that 'You know my name' was actually pretty good. But if you listen to the new song for thirty seconds, or watch the video, all the charity in your heart will dry up. You'll kick puppies, thanks to Chris Cornell's Pink Floyd inspired, Timbaland produced ZettaOmegaFail. Watch the horror that is the video here. Cue autotuned vocodered vocals, video cliches and line dancing. Nothing screams "But Steve, we have to hit that Midwest demographic" like a bit of line dancing, does it?

And while the fans of old might well hate it, there's a fair chance this single (and the album that follows it) will do sterling business for him in the charts. He's still a good looking guy, the production values are high, if you switched your mind off you could find yourself tapping your toes to the song. He's opening himself up to a massive new market, and you've got to admire his courage for doing that. Even if it does alienate a huge chunk of his fanbase in the process.

He's got a gig at Shepherds Bush soon, after selling out The Scala last week. Where he played 'Scream' in it's entirety. It's £27-50 a ticket, plus booking. Unsurprisingly, there are still good seats available.

Odd charity shop find #86568 / The Joy Formidable

2009-02-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

I found a signed copy of the Mike Bassett: England Manager soundtrack, signed by Cerys Matthews, Jarvis Cocker, Danny from Supergrass in an Oxfam today. Checked the sigs, and they all seem genuine. Bought it for curio value, really. It's a ragbag, last gasp of Britpop compilation (featuring Justine Frischmann's last contribution to the world of music). The Jarvis track is the only worthwhile moment. Don't even think I can be bothered to Ebay it!

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Went to see The Joy Formidable at Pure Groove a couple of nights ago for their album launch. Interesting sound they've got there, very big for a three piece. They borrow the better parts from Bloc Party, Gary Numan sounding synth-style guitar and My Vitriol's attack but manage to sound entirely different thanks to Ritzy's voice. She's the focal point of the band, their blue eyed, blonde haired ringleader, half whirling dervish, half 1000 yard stare. Also a genuinely excellent guitarist, with the requisite skills and intricate pedal set up to sound individual. They're road-ready tonight, but still a little nervous in front of a packed shop crowd. After a mini acoustic set, they rip through the rest of the album at pace. The bass player is a former guitarist of note himself, I think; he plays the bass right, with a punchy mid sound, and throws understated poses. Over the sea of heads, the drummer is almost invisible, but doesn't drop a beat all night, later songs showing advancing technique. 'Cradle' and potential third single 'Whirring' are the stand outs tonight, all action and blurring guitar shapes. The kinetic energy they unleash isn't transferred to the crowd as it should be, though. There's toe-tapping and head nodding aplenty, but no dancing. As with all small instores, the lack of a raised stage means unless you're six foot plus, you won't see anything *at all* unless you're at the front. It's hard to get a gig vibe at a performance like this, impossible if you can't see the band. This is the first record store show I've been to where they have a functioning bottle bar, making the experience feel closer to a gig and less achingly bone dry than your usual promo performance can often be.

Giving your album away for free via the NME, being tipped by DiS, a little radio support, album released on a tiny and hip London label, good videos, free shows and appearing on a Skins trailer.. they'll all boost your popularity. This has been a super-solid joined up PR job, and I'm not saying that in a negative way for once. Here PR has been used to get a good band out while everyone has been chattering, blocking the way with a swathe of new year hype. I like seeing the cream rise to the top like everyone else, and am predicting BIG things for this band. I'm a little late to the party on that count, but am happy to lend my inconsiderable support to their cause. Should you not be able to make it to their gigs (and I bet you they'll be gigging virtually non-stop), try and see them at a festival this year. They'd tear the roof off a tent at Reading, I reckon...

The one where all the other blogs link to all the other blogs

2009-02-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

I wrote a Six by Seven piece for Sweeping the Nation's forgotten albums of the 00's.
Also, Found a great Simon Reynolds piece on Dinosaur Jr on Archive Music Press too. From 1987. Christ, Mascis looks so young in that picture.
Enjoy!

Spotify playlists / The Merger / Sprites

2009-02-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

A few playlists I've knocked up on Spotify for the amusement of others. All of these lists are open, so if you use Spotify and see something I've missed, or want to adjust anything, go ahead.

Late era (post Wish) Cure
A lot of people think the Cure haven't released anything good since Wish. This is a selection of tracks they've put out since then. Shame Geffen has pulled The Cure from Spotify though, had to rework this this 'list and omit two real crackers from there, The Promise and (I don't know what's going) on.

Rare Bowie
Loads of great stuff on here. Shadow Man is terrific, as is the Ziggy era take on The Supermen.

Grunge 201
A fair mix here, with some choices that might be considered very predictable indeed. 90's flannel wearing fun!

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Expecting to read about the Ticketmaster/LiveNation merger today. May I just be the first person to mutter the word 'monopoly'? Other good words and phrases... Zaibatsu.. immature oligopoly... safety in numbers... if we merge, it'll hide the big holes in our finances for a year or two, and by the time they realise we'll already be sipping margueritas in Rio. Just kidding with the last one.

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Have become obsessed with a twee indie pop band called Sprites.
Many free tracks here and I recommend downloading 'Bionic Hands', 'George Romero' and 'Following her around' for free. Nice!