I had no idea til I came here to post and looked that it's been almost exactly a year since I last posted here. Weird stuff. <--- Was true when I started writing this. Anyway, starting things off with something that actually gives me quite a bit to say. Last weekend I was at Lowlands festival in the Netherlands.
Left home about 2pm on Thursday and, 3 train journeys and a coach ride with a bunch of drunken Irishmen later, arrived a bit before midnight. Not much worse than Glastonbury really, especially considering the lack of queuing and that my fantastic friend had set up a tent for us in prime position. Hooray!
Ways they do things differently than UK festivals I've been to - Rather than outside, near enough all the music is in tents of varying sizes, from cosy to enormous. Rather than starting at 12, things gradually get off to a start rather later, which coupled with a standard-to-early finish means seeing 7 bands a day is out of the question. On the other hand, rather than the usual UK policy of giving the interesting acts early slots that barely stretch to half an hour, just about everyone gets at least an hour. This is pulled off by having a really large number of stages in a small space, and there's some clever scheduling going on to make unwanted noise from other stages a rarity.
So, Friday, first day proper, starts off for us as late as 4pm, not a bad thing considering the stifling midday heat. To see - The National. Opener "Start a War" eases gradually into their world, where every word seems to come cloaked in unspoken regret or horror, and also introduces their excellent brass section, who really add something over the previous time I saw them. The interesting thing about The National live is that much of the time the emphasis of their sound is completely reversed from on record. Normally Matt Berninger's vocals are the focus, but live, it's much easier to appreciate the way that the rest of the band build up those tense, subtle backdrops. Even when he gets into full on mad pacing mode for "Mr. November", it's the fantastically agile drumming that stands out. Older songs than that don't get a look in and there's a disappointing lack of "Ada", but as a showcase for Boxer they couldn't do much better.
I've seen Hot Chip before. But that was a show supporting Athlete (!) in 2004 and it's fair to say that they're a slightly different band now. They no longer shake bananas and don't play anything at all from their debut, understandably. Their two uneven albums since have enough top material to make for a uniformly fantastic set and they blast through it in a determined effort to keep everyone on an unending high. It's two songs in when they switch seamlessly from a manic "Shake A Fist" into a burbling "And I Was a Boy From School" that it becomes clear just how fantastic they have got at what they do. Somehow the latter is played at twice the speed but remains every bit as haunting as ever while totally dancable. "Bendable Posable" is the unlikely biggest highlight, showcasing Joe Goddard's unique rapping skills and the most joyous random noises in a strong random noise field.
After the rush through every great song from the last too albums, they then go and show that they can make even (slightly) less glittering material shine with an energetic reworking of "No Fit State" that melds it with New Order's "Temptation". And it turns out that they haven't already played every great song because I have somehow completely forgotten that they still have "Ready for the Floor" up their sleeve! Best surprise of the weekend.
And even that isn't enough as they finally let up the pace and take full advantage of their accumulated power over the crowd to play a spot on cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U" and a similarly swaying "In the Privacy of Our Love". Still not sure this is the best direction for them to go in, but they sure earned it.
Santogold was meant to be next, but turning up almost half an hour late means that it's time to leave before she gets there. Oops.
We have to make sure that we get our place in plenty of time for The Flaming Lips. After all, if you're not within confetti cannon distance you'e going to miss out.
It's no surprise that when everything switches on and they launch into "Race for the Prize" with massive balloons bouncing everywhere, massed ranks of dancing teletubbies dancing, the aformentioned confetti, and the lights and the energy, it remains one of the most life-affirming gig experiences possible. I would almost go as far as recommending seeing them for that alone.
Thing is though, I last saw them five years ago and this is almost exactly the same show. Wayne now rolls around the crowd in his giant bubble for a bit before they begin, and they've acquired a massive green laser. But the only other real change is to the set list, and that has somehow got worse - "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" is a great addition but there are now uncomfortably long patches where the music comes nowhere near to matching the spectacle. No more "Lightning Strikes the Postman" or even "She Don't Use Jelly" either, although perhaps advocating them making even fewer changes is not the way to go. Still, a bit of a conflicted experience overall, though as I said has its share of brilliance.
See "Do You Realize??" here, where as an added bonus (??) you can see me blowing bubbles at 2:42.
22.8.08
21.8.07
Emmy The Great at Pure Groove
Earlier on I went to Pure Groove, a North London record store which has somehow previously escaped my attention, to see indie folkster Emmy The Great play a very cosy and rather beautiful instore gig. I managed to end up without much of a view (and stood next to Jeremy Warmsley) and she only played five songs, including an Adam Green cover. That was ok though because all were as wryly amusing as theu were pretty and her own songs were so despite all being new to me. And calling M.I.A. a bitch for refusing to guest on the song named after her was pretty funny too.
Head over to The Daily Growl for mp3s of a recent Xfm session including the aforementioned "MIA".
Head over to The Daily Growl for mp3s of a recent Xfm session including the aforementioned "MIA".
20.8.07
The Crimea - Requiem Aeternum
mp3
There's not that much similarity musically between The Crimea and My Chemical Romance, I'll grant you, but they've long struck me as being a little bit emo nonetheless. Mainly it's thanks to singer Davey MacManus, with his breathless raw emoting of words that spill out of his head uncontrollably with a total absence of self-censorship: hilarious, awkward and despite his actual age often painfully teenage. Partly as a result, on debut Tragedy Rocks they were equal turns brilliant (joyful sort-of-hit single "Lottery Winners On Acid", the hallucinatory rant of "Opposite Ends") and really frustrating.
On their follow-up, Secrets Of The Witching Hour, he produces just as many bizarre and endearingly misguided lines ('Hell is a crowded room/Heaven's just got you/Naked on all fours' takes something to pull off so well) but this time nothing misses. The band have expanded their sound effectively, still resembling a more earthbound Soft Bulletin produced on next to no budget, but fitting in all kinds of effective arrangement tricks to give force and grandeur for MacManus to both revel in and poke holes in with his wry wit. And when they reach, however tentatively, for the emotions there's just enough depth that it really works this time, as "Requiem Aeternum" demonstrates.
Best of all, they gave away the album for free on their website in adavance of its release, and it's still there. This will be the way for more and more bands soon, I'm guessing, although it's just served as a pretty decent advocate of buying the real CD for me. Without its liner, I would have no idea that the ghostly female voice that drifts into "Requiem Aeternum" is one Amy May of Paris Motel, my favourite new band who I discovered coincedentally around the same time as being wowed by the song.
There's not that much similarity musically between The Crimea and My Chemical Romance, I'll grant you, but they've long struck me as being a little bit emo nonetheless. Mainly it's thanks to singer Davey MacManus, with his breathless raw emoting of words that spill out of his head uncontrollably with a total absence of self-censorship: hilarious, awkward and despite his actual age often painfully teenage. Partly as a result, on debut Tragedy Rocks they were equal turns brilliant (joyful sort-of-hit single "Lottery Winners On Acid", the hallucinatory rant of "Opposite Ends") and really frustrating.
On their follow-up, Secrets Of The Witching Hour, he produces just as many bizarre and endearingly misguided lines ('Hell is a crowded room/Heaven's just got you/Naked on all fours' takes something to pull off so well) but this time nothing misses. The band have expanded their sound effectively, still resembling a more earthbound Soft Bulletin produced on next to no budget, but fitting in all kinds of effective arrangement tricks to give force and grandeur for MacManus to both revel in and poke holes in with his wry wit. And when they reach, however tentatively, for the emotions there's just enough depth that it really works this time, as "Requiem Aeternum" demonstrates.
Best of all, they gave away the album for free on their website in adavance of its release, and it's still there. This will be the way for more and more bands soon, I'm guessing, although it's just served as a pretty decent advocate of buying the real CD for me. Without its liner, I would have no idea that the ghostly female voice that drifts into "Requiem Aeternum" is one Amy May of Paris Motel, my favourite new band who I discovered coincedentally around the same time as being wowed by the song.
13.8.07
Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails
mp3
[spoiler warning: plot and/or ending details follow]
There aren't many songs that need one of those but it feels sort of appropriate here. If you haven't heard it yet, you're better off clicking the link before reading this. Go on! The element of surprise is a large part of what made this song such an amazing first time listen, though it stands up very well indeed to repeated album listenings.
But before we get to the spoilers, some background first. The Stage Names feels a bit of a reaction to Okkervil River's previous record, where they wrote an entire album around one song by someone else, the Black Sheep Boy of its title. This time, they limit themselves only to 50+ years of rock and roll history and archetype. Throughout, Will Sheff's really funny and perfectly fitting lyrics are steeped in allusions and references, from the add-one-on songs of "Plus Ones" (TVC16, 51 ways to leave your lover...) to meeting bitter declarations that 'you look your age/which is 37 by the way/and not 28'.
Then, at the end, we reach "John Allyn Smith Sails" as the frazzled rock anti-star of the album's very loose narrative crashes and burns completely. It starts off as a sad acoustic ditty, which is pretty excellent in its own right, and has to be to not just seem like a precursor, so that the big move can make its proper impact. It's timed to perfection, because you get just long enough to get a thrill of recognition from just the musical allusions to "Sloop John B" that creep in, before they launch head on into a ragged, cathartic cover of it. It's as if, after being soaked too long in rock legend, even the wish to escape can only make it past with the protective shield of a familiar song, and it's a terifically odd and affecting way to end an album.
Though, of course, it does rely to a certain extent on your knowledge of the song. Which got me thinking about other songs based around the album that contains the most famous version of "Sloop John B". I can't think of enough for the whole tracklisting of Pet Sounds yet but there are a few. Hello Saferide's excellent recent single takes an inversion of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" as its starting point, and she has a new song based around her ideal person being the one who is just like "God Only Knows". Kaiser Chiefs' "Caroline, Yes!" doesn't really go much past the title. My favourite other one is Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's "Spanish Dance Troupe" which distills "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to its one line essence for a haunting closing mantra.
Am I missing anything obvious?
[spoiler warning: plot and/or ending details follow]
There aren't many songs that need one of those but it feels sort of appropriate here. If you haven't heard it yet, you're better off clicking the link before reading this. Go on! The element of surprise is a large part of what made this song such an amazing first time listen, though it stands up very well indeed to repeated album listenings.
But before we get to the spoilers, some background first. The Stage Names feels a bit of a reaction to Okkervil River's previous record, where they wrote an entire album around one song by someone else, the Black Sheep Boy of its title. This time, they limit themselves only to 50+ years of rock and roll history and archetype. Throughout, Will Sheff's really funny and perfectly fitting lyrics are steeped in allusions and references, from the add-one-on songs of "Plus Ones" (TVC16, 51 ways to leave your lover...) to meeting bitter declarations that 'you look your age/which is 37 by the way/and not 28'.
Then, at the end, we reach "John Allyn Smith Sails" as the frazzled rock anti-star of the album's very loose narrative crashes and burns completely. It starts off as a sad acoustic ditty, which is pretty excellent in its own right, and has to be to not just seem like a precursor, so that the big move can make its proper impact. It's timed to perfection, because you get just long enough to get a thrill of recognition from just the musical allusions to "Sloop John B" that creep in, before they launch head on into a ragged, cathartic cover of it. It's as if, after being soaked too long in rock legend, even the wish to escape can only make it past with the protective shield of a familiar song, and it's a terifically odd and affecting way to end an album.
Though, of course, it does rely to a certain extent on your knowledge of the song. Which got me thinking about other songs based around the album that contains the most famous version of "Sloop John B". I can't think of enough for the whole tracklisting of Pet Sounds yet but there are a few. Hello Saferide's excellent recent single takes an inversion of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" as its starting point, and she has a new song based around her ideal person being the one who is just like "God Only Knows". Kaiser Chiefs' "Caroline, Yes!" doesn't really go much past the title. My favourite other one is Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's "Spanish Dance Troupe" which distills "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to its one line essence for a haunting closing mantra.
Am I missing anything obvious?
11.8.07
Chartsengrafs - We can work without the perks
It's a second week on the top for Timbaland, once again thanks to lack of other worthy challengers as much as any particular momentum of its own (see: Fergie back up to 3 again). That seems to be a bit a theme this year. But it's okay, because our unlikely new entry at number 5 is "With Every Heartbeat" by Kleerup featuring Robyn! That's twenty places higher than Annie ever got, just in case you're counting, and... well, actually we'll leave it there, because it seems like there's going to be even more to be excited about on that front next week. Although I will say that I listened to Robyn's previous top ten hit from 1998 "Show Me Love" the other day for the first time, and it's not an experience I'm too keen to repeat.
Newton Faulkner sneaks up to 7 in the brief moment he has before being made irrelevant by the 'James Blunt's new single isn't the worst thing ever' shocker, and the top ten is rounded off by the continuing advance of Plain White T's and their brand of sappy pleasantness.
Yves Larock at 13 is one of a dying breed of summer dance hits, with rises for Beyonce (17) and Amerie (21) somewhat less rare. A somewhat censored version of "Pussyole" at 22 leaves Dizzee Rascal still a way away from his only proper big hit but does see his album make a re-entry to the top forty at least. The Coral's moment has sadly well and truly passed at 25, and relief that the Simpsons theme is falling down is tempered by that fact that it's joined by "Spider Pig". What else do we have in the top forty? Er, Amy Winehouse, The Cribs and Graham Coxon teaming up with Paul Weller, in descending order of both positions and excellence.
In the albums, Paul Potts is still number one, holding off new entries from Newton Faulkner and Amy MacDonald. Prince's Ultimate at 6 won't be in nearly as many homes as Planet Earth, but also in fewer bins. Next week: The nation needs Kate Nash and doesn't want to wait.
9.8.07
Of Montreal at Scala (02/08/07)
First of all, the organisation/security at Scala has completely gone to shit and has put me off going there again (although there will always be exceptions). Having to queue outside for half an hour when turning up an hour after doors open, so that they can search every single person and then have them queue again for the understaffed box office to collect their tickets is stupid, and I was clearly far from the only one to completely miss Pull Tiger Tail's set as a result.
But that aside, it was a really enjoyable gig. I didn't know that much about what to expect but was taken right away, both by the fact that they kicked the set off with the awesome one-two of "Suffer For Fashion" and "Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider" and that they put on such a bizarrely extravagant show. There was a big glam rock thing going on with their (hilarious) outfits and Kevin Barnes' somewhat Bolanesque performance which was not something that I'd really thought of from the album before but makes sense now. And then on top of that were pretty cool projections and, oh yeah, the two guys in black lycra bodysuits with mirrorball faces running around, bursting balloons and crowdsurfing.
Music mainly came from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? which was fine by me as I don't know much of the older stuff very well and its dense pile-up of melody and meaning has sneaked its way to a position as one of my very favourite albums of 2007. "She's A Rejector" was pleasingly manic and the sleazy funk of "Faberge Falls For Shuggie" was cool and funny in equal measure. The bravest move was playing the whole ten minute trip that is "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" but they pulled it off, going way beyond repetition to totally brainwashing groove and pairing it with the total contrast of "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse".
There were a couple of enthuiastically met trips into their back catalogue too, including an inevitable encore of "Wraith Pinned To The Mist (And Other Games)" which was introduced as a song that they can no longer play in their own country, presumably referring to the whole Outback Steakhouse thing. It definitely served to increase my interest in finding out more about a band capable of great things.
But that aside, it was a really enjoyable gig. I didn't know that much about what to expect but was taken right away, both by the fact that they kicked the set off with the awesome one-two of "Suffer For Fashion" and "Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider" and that they put on such a bizarrely extravagant show. There was a big glam rock thing going on with their (hilarious) outfits and Kevin Barnes' somewhat Bolanesque performance which was not something that I'd really thought of from the album before but makes sense now. And then on top of that were pretty cool projections and, oh yeah, the two guys in black lycra bodysuits with mirrorball faces running around, bursting balloons and crowdsurfing.
Music mainly came from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? which was fine by me as I don't know much of the older stuff very well and its dense pile-up of melody and meaning has sneaked its way to a position as one of my very favourite albums of 2007. "She's A Rejector" was pleasingly manic and the sleazy funk of "Faberge Falls For Shuggie" was cool and funny in equal measure. The bravest move was playing the whole ten minute trip that is "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" but they pulled it off, going way beyond repetition to totally brainwashing groove and pairing it with the total contrast of "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse".
There were a couple of enthuiastically met trips into their back catalogue too, including an inevitable encore of "Wraith Pinned To The Mist (And Other Games)" which was introduced as a song that they can no longer play in their own country, presumably referring to the whole Outback Steakhouse thing. It definitely served to increase my interest in finding out more about a band capable of great things.
Sooo much better than the single artwork
Amazing followup to the Hard-Fi record thing from over on Popjustice:
Yes, that's taken in Music And Video Exchange, and yes, we all know that's what most promos are for.
Yes, that's taken in Music And Video Exchange, and yes, we all know that's what most promos are for.
7.8.07
2.8.07
Chartsengrafs - I ain't got a motorboat
Kate Nash turns out to to be cruelly denied at the last. By 16 copies. Instead it's Timbaland who rises to number 1, becoming the first act to score two this year and matching last year's Nelly/Justin assisted duo of Timbaland produced chart toppers. "The Way I Are" still sounds the more reasonable of the two to be there too. Not much happening after that in the top ten bar Groove Armada's fine "Song 4 Mutya" making it up to 8. It feels like forever since everyone (ok, Popjustice) was first raving about this, but it's actually only just been released and doesn't seem to have suffered too much as a result. Oh and Mika is just below. Yay!
And Manic Street Preachers' placing of 10 with "Autumnsong" is a fairly useful gauge of the state of the market since the same 10,000 people buy all of their releases - it says things are doing a little better than when their last three (no.2) singles came out.
Newton Faulkner is new at 16 and the best words on him go to John Cunningham - 'I wouldn’t have thought robots could be such big Jack Johnson fans'. Although that doesn't mttnion that his voice kind of sounds like Johnny Borell at his worst. Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive" goes to 18 on downloads despite the hordes still buying "Umbrella". That puts it one place ahead of Green Day doing the Simpsons theme. Green Day doing the Simpsons theme. That's where charting downloads gets us, people. Actually, I take that back, at least it isn't "Working Class Hero".
Plain White Ts were all over the radio in California, and now I get back just in time for the first rumblings of the same thing happening here with them at 26 well ahead of a physical release. Sort of pretty song, but does just make you wonder how Deat Cab For Cutie never managed to have a hit here. Meanwhile if anyone can explain what Take That's "Shine" is doing back in the charts at 29 I will be grateful. I'm half surprised not to see "Chasing Cars" there anywhere actually. And that's about it for singles, bar Yves Larock and Funeral For A Friend sneaking in at the very bottom of the forty.
Albums see Paul Potts still at the top and likely to be there for another week yet at least. Timbaland's steady rise takes him to 2, which is sort of a surprise - it's the type of album that usually tends to see strong steady sales, but nothing that high charting. Kings Of Leon at 4 is also a headscratcher, The Enemy see a fall from 2 to 9 and Garbage's Absolute Garbage at 11 turns out to be a greatest hits and not one of these crappy things.
Next week: Robyn! I don't even know what song, since I thought "With Every Heartbeat" and Music Week claims "Konichiwa Bitches", but still, Robyn!!
29.7.07
Paris Motel at Good Ship, Kilburn (26/07/07)
(Yeah, I finished the blog entry and got there in time for the support acts too)
First up, as featured today in one free paper's Glen Hansard-led feature on buskers, the unfortunately named Rod Thomas. Playing solo, he puts thoughts of Matchbox 20 to the back of our minds soon enough with some agreeable folk-pop, in Stephen Fretwell/Liam Frost style but constructed in the Final Fantasy style by recording bits of himself playing different instruments and looping them round and round. This has clear benefits in fleshing out his simple melodies, but eventually begins to feel a little constricting. Almost every song goes minimal keyboard melody-minimal electronic beat-handclaps-minimal strum before finally getting to the point, and there's not much freedom for them to breathe when tightly constrained by the lengths of loops. Ultimately, it feels like he's just not doing much with the cool technology that couldn't be replicated by even an average backing band.
Better by far still than Kaiko. Jetlag may have been lingering, and I don't usually go to gigs on my own, but the fact that there was absolutely nothing remarkable or interesting whatsoever about their trebly, vaguly post-punky indie proably still had something to do with my dozing off during their set.
No such risk with Paris Motel. The sinister fairytale crack and thud of "Mr. Splitfoot", magnified by proximity in cramped quarters, makes sure of that very quickly even before technical problems kick in and we're assaulted with feedback screeches. With Amy May tonight backed by 6 band members, including violin, clarinet and a new double bass player, the very crowded nature of the set up on the venue's tiny stage does have a large impact, both in a few such technical problems and that seeing the band here feels such a treat.
'We are the disasterous Paris Motel,' proclaims an elegant Amy May brightly as an introduction after those screeches, 'home to broken strings. And maybe broken bra straps too'. Gulp. A lot of eyes were surely following her as she regularly pulled up her strapless dress even before that point, though the band make for no shortage of other visuals. Their intense playing sometimes conjuring a bit of an Arcade Fire feel, especially apparent in the a capella group singing of "I Lost My Heart".
Later on there's sadly no "Static Song" but "071" is as sumptuous as on record and "Oh" even more bittersweet. A short set doesn't allow for too many new songs, but they are without exception great, especially "After Wanda" which winds its way through multiple dramatic turns with expertly handled ease. After which hearing a long delayed defintie release date for the album (September 26th) is music to the ears too.
First up, as featured today in one free paper's Glen Hansard-led feature on buskers, the unfortunately named Rod Thomas. Playing solo, he puts thoughts of Matchbox 20 to the back of our minds soon enough with some agreeable folk-pop, in Stephen Fretwell/Liam Frost style but constructed in the Final Fantasy style by recording bits of himself playing different instruments and looping them round and round. This has clear benefits in fleshing out his simple melodies, but eventually begins to feel a little constricting. Almost every song goes minimal keyboard melody-minimal electronic beat-handclaps-minimal strum before finally getting to the point, and there's not much freedom for them to breathe when tightly constrained by the lengths of loops. Ultimately, it feels like he's just not doing much with the cool technology that couldn't be replicated by even an average backing band.
Better by far still than Kaiko. Jetlag may have been lingering, and I don't usually go to gigs on my own, but the fact that there was absolutely nothing remarkable or interesting whatsoever about their trebly, vaguly post-punky indie proably still had something to do with my dozing off during their set.
No such risk with Paris Motel. The sinister fairytale crack and thud of "Mr. Splitfoot", magnified by proximity in cramped quarters, makes sure of that very quickly even before technical problems kick in and we're assaulted with feedback screeches. With Amy May tonight backed by 6 band members, including violin, clarinet and a new double bass player, the very crowded nature of the set up on the venue's tiny stage does have a large impact, both in a few such technical problems and that seeing the band here feels such a treat.
'We are the disasterous Paris Motel,' proclaims an elegant Amy May brightly as an introduction after those screeches, 'home to broken strings. And maybe broken bra straps too'. Gulp. A lot of eyes were surely following her as she regularly pulled up her strapless dress even before that point, though the band make for no shortage of other visuals. Their intense playing sometimes conjuring a bit of an Arcade Fire feel, especially apparent in the a capella group singing of "I Lost My Heart".
Later on there's sadly no "Static Song" but "071" is as sumptuous as on record and "Oh" even more bittersweet. A short set doesn't allow for too many new songs, but they are without exception great, especially "After Wanda" which winds its way through multiple dramatic turns with expertly handled ease. After which hearing a long delayed defintie release date for the album (September 26th) is music to the ears too.
no title
Hard-Fi's Stars Of CCTV definitely had one of the best album covers of recent years. A really striking image that (in the UK at least) was instantly recognisable but something that is so commonplace that you didn't normally give it any thought at all before presented in this different context. Which is probably the answer to why no-one thought of it earlier.
So how do they follow it up? Well, with something that's already got people writing dramatic articles about the death of the album cover:
Which is definitely a great idea, but it should have been even bolder - why bother with the band name or album title at all? They could always have gone for the better cop-out of putting them on a sticker. And the bright yellow colour, as part of what made the debut's cover so striking, has become representative of them to a certain extent as well. It seems like even when trying to remove image, they're just a little too brand-conscious to go the whole way.
26.7.07
Paris Motel - Static Song
One of the very best things about living in London is being able to look up a band's website for gigs at 5:30, see one, realise that it's today, and be able to go. And still have time to write the blog entry that you were looking it up for to boot.
So, I'll report back on Paris Motel live very soon, but for now this is about the 071 EP, especially one song on it, which is the best thing by a new band I've heard this year by far (lets not let the fact that it came out in 2005 and that the album is all new stuff get in the way here). It appeals to much the same bits of me that fell head-over-heels for Guillemots I guess - their eclecticism and tendency to drench songs in strings and do it well is pleasingly similar, though Amy May's songs assured, layered songs are not exactly cut from the same cloth.
"Static Song" is their (/her?) tender pop at its most romantic. It takes a simple recieved premise (that the infinite shifting disorder of an untuned TV screen is a bit like that of the universe) and retells it as a thing of fantastical wonder, slowly assembling its own glistening world along the way of xylophone and humming strings and May's enchanting voice. It's warm and thick with nostalgia but remains alive and urgent, like opening a dusty old book in front of a crackling fire and still being enthralled by the stories within.
mp3
So, I'll report back on Paris Motel live very soon, but for now this is about the 071 EP, especially one song on it, which is the best thing by a new band I've heard this year by far (lets not let the fact that it came out in 2005 and that the album is all new stuff get in the way here). It appeals to much the same bits of me that fell head-over-heels for Guillemots I guess - their eclecticism and tendency to drench songs in strings and do it well is pleasingly similar, though Amy May's songs assured, layered songs are not exactly cut from the same cloth.
"Static Song" is their (/her?) tender pop at its most romantic. It takes a simple recieved premise (that the infinite shifting disorder of an untuned TV screen is a bit like that of the universe) and retells it as a thing of fantastical wonder, slowly assembling its own glistening world along the way of xylophone and humming strings and May's enchanting voice. It's warm and thick with nostalgia but remains alive and urgent, like opening a dusty old book in front of a crackling fire and still being enthralled by the stories within.
mp3
25.7.07
Chartsengrafs - Told you I'll be here forever
When I last did this near the start of June, "Umbrella" was number one. And, well, it still is. Its now in its tenth week on the top and is only the 6th song ever to have its run reach double figures. Now, it's a pretty great song and all, but that still says more about the slowdown of interest (and sales) in the singles chart than anything else. Kate Nash has been hanging around almost as long and goes back up to number two, it looks like her "Foundations", rather than anything newer, is going to block Rihanna from reaching an eleventh week. It still doesn't feel like a song by someone quite ready yet to be thrust into fame, but it'll do.
The Hoosiers go back up two to 8 and I realise that I still haven't heard "Worried About Ray". The video is what I expected (ie. annoyingly wacky) more so than the song, which sounds like a Britpop era band that I can't quite place covering "Happy Together". Enrique Iglesias is at 5 and I'm also wondering how I could have missed that his new single goes under the subtitle "The Ping Pong Song". Mark Ronson avec Lily Allen doing Kaiser Chiefs goes to 8. It's better than "Everybody's Changing" but not as good as "Nan, You're A Window Shopper". And people who say 'could care less' annoy the living shit out of me at 10.
Why does Amy Macdonald's Scottish accented voice make me think of Tim Booth? I'm confused. She's at 12, anyway, and not as bad as 'new Sandi Thom' tags suggest, even after reading the lyrics. Though that was still slightly ill-advised. Patrick Wolf's favourite Mika moves up to 14 with the much more than slightly ill-advised "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", and Biffy Clyro follow at 18 with the latest product of their new exciting new Foo Fighters direction. No one's even seen High School Musical 2 yet, but they're still at 20.
Further down: Reverand & The Makers have been in the top forty for 11 weeks? R Kelly and Usher and Sunfreaks and Andrea Britton join them (that's two entries, not four) and The Thrills make a triumphant return at 40.
Over in the albums, The Enemy are removed from number one by Paul Potts, winner of Britain's Got Talent. Now, this is probably worth more than anything said band has ever done (although I like their album cover a lot actually) but that's no excuse to give the guy an album. It also makes me think that we're now at the end of July and still no sight of a follow up single for last year's X Factor winner Leona Lewis, someone who shouldn't really be a problem to market further. Cowell et al appear to have completely given up any pretense of being in it for building anyone's careers but their own.
Lisa Brown - What's That Sound?
I've been following Snowfight in the City Centre for nearly three years now, during much of which they've always seemed just on the brink of a much deserved breakthrough. So it's a real shame to find out that they've split up (in May, in fact - I haven't been following that closely obviously).
Here's their finest released moment to commemorate. Under their previous guise as Lisa Brown, it ties icy guitar blasts and heartfelt falsetto vocals to a 80s disco beat and silly backing vocals, with infectiously fun results that beat Delays' "Valentine" by a couple of months back at the end of 2005.
mp3
Here's their finest released moment to commemorate. Under their previous guise as Lisa Brown, it ties icy guitar blasts and heartfelt falsetto vocals to a 80s disco beat and silly backing vocals, with infectiously fun results that beat Delays' "Valentine" by a couple of months back at the end of 2005.
mp3
24.7.07
Hello Saferide - San Francisco
I'm back! And sort of trying out a song a day format as it worked so well for Paraguay And Laos, although this will be much less strictly cotnrolled and lead to rambles about whole albums or other things as often as not. I should be making a couple of other changes too as you'll see soon.
This song followed me round on holiday, at least in my head. Every time I saw a sign of San Francisco this came into my head, not that suprisingly as it's from one of the albums that I've been listening to most for the past nine months or so and is a pretty fine song in its own right. The closing encore highlight the last time that I saw Ms. Norlin, it was given a massively energetic that rather suited it and the thrill of escape that it's all about.
Because there's nothing about San Francisco in it that you won't know without ever going there (Golden Gate? Alcatraz? Closest is 'the only place in North America not too destroyed by the government', which has got to be an ouch for Canada), since the from is always far more important than the to. San Francisco doesn't really have to be the destination, though it serves rather well, when the emphasis is always on escaping from the present surroundings to handclapping excitement.
mp3
(my CD haul out in SF if anyone's interested:
Bargain bin:
Goldrush - Ozona
Goldrush - The Heart Is The Place
The Like - Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Tori Amos - Under The Pink
Black Box Recorder - England Made Me
Kenickie - At The Club
Cinerama - Torino
Mae - The Everglow (a gift for someone)
The Lodger - Grown-Ups
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
Puffy Amiyumi - Splurge
Polysics - Now Is The Time!
The Dresden Dolls - Live at the Roundhouse London DVD
I wish I could have spent more!)
This song followed me round on holiday, at least in my head. Every time I saw a sign of San Francisco this came into my head, not that suprisingly as it's from one of the albums that I've been listening to most for the past nine months or so and is a pretty fine song in its own right. The closing encore highlight the last time that I saw Ms. Norlin, it was given a massively energetic that rather suited it and the thrill of escape that it's all about.
Because there's nothing about San Francisco in it that you won't know without ever going there (Golden Gate? Alcatraz? Closest is 'the only place in North America not too destroyed by the government', which has got to be an ouch for Canada), since the from is always far more important than the to. San Francisco doesn't really have to be the destination, though it serves rather well, when the emphasis is always on escaping from the present surroundings to handclapping excitement.
mp3
(my CD haul out in SF if anyone's interested:
Bargain bin:
Goldrush - Ozona
Goldrush - The Heart Is The Place
The Like - Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Tori Amos - Under The Pink
Black Box Recorder - England Made Me
Kenickie - At The Club
Cinerama - Torino
Mae - The Everglow (a gift for someone)
The Lodger - Grown-Ups
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
Puffy Amiyumi - Splurge
Polysics - Now Is The Time!
The Dresden Dolls - Live at the Roundhouse London DVD
I wish I could have spent more!)
5.7.07
Oops
I didn't actually mean for this to die when I started Paraguay And Laos.
But I will definitely be away for the next two weeks, with the proper excuse of being on holiday, and then after then have some non-Bluetones related ideas to work on alongside it. So, see you on July 23rd or so!
But I will definitely be away for the next two weeks, with the proper excuse of being on holiday, and then after then have some non-Bluetones related ideas to work on alongside it. So, see you on July 23rd or so!
19.6.07
Finally
Tomorrow, I graduate! I'm looking forward to having the whole thing finished for good. Wearing a gown and stuff, not so much.
I'm not usually at all good at meeting new people so it was especially nice yesterday to talk to a friend of a friend of who I had lots to talk to about: he turns out to live two minutes away from me and to have had been to many of the same gigs in the last couple of years. Even nicer was that he recommended me a band called Paris Motel who are, judging by the songs on their myspace, fantastic. Beautiful, grandiose stuff and the album will hopefully be soon!
Also, since I've built up a few entries to make it worth a look now, it's time to link to my new blog project, Paraguay and Laos, in which I talk about every Bluetones song ever. 6 out of 111 in and I'm enjoying it a lot so far.
I'm not usually at all good at meeting new people so it was especially nice yesterday to talk to a friend of a friend of who I had lots to talk to about: he turns out to live two minutes away from me and to have had been to many of the same gigs in the last couple of years. Even nicer was that he recommended me a band called Paris Motel who are, judging by the songs on their myspace, fantastic. Beautiful, grandiose stuff and the album will hopefully be soon!
Also, since I've built up a few entries to make it worth a look now, it's time to link to my new blog project, Paraguay and Laos, in which I talk about every Bluetones song ever. 6 out of 111 in and I'm enjoying it a lot so far.
14.6.07
Field Day Festival
London's best gig promoters Eat Your Own Ears have really outdone themselves this time with the Field Day Festival:
1990'S
ABSENTEE
ADEM
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT
BAT FOR LASHES
BATTLES
FRIDGE
GOODBOOKS
GRUFF RHYS
JAMES YORKSTON
LIARS
MYSTERY JETS
PULL TIGER TAIL
THE ALIENS
THE CONCRETES
THE EARLIES
VETIVER
All for the not unreasonable price of £22.50 a ticket. And if that isn't enough to get you down to Hackney in August, there's going to be Morris dancing too.
1990'S
ABSENTEE
ADEM
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT
BAT FOR LASHES
BATTLES
FRIDGE
GOODBOOKS
GRUFF RHYS
JAMES YORKSTON
LIARS
MYSTERY JETS
PULL TIGER TAIL
THE ALIENS
THE CONCRETES
THE EARLIES
VETIVER
All for the not unreasonable price of £22.50 a ticket. And if that isn't enough to get you down to Hackney in August, there's going to be Morris dancing too.
12.6.07
Chartsengrafs - It's raining more than ever
Right, now I've got this blog moving again, time to bring back the only regular feature that I 've yet kept up with any regularity. What have we missed? Well, back in 2004 before legal downloads were included to the charts, things hit a disasterous low in October when barely 20,000 sales were needed to reach the number one mark, and Manic Street Preachers came within spitting distance of making it there despite their song having no real reach beyond their fans at all. A few years on the positive effect of downloads seems to be dwindling a little and, yep, so close again. Plus album sales are dying too. Eek.
Sunday gone: No need to be downhearted for now though because "Umbrella" rules all for the fourth week running! Looking up the lyrics for my title here was an interesting one because I've not really paid much attention to them before and their tone really is rather at odds with the sound of the song. This is Rihanna's number one after a few near misses, and well deserved all round really. Number one album too, fending off an unlikely challenge from Biffy Clyro.
Second for a second week is Mutya Buena, doing the laid-back, famous sample soul thing to no great effect. Moving up to number 3 on full release is Calvin Harris, who likes them black girls and them asian girls and them big girls, albeit not enough to put them in the video.
When I did Gym Class Heroes for Jukebox ages ago I was rather disdaining, but somehow "Cupid's Chokehold" actually becomes less, rather than more annoying from more exposure. How do they do that? It's 4, anyway.
Amongst new entries and risers, Reverend & The Makers show just how haircut-indie-friendly the new charts are at 8, Enrique Iglesias manages to repel all those bad memories of his previous work and replace them with even worse ones at 12, The White Stripes continue making each lead single more barking mad at the last at 13, Bob Sinclar is 14, Unklejam 16, Kelly Rowland 18 and QOTSA 20.
The Chemical Brothers and Klaxons make early entries with "Do It Again" and "It's Not Over" at 25 and 28, at 32 The Zimmers make it to a second week striking a blow against agist music culture in a very similar fashion to Beth Ditto naked on the NME striking against size zero culture, and Ghosts are in at 25 for the benefit of people who didn't find out about Thriteen Senses' second album. Something called Cornell/Lisa Marie Experience is 37, apparently. And just to finish things off on a delightful note, WORST BAND EVER The Holloways edge in to the botton end with advance downloads for "Generator '07". Yes, that's a rerelease of their one before last single which was 30 in October.
Sunday coming:
At the moment, The White Stripes hold an unlikely lead on the singles front. So a fifth week for Rihanna, in other words. Enrique will move up to 3, Marillion just won't die and will probably make the top ten, with Maximo Park probably joining them. Koopa turn out not to be a bad dream that we all once had and are currently heading for a better place than Erasure and Kelly Clarkson's widely 'meh'ed new single.
In the albums, it's The Travelling Wilburys versus Bon Jovi! Welcome to June 2007, all.
Sunday gone: No need to be downhearted for now though because "Umbrella" rules all for the fourth week running! Looking up the lyrics for my title here was an interesting one because I've not really paid much attention to them before and their tone really is rather at odds with the sound of the song. This is Rihanna's number one after a few near misses, and well deserved all round really. Number one album too, fending off an unlikely challenge from Biffy Clyro.
Second for a second week is Mutya Buena, doing the laid-back, famous sample soul thing to no great effect. Moving up to number 3 on full release is Calvin Harris, who likes them black girls and them asian girls and them big girls, albeit not enough to put them in the video.
When I did Gym Class Heroes for Jukebox ages ago I was rather disdaining, but somehow "Cupid's Chokehold" actually becomes less, rather than more annoying from more exposure. How do they do that? It's 4, anyway.
Amongst new entries and risers, Reverend & The Makers show just how haircut-indie-friendly the new charts are at 8, Enrique Iglesias manages to repel all those bad memories of his previous work and replace them with even worse ones at 12, The White Stripes continue making each lead single more barking mad at the last at 13, Bob Sinclar is 14, Unklejam 16, Kelly Rowland 18 and QOTSA 20.
The Chemical Brothers and Klaxons make early entries with "Do It Again" and "It's Not Over" at 25 and 28, at 32 The Zimmers make it to a second week striking a blow against agist music culture in a very similar fashion to Beth Ditto naked on the NME striking against size zero culture, and Ghosts are in at 25 for the benefit of people who didn't find out about Thriteen Senses' second album. Something called Cornell/Lisa Marie Experience is 37, apparently. And just to finish things off on a delightful note, WORST BAND EVER The Holloways edge in to the botton end with advance downloads for "Generator '07". Yes, that's a rerelease of their one before last single which was 30 in October.
Sunday coming:
At the moment, The White Stripes hold an unlikely lead on the singles front. So a fifth week for Rihanna, in other words. Enrique will move up to 3, Marillion just won't die and will probably make the top ten, with Maximo Park probably joining them. Koopa turn out not to be a bad dream that we all once had and are currently heading for a better place than Erasure and Kelly Clarkson's widely 'meh'ed new single.
In the albums, it's The Travelling Wilburys versus Bon Jovi! Welcome to June 2007, all.
11.6.07
Gig roundup - Travis, Pet Shop Boys
In the past two weeks I've been to two gigs at Hammersmith's reasonably large Apollo. Both were by bands with a dedicated following but their best days (in musical and success terms) some way behind them. One of them was kind of formative in my music taste, the other wasn't at all.
First up, Travis. In the wait before the inevitable encore, I jokingly guessed at what was to come: 'They're going to play three more songs, and not one of them will be "U16 Girls"'. It sort of made my evening that, on the second count, I was wrong. Fran Healy hammed up his implausible dirty old man role brilliantly and all laid into its increasingly incongruent strut with style and, gosh, had fun. It cemented what was clear throughout much of the gig, that ten years after they abandoned the dischordant rock of Good Feeling it's still when they sound most vital. Not just the songs from that album though (we were treated to another two earlier). It's thanks to unlikely guitar god Andy Dunlop is let loose that "Turn" and particularly "Writing To Reach You" reach through overfamiliarity. New songs, aside from the appallingly drippy "My Eyes", are loose enough to benefit similarly and prevent increasingly redundant lyrics from being a liablilty, which just leaves the empty stadium rock of "Sing" and "Side" as evidence of where things all went wrong. Hope that they'll learn too much from their live strengths isn't strong, but for the night, it was enough.
Travis, in a rather pleasing gesture to showmanship, began their show spotlighted, running through the crowd with the theme from Rocky playing. Pet Shop Boys beat this though, with some ingenious sleight of hand whereby Neil and Chris emerged from a neon lit frame, followed by... Neil and Chris. And Neil and Chris. One man in a fluorescent yellow anorak and baseball cap looks much like another from a distance, you see. This set the scene for definitely the best staged show I've ever seen, with fabulous projections and lighting and great work by the dancers throughout. The accusatory synth stabs of "Can You Forgive Her?" synched with angry flashes of white light, the thunder and lightning finale to "It's A Sin", the gold lamé cowboys dancing to a hilarious "Where The Streets Have No Name"... yeah, there were a lot of highlights.
And a very smartly chosen setlist, aside from packing in enough classic songs to make almost anyone jealous, was often tied into the staging. The icy blast of "Numb" giving way suddenly to the warm, red glow of "Se a vida é" was perfectly done, and it's a compliment that segueing M-I-N-I-M-A-L into S-H-O-PP-I-N-G seemed so obvious in retrospect.
Staging aside, the music was given a boost and a twist here and there to sound more bright and immediate than ever, and Neil Tennant was pitch perfect. A little too much if anything - a curiously limp "Rent" didn't really add anything to the record and was about the only moment to not quite come off. Almost all of the rest was fantastically celebratory in a way that only The Flaming Lips can nearly compare to out of any gigs that I have ever been to. During "Always On My Mind" the dancers popped up from behind giant cardboard cutouts of the boys' heads in a succession of silly hats to massive cheers, and it seemed the most logical thing ever, bursting way through irony and turning it into genuine feeling in much the same way as the song.
First up, Travis. In the wait before the inevitable encore, I jokingly guessed at what was to come: 'They're going to play three more songs, and not one of them will be "U16 Girls"'. It sort of made my evening that, on the second count, I was wrong. Fran Healy hammed up his implausible dirty old man role brilliantly and all laid into its increasingly incongruent strut with style and, gosh, had fun. It cemented what was clear throughout much of the gig, that ten years after they abandoned the dischordant rock of Good Feeling it's still when they sound most vital. Not just the songs from that album though (we were treated to another two earlier). It's thanks to unlikely guitar god Andy Dunlop is let loose that "Turn" and particularly "Writing To Reach You" reach through overfamiliarity. New songs, aside from the appallingly drippy "My Eyes", are loose enough to benefit similarly and prevent increasingly redundant lyrics from being a liablilty, which just leaves the empty stadium rock of "Sing" and "Side" as evidence of where things all went wrong. Hope that they'll learn too much from their live strengths isn't strong, but for the night, it was enough.
Travis, in a rather pleasing gesture to showmanship, began their show spotlighted, running through the crowd with the theme from Rocky playing. Pet Shop Boys beat this though, with some ingenious sleight of hand whereby Neil and Chris emerged from a neon lit frame, followed by... Neil and Chris. And Neil and Chris. One man in a fluorescent yellow anorak and baseball cap looks much like another from a distance, you see. This set the scene for definitely the best staged show I've ever seen, with fabulous projections and lighting and great work by the dancers throughout. The accusatory synth stabs of "Can You Forgive Her?" synched with angry flashes of white light, the thunder and lightning finale to "It's A Sin", the gold lamé cowboys dancing to a hilarious "Where The Streets Have No Name"... yeah, there were a lot of highlights.
And a very smartly chosen setlist, aside from packing in enough classic songs to make almost anyone jealous, was often tied into the staging. The icy blast of "Numb" giving way suddenly to the warm, red glow of "Se a vida é" was perfectly done, and it's a compliment that segueing M-I-N-I-M-A-L into S-H-O-PP-I-N-G seemed so obvious in retrospect.
Staging aside, the music was given a boost and a twist here and there to sound more bright and immediate than ever, and Neil Tennant was pitch perfect. A little too much if anything - a curiously limp "Rent" didn't really add anything to the record and was about the only moment to not quite come off. Almost all of the rest was fantastically celebratory in a way that only The Flaming Lips can nearly compare to out of any gigs that I have ever been to. During "Always On My Mind" the dancers popped up from behind giant cardboard cutouts of the boys' heads in a succession of silly hats to massive cheers, and it seemed the most logical thing ever, bursting way through irony and turning it into genuine feeling in much the same way as the song.
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