tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9284887889453674422024-02-07T16:45:12.379-08:00Stop Clapping, Start DoingI saw another one just the other day, a special new band.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-26132808172337148412009-02-02T08:45:00.000-08:002009-02-02T08:49:04.345-08:00The EndHello there.<br />This blog is probably dead.<br />This is my new one: <a href="http://maybepartyingwillhelp.wordpress.com/">Maybe Partying Will Help</a><br /><br />Update your browsers and that.<br /><br />Thank you.<br /><br />Bye.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-81394583837972843742008-10-08T13:42:00.000-07:002008-10-08T13:46:30.909-07:00On The RoadStop Clapping, Start Doing will be taking a brief hiatus for the next complete of months. I'm going to be traveling around America until January next year; there may be sporadic updates from the road, but I'm not sure. I may cover the following gigs: Les Savy Fav in Brooklyn, Fucked Up in Brooklyn (twice, including that 12 hour show) and a trip to The Smell in L.A. Then again, I may not. I don't think they have the internet over there. We'll see. <br /><br />Wish me luck.<br /><br />BYE!Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-11415928676936252512008-09-17T07:35:00.000-07:002008-09-23T06:46:41.587-07:00Lovvers - Think<a href="http://www.normanrecords.com/images/covers/102002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.normanrecords.com/images/covers/102002.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Realistically, Lovvers shouldn’t be in this situation. They shouldn’t be releasing their debut record on Wichita, home of indie luminaries such as Bloc Party, Los Campisenos! and The Cribs. They’re too messy, too hard to understand, too damn weird – that someone has decided to take a chance on them suggests that the music industry may not be completely out of touch. Lovvers are the kind of band to turn up unannounced, knock your drink over, spit in your face and disappear in a wall of feedback. It's as if Lovvers' main intention is to confuse and aggravate their audiences.<br><br /><em>Think</em> clocks in at just under 13 minutes, the 7 songs racing past in a flurry of noise and feedback. Some parts are more immediate than others; opener "Human Hair" recalls the surf guitar meets garage rock stylings of The Make Up, whilst "No Fun" sounds like the slowed down punk rock of Flipper. Most of the vocals are completely unintelligible, save for the odd phrase or word here and there, the wirey guitar sounds over power everything else, pushing the speakers into the red and overloading everything. <br><br />As a whole, this record conjures up the spirit of The Birthday Party, not necessarily in sound, but certainly in approach. Though they do at times come close to sounding like the Post-Punk meets junkie fury of Nick Cave's mob, albiet with a slightly more Antioach Arrow/Gravity Records twist, but it's more the attitude and the audacity of them that Lovvers echo. Both bands come across as if they're going to fall apart or implode at any minute, like there's no real way they could sustain such a ferocious and intense performance for any extended period. It's the complete disregard that Lovvers show for their audience that makes them so appealing. Whilst most bands would pander to a crowd, Lovvers are a big "Fuck You" to everyone. The phrase Punk Rock could never be more appropriately used.<br><br />Realistically, you probably won't like Lovvers. But then, the best bands are never that popular. Like the first time you heard <em>Bleach</em>, or when you first saw the video for "New Noise" on MTV2, you probably won't understand what all the noise is about. But Lovvers won't care - right now, we need them more then they need us.<br /><br /><br /><br />More information <a href="http://www.myspace.com/letscommunicate">here</a> and <a href="http://www.wichita-recordings.com/artist.php/lovvers/">here</a>.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-83065621155965953422008-09-08T14:03:00.000-07:002008-09-11T07:46:46.077-07:00Umlaut<div align="center"><a href="http://www.fantasticplasticrecords.com/images/UMLAUT/wintercoat120.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/000/702/0000070273_350.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><em>"Twat gave you a car"</em></div><br /><br />Making the jump from being a hotly tipped, well known local band to being a hotly tipped, fairly well known national band is usually the breaking point for most groups. To go from playing to a full venue with an appreciative audience to playing at some toilet venue in a town you've never heard of, to a crowd consisting of one apologetic looking promoter and his three bored friends, all for a case of 18 warm cans of cheap lager, simply because one magazine tagged you as "Ones To Watch", is more than enough to take the wind out of even the most enthusiastic band's sails. To get 4 people to all agree that this is a great way to spend the next 3 years of their life is a hard task, and is one that will most likely cause a breakup. After all, being in a band is like being in a marriage. Sheffield's <a href="http://www.myspace.com/umlautband">Umlaut</a> were no exception.<p><br />Started in 2003 by three University friends, Umlaut took to mining that rich vein of influences that is Indie Rock. An obvious comparison to the Pavement is understandable - they're slightly loose in their performances, almost to the point of sloppy, plus there's that monotone vocal delivery, but it all comes together because they can write a proper song. A couple of months later, they added a second guitarist and a whole new bag of influences - <a href="http://www.fourfa.com/styles/index.htm">Midwest Emo</a>, or Midwestmo, if you will. Taking cues from the likes of Cap'n Jazz and Braid, particularly in the drums, which have that scatter shot, all over the place approach that divides opinion (personally I really like them), Umalut, over the course of an academic year, became the go to support band in Sheffield. They had an actual fan base that wasn't just their friends from halls, they had a demo cd that was getting played in Sheffield's finest Indie clubs and, most importantly, they were actually good, unlike a lot of the bands active at this point. <p><br />It was around this time that the music press was writing about the "New South Yorkshire" scene and lots of bands were getting unreasonably hyped (Bromhead's Jacket? Really?) simply by virtue of where they lived. Whilst Umlaut avoided all this, for whatever reason, it probably helped bring them to the attention of Fantastic Plastic. At least for the sake of this blog it did. Fantastic Plastic released the <em>Winter Coat</em> 7" in October 2005. Featuring a re-recording of demo track "Winter Coat" on the a-side and the b-side featuring a post-rock by way of twee song entitled "Professionals", the single gained good reviews and more national exposure. So Umlaut did what any sensible band would do and split up.<p> <br />By July 2006 they'd played their last ever gig, leaving only one 7" and a demo cd in their wake. Aside from debut single <em>Winter Coat</em>, the demo has two other songs on it: "First Song", which surprisingly, they always played first, and "Lea Green", possibly the only song to feature a chorus of <em>"Twat gave you a car"</em>. Typically described as "Cap'n'Jazz meets Hefner in the botanical gardens", these three tracks perfectly encapsulate Umlaut's charm. They're poppy, but not to the point of being a pop band; they're sloppy but in a charming way rather than a can't actually play way; and they're twee but not so twee that you feel like the singer regularly jacks off to Catcher In The Rye. A bit like Los Campesinos! without the knowingly web 2.0 lyrics. And they use an old Casio keyboard, which is always nice. <br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="340" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://media.imeem.com/pl/2onM5PvShU/aus=false/"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://media.imeem.com/pl/2onM5PvShU/aus=false/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="300" height="340" wmode="transparent"></embed></object></div><br /><br />A final thought: their last gig suffered from some sound problems. After some calls to "turn the guitar up", one audience member called for them to "turn your commitment up". A fine heckle indeed.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Some of the dates in this blog might be off. I'm guessing some of them. Why not use the comments section to tell me how wrong I am.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-9218440089168851812008-09-01T08:15:00.001-07:002008-09-02T13:29:22.949-07:00The Shitty Limits<div align="center"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/2108490741_60bbca6aa3.jpg?v=0"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/2108490741_60bbca6aa3.jpg?v=0" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><em>"There's limits everywhere!"</em></div><br /><br />A good band name is a rare thing – if even the most influential pop group of all time has a name that fulfils Homer Simpson’s criteria of being initially witty, yet subsequently less and less funny every time you hear it, then what hope does your shithouse band have? Personally, I always find that sticking a swear word in there helps. I probably wouldn’t go and see The Champs but The <span style="font-style:italic;">Fucking</span> Champs? They’ve got to be good. The one exception to this rule is Jackie-O Motherfucker. Great name, but they’re one of the worst bands I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen Milburn.<br /><br />Thankfully, Guildford’s The Shitty Limits live up to their moniker. Their sound has been described as a combination of “60s Garage, 70s Punk and 80's Hardcore” which pretty much hits the nail on the head – they’re loud, fast, snotty and yet still melodic. They’ve pretty much distilled the best bits of the last 30 years of punk music into succinct 2 minute bursts of noise. They’ve got the garage riffs, the hardcore rhythms and the right attitude, right down to refusing to be involved with the NME – The Shitty Limits are essentially a lesson in punk rock. Name any band in that is considered in any way punk and you can see how The Shitty Limits have taken a cue from them. The Stooges, The Sonics, Wire, Minor Threat, Black Flag, it's all there. But don't mistake them for some sound alike band - The Shitty Limits are their own band, they have their own sound, they can play with the best of them. Just do yourself a favour and listen to them.<br /> <br />And no, it's not just a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aQi2rRayS4">clever name</a>.<br /><br /><div align="center"><br /><object width="300" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://media.imeem.com/pl/6luGeyr-cN/aus=false/"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://media.imeem.com/pl/6luGeyr-cN/aus=false/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="300" height="340" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><br /><br />For more music, and free downloads of all their records, head to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/theshittylimits">myspace</a>.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-39100761440625792992008-08-20T14:04:00.001-07:002008-08-28T12:53:54.529-07:00The Chemistry Of Common Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4tsYb8zdWuNnZ8c-DxVQqYYK1NNFy1jQlgcvEJOqMyKD91b5eBUKFEwgi2AZVo0inmFJR7Hfzab3pHSo3DQwvFwcyqdsj8s2CoelnyTwKb_nsoan70GmJpIoVE7MaRWuXtj5wuUPFuU/s320/fu_temp_mini_sm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4tsYb8zdWuNnZ8c-DxVQqYYK1NNFy1jQlgcvEJOqMyKD91b5eBUKFEwgi2AZVo0inmFJR7Hfzab3pHSo3DQwvFwcyqdsj8s2CoelnyTwKb_nsoan70GmJpIoVE7MaRWuXtj5wuUPFuU/s320/fu_temp_mini_sm.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Whilst Fucked Up might not be the best hardcore band around at the minute, they are without a doubt, one of the most interesting bands around at the minute; hardcore or not. Since their beginnings in early 2001 Fucked Up have been accused of being fascists, experimenting with mind control, made extensive use of Sigils in their artwork, written about the Situationist International, possibly penned their own interview for Maximum Rock and Roll, released an 18 minute long single, adopted a probably non existent svengali/manager called David Eliade and collaborated with Nelly Furtardo. They’ve also made it pretty much impossible to own everything they’ve ever released, possibly as a dig at record collectors; their huge discography contains incredibly limited 7”s, a couple of 8 tracks, one mix tape and a fake 7” entitled <em>Hoxton Cunts</em>, intended as a dig at the band and their relationship with Vice. Not bad for a punk band from Toronto.<br />October sees the release of the band’s second album, <em>The Chemistry of Common Life</em> on Matador Records, which the band describes as “an expansive epic about the mysteries of birth, death, and the origins of life (and re-living)."<br />From the get-go, it’s clear that Fucked Up are making the most of their new label’s recording budget. Opening track 'Son the Father' features a flute, bongos, some synth and lots of guitar tracks. Lots and lots of guitar tracks. It also features some questionable, overly sassy backing vocals, which reappear at the end of the record. It seems that Fucked Up are trying to avoid falling back on their standard hardcore sound, almost as if they’re trying to distance themselves from it or prove that they’re not limited by it, which is understandable considering how long they’ve been together and what <em>Year Of The Pig</em> sounded like.<br />One of the problems with hardcore records, and especially the “classic” hardcore records, is that they all suffer from poor recording and production. More often then not, it’s hard to reproduce the intensity of a live band on record, making the band sound flat or lifeless when in reality they’re anything but. Oddly, <em>The Chemistry of Common Life</em> almost suffers from being too well produced; there seems to be so many guitar tracks and additional overdubs that it creates a dirge like effect at points, notably on 'Days of Last.' It’s kind of similar to the approach that Oasis or any number of bands in the mid to late 90s; too much coke in the control room perhaps. If you think the Oasis comparison is weird, 'Crooked Head' sounds like 'Rings Around the World' by Super Furry Animals.<br />The second half of this record lags a bit; it’s not until 'Twice Born' that it picks up again. Of all the songs, this is probably the one most reminiscent of <em>Hidden World</em>. It’s your standard Fucked Up affair – Poison Idea-style hardcore with a bit too much compression. It also marks the reappearance of the female backing vocals from the beginning of the album – they provide a sassy response to Damian’s call of <em>“hands up if you think you’re the only one.”</em> Whilst it veers a little close to sounding like the guy from Blood Brothers, it still ranks as one of the stand out tracks.<br />Despite being a whole twenty minutes shorter then their debut, <em>The Chemistry of Common Life</em> still seems too long. A lot of it comes across as wholly unremarkable and passes by without really doing anything, and in doing so it high lights the problem with Fucked Up – they’re just not that good. Undeniably, they are a great live band; however, on record, and especially on this record, they fail to do anything to elevate themselves from being an above average band to an amazing one. If you get the chance, and you probably will considering their touring schedule, go and see them live. If maybe a cliché, but they really are better live. </div><br /><br />EDIT: I forgot to mention that there's a big shoegaze influence on this record. Lots of swooshing guitars. An abundance of wah, if you will.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Fucked Up - Son the Father</span><br /><object width="150" height="50" align="middle"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed src="http://muzicons.com/musicon3.swf" width="150" height="50" menu="false" quality="high" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="&nomuz=muzicon%20unavailable&site=http://muzicons.com/&icon_pic=44.png&music_file=AXcKdEEA&bg_color=898989&type_of_clip=simple&text_color=FFFFFF&text_message=radio" wmode="transparent" menu="false" quality="high"></embed></object><br /><br />(click on the icon to play the song)Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-2337662305900379202008-08-19T13:01:00.000-07:002008-08-19T13:05:29.989-07:00When It's Time To Party.....Normal service will be resumed shortly.<br /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qpb2U-h3NSk&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qpb2U-h3NSk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-70499884200588792862008-08-18T13:45:00.000-07:002008-08-21T09:43:44.607-07:00King Khan & The Shrines<a href="http://www.hazelwood.de/kingkhan/images/kkh_picture_index.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://www.hazelwood.de/kingkhan/images/kkh_picture_index.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In an effort to alleviate the shitty weather we've been having recently, and to kick start this here blog back to life, I'm kicking things of with what would be a perfect summer jam, where it not for this rain. God bless British summer time.</span></span><br /><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Formed in 1999 in Germany after the demise of his previous band The Spaceshits, King Khan put together a big band in that age old soul tradition and named them The Shrines. Since then they've released 3 full length albums, the latest being 2007's <em><a href="http://www.hazelwood.de/kingkhan/index.php">What Is!?</a></em> on German-based label Hazelwood, which coincidentally features today's song entitled 'Welfare Bread'. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Blending your typical soul influences of James Brown and Sun Ra with a subtle dose of garage rock, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines">King Khan & The Shrines</a> sound like a vintage 60s group but with added punk rock feel. Built around a simple horn riff, laid back drums and some tasty falsetto, 'Welfare Bread' is a love song about trust, faith and bread. Written about King Khan's wife, the chorus suggests that put more faith in your partner and to try and be little more carefree, with the couplet <em>"you don't have to pay your bills anymore/girl you just got to eat my welfare bread".</em> If there were every a song to encourage people to start claiming benefits, it could be this one. So it's probably a good thing that King Khan & The Shrines are pretty unknown. Having said that, they were signed to Vice at the end of last year, so you could soon be seeing lines of hipsters snaking out of your local dole office very soon. And that's without factoring in the lack of media and graphic design jobs available due to the credit crunch.</span></span></p><p>Back on topic, I would like to finish by pointing out that in the time it's taken for me to write this blog entry, it's gone from being dead sunny to absolutely pissing it down. If only I'd brought a coat to work.<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />King Khan & The Shrines - "Welfare Bread"</span> </span><br /><object align="middle" height="50" width="150"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><embed src="http://www.muzicons.com/musicon3.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="icon_pic=44.png&music_file=AXYFfkMB&bg_color=5588aa&type_of_clip=simple&text_color=FFFFFF&text_message=radio" wmode="transparent" menu="false" quality="high" align="middle" height="50" width="150"></embed></object></p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Obligatory flyer description: Soul via garage punk. </span></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-39326454671945165342008-08-03T06:37:00.000-07:002008-08-03T06:56:52.585-07:00Here Come The Remix<span style="font-size:100%;">A couple of nights ago my friend, who works as a promoter, told me a funny story. In the mid to late 90s, whenever a band turned up to play their first and main concern for the night would be whether they had any coke. Nowadays, when a band turns up, the first thing they do is head straight for the wireless internet hotspot. Make of this what you will.<br /><br />Attached is a song I found on The Hype Machine the other day. Usually I don't really go in for remixes and such, but this one is pretty damn good, particularly Ludacris's verse. Take a listen.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/eoaj83">M.I.A feat. Chamillionaire & Ludacris - Boyz (Dj Doc Rok Remix)</a></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-38017706211575490092008-06-21T06:10:00.000-07:002008-06-21T06:39:29.023-07:00Something For The Weekend - Secondsmile<span style="font-size:85%;">Do you remember when Deep Elm used to put out good records? I do certainly do. Yesterday I was thinking about listening to an old <a href="http://www.deepelm.com/index2.html">compilation cd</a> I had from them. It's probably Deep Elm-mo at it's finest; Appleseed Cast, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Red Animal War. None of this Fightstar rubbish. Then I realised I couldn't be bothered to go through all my boxes of Cd's and so instead went to the old internet for something to listen to.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/secondsmile">Secondsmile</a> are from Bridport, but sound like they belong in the Midwest. But maybe from further south. Sounding like late period Appleseed Cast with sound Minus The Bear guitar bits, they make a good attempt at the Deep Elm sound; Deep Elm-mo, if you will. It's not strictly Midwest-mo, I think it's a bit too post-rock for that, but it's worth a listen. Typically, bands of this ilk are best suited to sunny days, but Secondsmile have enough of a dynamic to their sound to work on a rainy Saturday. Which is lucky considering British summer time.<br /><br />This song is called 'Years'. This a download <a href="http://www.bsmrocks.com/mp3/secondsmile-years.mp3">link</a> for it. It comes out on Big Scary Monsters in the next couple of weeks. Have a listen to it and see if you can work out what the hell I mean with all my "-mo" style genres. Next up God-mo.<br /><br />BYE!</span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-70921062096840036572008-06-17T11:50:00.000-07:002008-06-18T04:17:01.314-07:00Dananananaykroyd - Sissy Hits<a href="http://www.moshimoshimusic.com/_resources/artists_28/biog/dananananaykroyd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.moshimoshimusic.com/_resources/artists_28/biog/dananananaykroyd.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As a sometimes music blogger you'd think that I bought Cd's a regularly I couldn't move for those little bits of plastic? Well you'd be wrong. For various reasons I've not bought a CD since the end of last Decemeber, but last week saw me finally break the drought and part with some of my hard earned cash. The CD in question was <em>Sissy Hits</em>, Dananananaykroyd's debut ep. They've had a lot of press these last few weeks so I thought I'd add my 2.0 cents.<br /><br />Now, if like me, you're totally hip to new bands and that, you'd have been waiting for this ep since the beginning of the year, when it was supposed to be out on Jealous Records. <a href="http://stopclappingstartdoing.blogspot.com/2008/01/2008-indie-hipsters-guide.html">This</a> is what I said about them in January. So not a lot really. <em>Sissy Hits</em> is basically more of the same but better because it has six songs on it. Opener "The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash" sets the tone for the ep. It starts of with some duel drumming and some choppy guitars, a lyric about "one million buildings crumble" before going double time into a post-hardcore sprint before again falling apart in a wall of guitar noise and clattering drums that would make Sonic Youth proud. You'd think that would be enough for one song but not for these Scots - with a simply cymbal hit the song morphs back into a droning half time riff and comes to a grinding halt.<br />The rest of the ep continues in the same way - it has loud bits, some quiet bits, some thrashy bits, gang vocals and some wonderful duel drumming. As a frustrated air drummer I highly recommend playing along to this ep.<br /><br />Instead of posting mp3s from <em>Sissy Hits</em>, I thought I'd post their original 3 track demo and the lead song from the 7" they released on Jealous last year. This is for two reasons:<br /><br />1. Whilst we're all guilty of downloading music for free, it's probably a good idea to still support indie labels; <a href="http://www.holyroarrecords.com/">Holy Roar</a> is run out of someones bedroom so they deserve your money.<br />2. All together now: "I prefer their earlier stuff". Lolz!<br /><br /><br />Here's the track listing:<br /><ol><li>The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash</li><li>Totally Bone</li><li>Song #1 Puzzle</li><li>Some Dresses</li></ol><br />And here is the <a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/xzkae8">link</a>.<br /><br />Enjoy the music and let me know if you think this blog layout sucks.<br /><br />BYE!Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-1906163547439804342008-05-22T12:42:00.000-07:002008-05-22T13:01:21.878-07:001, 2, 3, YouTubeFugazi are one of those bands that I always forget just how good they are. I think because I don't listen to them that regularly, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I hear them again and remember why they're revered so much. I've recently been watching videos of them on YouTube and it saddens me to think that I passed up on what was most likely my only real opportunity to see them, assuming they don't come out of retirement. These videos are from the tour they did for 'The Argument' which was quite a dramatic change of sound for Fugazi. They had proper singing on it and everything. <br /><br />The video of 'Waiting Room' features some great moves from Guy Picciotto, which have been ripped off by pretty much every front man of any loudish indie rock band since the mid-90s.<br /><br />The other two videos feature a second drummer. Which is exciting. After those two videos there's one of Black Flag for no other reason then me liking it and that it was uploaded by the same person as the Fugazi videos. I would recommend you look through his or her videos. They are very good. Essentially this post is me exploiting someone else's hard work. What can you do. Here are some videos:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dvICXrS3o4g&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dvICXrS3o4g&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z7PlrBACrQI&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z7PlrBACrQI&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ClURiR1cesk&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ClURiR1cesk&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cWUjX3-YbIo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cWUjX3-YbIo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-81956972066783330172008-05-14T12:12:00.000-07:002008-05-16T04:18:16.784-07:00Knee Deep At ATP Vs PitchforkI think I've used this title on my blog before; however this year it seems all the more appropriate given that Los Campesinos! were playing. In keeping with the slightly weak LC! references, I have decided to format my review <em>in lists</em>. I told it you it was weak. Since it was ATP Vs Pitchfork, I shall also be providing handy Pitchfork style ratings for you.<br /><br /><ol><li>Pissed Jeans - Downstairs room, Sunday</li><br /><br />Of all the bands playing this year, I think Pissed Jeans were the one I was most looking forward to and since they've never played in the UK before, I was expecting a lot. Thankfully, they didn't disappoint. Opening their set with a feedback ridden version of 'Secret Admirer' from last year's Hope For Men lp, Pissed Jeans didn't let up for forty minutes going from slowed down one note metal riffs into fast, pissed off hardcore, they provided what every Sunday afternoon needs. In addition to being awesome musically, Pissed Jeans managed to win not only the best equipment award (Sunn Model T head, Ampeg SVT bass head) but the best and possibly only stage dive of the weekend, which saw they drum jump over his kit, cross the stage in two steps and leap over the barrier. A perfect way to finish.<br />8.9<br /><br /><li>The Hold Steady - Upstairs room, Sunday</li><br /><br />In contrast to a lot of the bands playing, The Hold Steady are a pretty straight forward band. Bruce Springsteen is an often used and pretty fair reference point. Given that musically they can be fairly straight ahead and simply, it does allow Craig Finn's lyrics to become more of a focal point. Personally I enjoyed this verse from 'Ask Her For Some Adderall' (I realise you may not):<br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">If she asks, don't I'll tell her that I'm living hand-to-mouth.</span><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Don't tell her that I'm sleeping on your couch.</span><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">And if she asks just tell her that we opened for the Stones,</span><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">It's her favourite band except for the Ramones.</span><br />8.6<br /><br /><li>Les Savy Fav - Upstairs room, Saturday</li><br /><br />At last year's ATP, Les Savy Fav played one of the best gig I have ever seen and whilst their set this year wasn't as good, it was still pretty fucking good. As you'd expect there were some costume changes, most notably Tim Harrington putting on a Pink Panther costume he had removed from an audience member, ridiculous banter and some songs. A rare airing of 'Dishonest Don' that segued into 'Rome (Written Upside Down)' provided an effective way to end. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q2FFUkIcFs">The end of 'Rome'</a> saw three of LSF lead the audience out of the upstairs venue and into downstairs one where the Black Lips were about to start playing, all the while carrying and playing drums. The only downside of this great piece of showmanship was that we almost got tricked into seeing Black Lips.<br />8.6<br /><br /><li>Dirty Projectors - Downstairs room, Saturday<br /></li><br /><br />Dirty Projectors have an unfair advantage over most bands - Black Flag covers. If there's anything that makes a band more enjoyable, it's the prospect of seeing them bust out some Black Flag. That they also managed to perfectly replicate all the harmonies from last year's Damaged lp, which in itself is admirable. Not only that, both their guitarists did some great John Fahey style finger picking, which is enough for any band to win me over.<br />8.0<br /><br /><li>Yeasayer - Upstairs room, Saturday</li><br /><br />Listening back to Yeasayer, it becomes obvious that they would have problems translating their songs from record into a live setting. On record, they utilise a lot of samples, sounds and tones which it seems they can't replicate live to full affect. Due to this some of their slower, more downbeat material suffers from a lack of production, but when they hit their stride with their faster songs, notably 'Sunrise' and '2080' (which itself is such a good song they could have played it for forty minutes and everyone would have been happy), they prove that they're a band worthy of attention.<br />7.9<br /><br /><li>Fuck Buttons - Downstairs room, Friday</li><br /><br />Current darlings of the ATP stable, and certainly a band to name drop for those in the know, Fuck Buttons played to an eager crowd on the first evening of the festival. Having never seen them before, I was looking forward to see if they lived up to all the hype. Opening with 'Sweet Love For Planet Earth', they got off to a good start with some nice distorted bass synths and the old noise trick of yelling into a mic plugged into a suitcase of pedals. As their set progressed, it became apparent that where you'd expect them to exercise their noise muscles and play with their delay pedals, they instead chose to concentrate on those pesky melodies and getting the audience to dance. Whilst this is in no way a bad thing, personally I felt that they'd have been better if they'd have just messed about with some feedback instead of moving into the realms of laptop electronica.<br />7.2<br /><br /><li>Bon Iver - Upstairs room, Friday</li><br /><br />At this point in my list, it became a bit hard to find bands whose entire set I had watched and enjoyed. This is mainly down to how hot it was - both of the venues suffered from poor ventilation, which made it hard to persevere with a band, unless you really wanted to see them. The other factor was the old "fall asleep at whilst watching a band in a mid-afternoon slot". I saw the first half of Bon Iver before I nodded off. What i saw was pretty good; quite folky but not in a way that made it suck. I believe he's on Later.. this Friday so watch that.<br />6.9<br /><br /><li>Glass Candy - Downstairs room, Saturday</li><br /><br />I think of all the bands I saw, Glass Candy were without a shadow of a doubt the worst. The problem wasn't that they weren't so bad that it could be considered a joke band (or even ironic) but that they were sincere in their desire to genuinely want to play Italo-Disco, a genre that is so bad it makes me want to both laugh and cry. And for some reason, I made a point of going to see them and watching most of their set. I think it was down to the Troubleman connection.<br />3.9<br /><br /><li>Meat Puppets - Downstairs room, Sunday</li><br /><br />Fulfilling Sunday's quota for re-united grunge bands, the Meat Puppets were pretty good. I can't really think of anything constructive to say. They played both of those songs Nirvana covered.<br />6.5<br /><br /><li>Los Campesinos! - Upstairs room, Saturday<br /></li><br />Normally I'm a bit harsh on Los Campesions! - whilst I think they're pretty good I always feel that they aren't as great as everyone says (blogs) they are. It seems that the amount of touring they've done has paid off, with them appearing to be much more comfortable and focused with themselves, compared to the previous times I've seen them. Saturday's set was certainly an emotional affair, with Gareth referring to ATP as "our Knebworth, our Wembley, our Pyramid Stage", which only added to the excitement that LC! play with. Whilst Fuck Buttons may be playing every ATP event possible, it's Los Campesinos! that represent the perfect ATP band.<br />8.0 </ol><br /><br />So that was my weekend. A special mention of all my <a href="http://alittleelectricity.blogspot.com/2008/05/atp-vs-pitchfork-top-3.html">friends</a> who put up with my annoying jokes for the whole weekend.<br /><br />Next installment should be a Kinsella themed mixtape. Exciting.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-41289102992752614842008-05-02T07:47:00.000-07:002008-05-02T08:04:37.126-07:00Return Of The BlogHello there, blog fans. It's been a while hasn't it? I'm not sure why I've not written anything for so long. But fear not, for there is a brand new web application that I'm taking advantage of for this return post. Yes that's right, I've made a Muxtape. Only two months behind everyone else. Details below.<br /><br /><strong><a href="http://www.stopclappingstartdoing.muxtape.com/">Hello, I made a mix tape for you and called it "9 Songs Not As Good As Born To Run."</a></strong><br /><br />1. Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road<br />2. The Jesus Lizard - Boilermaker<br />3. Drive Like Jehu - Caress<br />4. Black Flag - Six Pack<br />5. Archers Of Load - Wrong<br />6. Pissed Jeans - I've Still Got You (Ice Cream)<br />7. Make Believe - Sam Rollerskating Backwards<br />8. Dirty Projectors - Six Pack<br />9. The Hold Steady - Killer Parties<br /><br />Bonus points to anyone who spots the title reference. Some of these bands are playing at ATP Vs Pitchfork, so this should act as a primer of sorts. I should have some more bands to write about after that weekend but who knows?<br /><br />I also made a Muxtape for a feature on Sweeping The Nation. It's songs from the year 1995. I wrote a hilarious track by track description on the Drowned In Sound message board, but I didn't save it so you'll have to make up your own jokes. Sorry.<br /><br />Eventually this blog may become active in the future; I'm already planning some entries but I think it depends on me finding some stuff that is exciting in some way. There may even be a face lift along the way (by this I mean change the background to white). <br /><br />Enough of my typing. Listen to some music.<br /><br />BYE!Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-30553086613355083922008-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:002008-02-17T13:10:03.332-08:00Print JournalismI have made my way into the heady world of print journalism. I reviewed Rolo Tomassi when they played corp last week. Here is a link to the review. Below that is the original review, which I've posted mainly for the Hilary Duff reference. <br /><a href="http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/music/Rolo-Tomassi-Corporation.3782990.jp"><br />Rolo Tomassi @ Corp</a><br /><br /><br />"What strikes you first about Rolo Tomassi is how awkward they look when the come on stage. Given their average age of 18, they give the impression of a group of kids lost on their way to their school talent show. Such impressions are short lived however, as they suddenly explode into a melee of flailing limbs, guttural screaming and blast beats. Dancing around the stage in the same way that most teenagers would only dance in the privacy of their bedrooms, seemingly unaware that there’s an audience watching, Rolo Tomassi display the kind of reckless abandonment that only the young can get away with, suddenly going from balls to the wall grindcore into what sounds like the theme music from Tetris, only to stop as suddenly as they started, as if they’ve simply grown bored of what they’re playing. Over the space of thirty minutes, Rolo Tomassi manage to have a go at more styles of music then most bands do in their entire careers, going from chugging, sassy hardcore into prog-inspired keyboard breaks, doom metal riffs into 8-bit Gameboy pop then back into some overly technical grindcore, all of which is topped off by front woman Eva’s vocals. Despite bearing more than a passing resemblance to teen star Hilary Duff, her death metal growl recalls that of Tom Araya from Slayer or JP from The Locust. Only far more pissed off.<br />Closing with an epic rendition of “Curby”, which sees an arpegiated keyboard line morph into an intense driving metal outro, Rolo Tomassi leave the stage as quickly as they arrived, having safely proved why they’re currently the best band in Sheffield."<br /><br />Now that I'm officially a journalist, I have a legitimate reason to refuse to pay for things.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-42526243692477195542008-01-13T11:55:00.000-08:002008-01-13T13:33:10.922-08:002008: The Indie Hipster's Guide<span style="font-size:85%;">So it's about that time of the year when the message boards and blogs are a buzz with talk of who's going to be hot and who's not in the year 2008, the time of year when magazines run articles called things like "The Class Of 2008" and include bands that you were listening to last year. Because, let's face it, you're a hip indie bastard. But in this post 9/11, post-Web 2.0 age, there's so many bands to listen it's almost impossible to know who to look out for, who to name drop and who to avoid; it's getting harder and harder to tell your Twang from your Tunng. In order to help you wade through such shit as Jo Lean And The Jing Jang Jongs and find some good new bands, I've assembled this handy guide to hip new(ish) bands for 2008. GO!<br /><br><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny Foreigner</span> - <span style="font-style: italic;">Champagne Girls I Have Known</span><br />We kick off proceedings with this little nugget of noisey indie rock. Johnny Foreigner manage to sound like all the good shouty indie bands of yesteryear with out sounding like they belong in 1998. A kin to Idlewild when they could be described as "a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs" with some added nods to Cap'n Jazz. So all in all pretty good.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fuck Buttons</span> - <span style="font-style: italic;">Bright Tomorrow</span><br />Up next we have the indie hipster's noise band of choice, Fuck Buttons. Recently signed to ATP Recordings this song is the lead track from their debut picture disc, released last year. Avoiding the typcial noise band route of yelling into a microphone whilst playing with a delay pedal, Fuck Buttons create semi-ambient drones from layers of keyboard loops and tribal drums before adding some yelling into a microphone. If you're going to namedrop them, just describe them as drone.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DANANANANAYKROYD</span> -<span style="font-style: italic;"> Song 1 Puzzle</span><br />So far DANANANANAYKROYD have released two 7"s, both of which are sold out. They debut ep comes out on Jealous Records in March. An important thing to note is that they have changed singers since those vinyl releases. This gives you plenty of opportunity to maximize your indie credibility - if their name ever comes up in conversation simply say "Oh yeah those guys - I only really like their early stuff with the original singer; you know the guy from Kill Yourself?". With this one sentence, your friends and relatives will know that you are far cooler and hipper than they could ever be. You are indie. They are not.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Campesinos!</span> - <span style="font-style: italic;">Death To Los Campesinos!</span><br />Finally, we have a band who need no introduction. If you don't know who they are then frankly you should not be on the blogosphere. If you need a bit of an introduction, they're from Cardiff, they got signed after 14 gigs and their demo set the internet on fire. Sounding like a combination of Broken Social Scene, Pavement and any other indie rock band you could think of, LC! release their debut album in February. This gives you a month or so to tell people that you liked them before they got popular. But you probably blogged about their demo didn't you?<br /><a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/t758ng"><br />Here are the songs.</a></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-54688002163811040702008-01-03T12:47:00.000-08:002008-01-03T13:18:56.693-08:00A New Start<span style="font-size:85%;">With the start of the New Year, I thought I’d redo the old blog. The original idea was for me to keep a record of every band I saw over the past year, which, whilst a good idea in theory, proved to be a lot harder in practice. Writing something mildly entertaining about every single gig gets a little tiresome, especially when most bands inspire little more than a “meh”. So I’m going to stop talking about every band and every gig; from now on it’s only the good ones. Or the really bad ones, which leads me to my brand new feature, hilariously titled “Congratulations! Your Band Sucks!”</span><br /><br /><a href="http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/tempingasashaman/?action=view¤t=BAND2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/tempingasashaman/BAND2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">This month’s lucky band is a four piece band from Sheffield called Flat Pack Heroes.<br />Picture the scene: you’re planning to go and see Liars, you think you’ve timed your arrival in such a way that you won’t have to endure the local support band. You arrive at the venue. You hear a band playing. Worried that you’ve missed the start of the band you plan to see, you hurry through to the stage where instead of seeing the familiar sight of Liars, you’re greeted by the unfamiliar sight of four boys, two of whom are topless, playing something that is best described as bad punk; a band who you cannot take your eyes off, who demand your attention, not because of how good they are but simply by virtue of the fact that they seem to be doing so many things wrong. That band ladies and gentlemen is Flat Pack Heroes.<br /><br />The obvious place to start is the music – Flat Pack Heroes are best described as a punk band, in that the music they play bears the most resemblance to the Sex Pistols. However, to say they’re a punk band is to give them too much credit. The attitudes and ideas that are implied by the phrase punk seem to be lost on them. In the same way that a gig promoter will excuse poor turnouts, poor payment for bands, poor equipment and poor venues with the excuse that it’s “rock and roll,” Flat Pack Heroes excuse their poor musical output as “punk.” They represent everything bad about punk, right down to the singer’s Johnny Rotten impersonations. It slowly dawned on me that this one was one of the worst bands I’d ever seen, joining the ranks of The Charlie Brown Story, Bickle’s Cab and The Stereophonics. Not only that, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen them.<br /><br />About two years ago, my old band did a gig in Cheltenham. One of the local support bands was called The Labels. They had their own banner made from an old Union Jack with The Labels written across it. They also did a cover of “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor”. I think they must have taken a lot of cues from The Arctic Monkeys because they’ve since re-located to Sheffield and renamed themselves Flat Pack Heroes (that bit was probably obvious). They’ve also made an attempt at social realism. I’ve never known a band to miss understand the point of social realism in lyrics – you write a song that the general public can relate to, most likely about how their life is depressing and unfulfilling but your life is great because you get to live your dream of playing in a band until you get dropped a year later (hello Little Man Tate). Even that guy from The Enemy can manage it. You listen to a Pulp record and go from there (or in the case of The Enemy, you steal wholeheartedly from The Jam). Not the Flat Pack Heroes. The best they manage is the charming couplet “She’s a slag/But I bet you’ve had her”. Just read that again to take in how bad it is. And that was the hook in the song. They also managed to name check Topshop, Facebook and Myspace all in one song. Once again they’ve missed the entire point.<br /><br />The final nail in the coffin of their set came just before they played their last song. They mentioned they had a free demo cd available. This is a good idea. They then proceeded to throw copies of said demo into the crowd. The crowd consisted of about 30 people; only about 10 of these were stood anywhere near the front or paying any sort of attention to the band. You could hear the clatter of unwanted cds hitting the floor. I think one hit a girl on the head. I feel privileged to have witnessed such a desperate plea for recognition. In fact, I feel privileged to have seen such a terrible band.<br /><br />Did I mention that two of them were topless?<br /><br /><br /><br />More brilliant features to follow, including Hot New Bands For 2008 and My Favourite Breaks In Music. There probably won't be any more badly done Photoshop jobs.</span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-6175905500699607072007-11-11T07:06:00.000-08:002007-11-16T12:58:59.840-08:00Too Many Gigs<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The National/St. Vincent @ The Leadmill, Sheffield 3/11</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Deerhunter/This Ain't Vegas/To My Bones/some other band @ Bar Saki, Manchester 7/11</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Antelope/This Ain't Vegas/Heart/YEAH/Up! Periscope @ The Red House, Sheffield 8/11</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Yell/The Tigerpicks @ Razor Stiletto, Sheffield 10/11</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Situationists/Just Ben @ The Harley, Sheffield 12/11</span><br /><br />After a quick count it seems that in the space of nine days I've seen 14 bands; and of those 14, 2 were very good, 4 were good, 3 were passable, 2 were bad and 1 straight up sucked. I'm sure you're itching to know who's who, so let me tell you - The Tigerpicks were the worst. I might go as far as saying they were the worst band I've seen all year. Having been to Razor Stiletto before, I never go expecting to see anyone good play but usually bands get a good reception thanks to the "excited" (read: high) few in the crowd. However, when you're playing to a full venue and not even the non-sober people are clapping for you, you must be doing something wrong. And they were - it was a sort of Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets The Klaxons thing but without anything interesting. It spoke volumes that they'd just been signed to Sony. If there was ever a more obvious attempt at a label trying to find a marketable band and make some quick cash I'd be surprised. The Tigerpicks have everything that is so hot right now - 2 yelping girls, a laptop instead of a drummer, one guy on keyboard who's been given a trendy angular haircut, another guy on bass who's been told that he has to be the "New Rave" guy in the band so is wearing all white with a bit of neon and absolutely no songs, hooks or charisma. I fell like I should be meaner about this band but I simply can't - they're obviously going to go nowhere and get dropped faster than you can say "Jocasta" that it seems pointless. Having said that I dismissed The Pigeon Detectives as a mere Strokes copy and look where they are now. What can you do? Make fun of them on teh internets, that's what. And now onto the good bands.<br /><br />For a band who released an album as good as "Alligator", putting out a follow up record must be a daunting task. Do you try and go for something bigger and bolder or do you try for something more understated? The National went for the latter, putting out "Boxer" earlier this year, a much more sedate affair compared to its predecessor. Obviously, as with any good live band, the quieter songs take on a much rawer edge live; basically The National are really good live. Their encore was a bit too long - they should have finished with "Mr November". Add to standing next to OB and Lee Hunter of Hollyoaks, I would say a good night all round. Lee Hunter seemed annoyed by the people talking in front of him. Someone tell heat magazine.<br /><br />Bar Saki didn't play host to any minor soap stars but it did have Deerhunter there. Personally I would have enjoyed seeing someone from Coronation Street nodding out to the wall of sound coming from the stage area, but it was not to be. Instead, Deerhunter put in a fine performance and perfectly demonstrated why Cryptograms is one of the top 3 albums released this year. It would be a good point here to mention shoe gaze, since I believe it's making a comeback, MBV reunion and all. Deerhunter make use of the standard tools of reverb, delay and big walls of sound but add some subtle hi hats into the mix, providing a nice backbeat to the sheets of guitar noise. I don't really need to tel you this - you're reading a blog so chances are you own (or at least downloaded) Cryptograms.<br /><br />Regular readers of this blog (as if there is such a thing) will no doubt notice the frequency with which I see heart/YEAH. Well I saw them again but this time they played some new songs. Their new stuff is a lot more poppy, one song in particular recalls Warren's pop punk roots with an added twist of Bruce Springsteen thrown in for good measure. The set opener, features some great guitar work from Jack. If they play your town, and by your town I mean Sheffield, I urge you to go and see them.<br /><br />A special mention goes to Up! Periscope, who I've never seen before but they were very good. Quite like Hella or Don Caballero. Their stuff on myspace doesn't real do them full justice but I shall link anyway. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/upperiscope">Link.</a><br /><br />So that's it for another week or so. I don't have any more gigs in my calender. Apart from My Bloody Valentine. Which is in June. Fucking june. Buying tickets in advance makes me feel uneasy.<br /><br />If I form any more opinions on any more bands I shall write. Bye for now.</span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-22610220810427424222007-11-04T10:39:00.000-08:002007-11-04T12:45:02.878-08:00You! Me! Fuzztival!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hiem/Grammatics @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 25/10</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fuzztival @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 27/10</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rolo Tomassi, Actioner, Jonny Park @ The Casbah, 31/10</span><br /><br />So you're probably thinking "What's a Fuzztival?" Well, it's a clever combination of Fuzz Club and a festival, hence Fuzztival. See what they've down there? Dead clever. Anyway, spending a whole day in Fuzz Club can get a bit much so it's best to pace yourself and maybe avoid the breadcakes. As for the bands, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Situationists</span> were good, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pete And The Pirates</span> definitely played, <span style="font-weight: bold;">You Say Party! We Say Die!</span> suffered from the terrible Fuzz sound, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Calf By Calf</span> sounding almost exactly like Lightning Bolt which is no bad thing and then there was the headline bands, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Los Campesinos!</span> who may be one of the indie-est bands in existence at the moment. They name check K Records, Calvin Johnson, Ian Mackaye and Henry Rollins all in one song. They are twee as fuck. They even play an obscure Pavement song. And their drummer is shit. Does it get any more indie?<br /><br />Prior to seeing LC! I'd had some reservations about them; the fact that they sound quite a lot like Broken Social Scene, the fact that they got signed after 14 gigs, and the whole twee, self referential nature of their lyrics. After seeing them, I conclude that, whilst they do sound a lot like BSS (not a bad thing) they're not just a carbon copy. Their set included nods to post-rock, a brief Sonic Youth style noise section and Pavement. Lots of Pavement. That they got signed after only 14 gigs does come through in their performance - had they had a bit more time to develop their sound they probably wouldn't be stuck with some of the dud songs that pepper their set and being so obvious in some of their lyrical references; naming your only ballad "Knee Deep At ATP" doesn't exactly scream subtlety. But what can you do? In this Web 2.0 age, LC! might be the perfect band - they're big on the internet, their songs are about other songs or bands, they all wear band t-shirts, they're actually pretty good, there seems to be at least a little sense of irony (maybe) - in fact, I may christen them "Blog-Rock", which is a new genre I have just invented. So watch out for that. It's almost as good as Puzzle Pop.<br /><br />As for Hiem, a special thought should go out to them. They've been playing Fuzz Club ever year for the past 4 years, always playing the same songs, still dining out on "Chelsea" being NME Single Of The Week a couple of years, always sucking and seemingly never playing a gig any where else all year. But this year they came on to a Sigur Ros song. That's about it. I think they may be slightly fatter. Good work guys.<br /><br />And a final word on Rolo Tomassi. For a group of 18 year olds they can play. Good costumes as well. I think the guitarist might have been dressed as one of Sunn o))). The Casbah was hosting the rock society's Halloween party and they seemed to freak out quite a few heavy metal types so that must be quite an achievement. If you take anything from this slightly crappy entry, it should be to go and see Rolo Tomassi. They're always on tour so it's not like you won't have the chance. Although if you don't like The Locust then you probably won't like them, so go see Los Campesinos!<br /><br /><br /><br />BYE!<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-86686665548957555412007-10-25T11:18:00.000-07:002007-10-27T05:33:35.291-07:00Meet Me Where The Sweat Descends<span style="font-size:85%;">Les Savy Fav/Clockwork @ Bar Academy, Manchester, 21/10<br /><br />On record Les Savy Fav are one the best post-punk bands around, almost wholly responsible for the “Brooklyn sound”, the sound of angular, delay ridden guitars and danceable rythms. Live, however, Les Savy Fav essentially become the Tim Harrington show – a one man lesson in how to be to be the perfect frontman. That’s not to dismiss the rest of the band, who play as tightly and aggressively as any new band on the block and not like a band who’ve been together for upwards of ten years. But when your singer is half naked and stood delivering his vocals from the middle of the crowd, you’re going to take a back seat.<br /><br />Opener “The Equestrian” sees Harrington come onstage wearing a top hat, cloak, and a mask made of tights. As the band tears through what is probably the best song on their new record, Harrington slows removes his costume whilst delivering a vocal about sex and horse riding. By the end of the second song, he is semi-naked and running about the crowd. The rest of the band seem nonplussed, playing on as if nothing special is going on. It would be possible to claim that such behaviour suggests that Harrington's stage moves are rehearsed but there is a level of excitement in his face and stage banter, an excitement that many bands lack, which suggests that he's acting this way because he is enjoying himself as much as the crowd dancing at the front. To the people standing still at the back, who look like they're "updating their blogs", Tim sings "Yawn, Yawn, Yawn" from the sound desk, and encourages them to join in on the heart-shape hand waving during "We'll Make A Lover Of You"; not only do LSF rock the party, but they rock it and include everyone.<br />More stage theatrics include multiple shirt shaping, a costume made up of cricket equipment and Tim marrying two members of the audience.<br /><br />As for the songs they play,most of the set is made up of material from the new record Let's Stay Friends. Whilst on record some of the tracks sound a bit flat, they all come good live, particularly the dead sexy vibe of "Patty Lee" and the final call of "nineteen-ninety nine, nineteen-ninety nine's alright" during "The Year Before The Year 2000"; the frankly awesome "Raging In The Plague Age" sees a single audience member get on stage and reveal himself to everyone present. If you're going to try and upstage LSF try not to get thrown out. And the we have the encore. One more costume change and they're back on; ripping through "Who Rocks The Party" (clue: Les Savy Fav rock the party) and going straight into an awesome rendition of "ROME". And then it's all over as quickly as it begun. Simply, LSF are better than pretty much any band around. Here's to next year's ATP.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/px0xop">Les Savy Fav - "ROME"</a></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-3595489480457314472007-10-16T11:55:00.000-07:002007-10-16T13:11:38.907-07:00Caught By The Fuzz<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Strange Death Of Liberal England @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield 27/9</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Brakes/The Xcerts @ Fuzz Club, Sheffield, 4/10</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Rascals @ Fuzz club, Sheffield, 11/10</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foals/Cut Off Your Hands/The Great Eskimo Hoax @ Plug 10/10</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">White Mice/some other guys om laptops @ The Red House 15/10</span><br /><br><br />The new University year sees the return of Fuzz club, a good excuse to go out and watch a crappy band with bad sound and then dance to some indie hits and get beer spilt on your jeans and shoes. The first three weeks of this year don't disappoint - Strange Death Of Liberal England sound terrible and seem so much worse than the last time I saw them, despite them playing exactly the same set; maybe their performance losing something in a venue as large as Fusion or maybe their poor man's Silver Mont Zion shtick was more obvious. Brakes and The Xcerts were both bad and The Rascals were so bad that no-one bothered to clap them. Being friends with Alex Turner doesn't guarantee you tunes. Just look at Milburn.<br />As always, the indie disco provided some interesting song choices. Steve Lamacq playing Supergrass' "Caught By The Fuzz", whilst highly appreciated by the slightly older attendees, did seem an odd choice; a quick bit of maths tells me that any freshers present would have been about 8 when it came out. I'm not sure what my point is - maybe that I'm getting old. Another interesting one was Foals getting played fairly late into the night. That's the power of Yoof TV for you.<br /><br />Speaking of Foals (subtle link, no?), their gig at Plug was an exciting affair. At least it was for the kids down the front. Once again the power of Yoof TV - it kind of reminds me of the speech at the end of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzBgZZzdrxk&mode=related&search=">this video</a>. But maybe I'm too cynical. I was stood at the back. The less jaded me would probably accept the Ian Williams guitar worship and post-punk drum beats and be glad that it's not another band that sound like The Libertines. But I'm jaded and cynical so as far as I can see they only have one song and it goes bum-tish-bum-tish with some guitars that sound like they belong on American Don. One Foals song is good. 8 Foals songs are grating and repetitive.<br /><br />As for White Mice, the half hour spent wondering around Sheffield trying to find the venue and the subsequent hour or so wait for any sort of band to play was rewarded with a fine set of noise rock, fairly reminiscent of Lightning Bolt but with added noise. Such are the wonders of DIY.<br /><br />That's your lot for now. Sunday is Les Savy Fav in Manchester. Let's hope I have more to say about that.</span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-64042934207581621942007-09-24T15:03:00.000-07:002007-09-26T10:05:55.777-07:00The Saddest Platform<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Tired Irie/Rotary Ten @ The Charlotte, Leicester 8/9<br />Nathaniel Green/The Little Explorer/This Ain't Vegas/Spy Versus Spy @ The Cricketers Arms, Sheffield 9/9<br />Heart Yeah/Fury Of The Headteachers/So So Modern @ Corporation, Sheffield 12/9<br />Gossamer Albatross/Wow! She Must Be A Hundred Feet Tall/Napoleon IIIrd @ The Raynor Lounge, Sheffield 28/9<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />I've been avoiding updating this here blog for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure why - given that the Spy Versus Spy gig I went to was probably the best gig I've been to, you'd think I'd have some interesting things to write. But I don't. I'm literally without speech.<br /><br />I thought about writing about "puzzle pop" which is a new genre the NME has invented. As far as I can see, it's code for bands what sound a bit like Battles or are a bit math-rock and have lots of equipment. So that's So So Modern (Time signatures + Devo + lots of keyboards), Tired Irie (Battles + expensive equipment - good ideas) and Foals (Battles + aluminium necked guitar + "American Don").<br /><br />My other thought was to write about Spy Versus Spy being brilliant and a discussion on finger pointing and emo mosh. But I'm not going to. This is turning out to be a bad blog. My only excuse is that I'm ill. Which I am.<br /><br />I shall finish with a request: if anyone reads this and plays the drum, email me.<br /></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-21844595988356997132007-09-13T12:07:00.000-07:002007-09-13T12:21:12.280-07:00Don't Look Back<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sonic Youth/Cars Sick Cars @ The Roundhouse, Camden 31/08</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rotary Ten/Battle/Kubichek! @ The Leadmill, Sheffield 3/09</span><br /><br /><br />The idea behind the Don’t Look Back gigs is a simple one: a band, possibly reunited, performs a classic album, from start to finish, for a one-off gig. So tonight we see Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation in full – good idea on paper, not necessarily as good in practice.<br /><p><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Unlike most of the bands playing a Don’t Look Back gig, Sonic Youth are still together and releasing material, most recently 2006’s Rather Ripped. So it’s no surprise that during certain parts of their performance they look a little subdued, like they’re not really enjoying playing songs from an album released almost 20 years ago, some of which they’ve not played since recording. And sure, they may be rubbing their guitars on speaker stacks, but do they really mean it? They’ve already admitted that they weren’t keen on the idea and that they’re partly motivated by money (Daydream Nation pays rent), but will the performance equal the album as a “classic”? The unfortunate answer is, no, it probably won’t.</span><p><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Certainly very few bands can start a set with such a one two punch as “Teenage Riot” into “Silver Rocket”, both with added noise parts, which see Lee and Thurston attacking the stage and each other with their guitars, but some songs, in particular a couple of Kim’s fall short of the mark, with sloppy changes and bored looks. Steve Shelley’s drumming drives the band through the whole set, bringing even the less rousing renditions up a notch. Both “Hey Joni” and “Eric’s Trip” see an animated Lee taking lead vocal, adlibbing beat poetry whilst Thurston plays his guitar with a drumstick, providing some of the highlights of the set. One thing that becomes more obviously when seeing Daydream Nation being played in a live setting is that it is a long album; however, album closer “Trilogy” provides as atrong a closer as “Teenage Riot” is an opener.</span><p><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">The encore sees a more talkative Sonic Youth (plus mark ibold on bass) running through the better parts of Rather Ripped. For a band that are more likely to be forward thinking than to rest on their past glories, the encore sees more smiles and talking than the previous 70 minutes. A final rendition of “Schizophrenia” and the Sonic Youth leave the stage. </span><p><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Whilst not as great a gig as it could have been, Sonic Youth certainly didn’t disappoint; it was still better than what most bands manage on an average night. It’s worth bearing in mind that a Don’t Look Back gig isn’t a typical gig; the majority of albums aren’t recorded with the intent of being played live in exactly the same way so they’re best seen as a kind of one-off rather than a typical gig and when the audience can anticipate every song, chord, vocal or cymbal hit, having lived with the record and held it in such esteem is it really possible for a band to live up to such expectations. This also begs the question that given that the everyone knows what song will be first last and and in between, then why didn’t everyone go to the bar during “Providence”?<br /><a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/iwbq7h"><p><br><br /><br />Sonic Youth - Eric's Trip</a> (This isn't from the Don't Look Back show, but I felt i should include an mp3 of some sort).<br /></span><br /></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-58045641512722419892007-08-25T06:39:00.000-07:002007-08-28T13:26:23.275-07:00Totally Natural<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead/Smokers Die Younger @ The Leadmill, Sheffiled 20/08</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />When a band such as ..Trail Of Dead, a band known for their ferocious live show, starts <br />to dismiss the idea of playing live as having "no rewards" you know something's a miss. And when said band performs an entire song with the singer being held aloft by fans, you have to wounder what the hell they were talking about<br /><br />Trail Of Dead have definitely seem better days - they're playing in the little room of the Leadmill, which holds about 200 people, and their last album, the appropriately titled "So Divided", was widely panned. It speaks volumes that their set list contains no songs taken from that LP. Instead, Trail Of Dead treat us to choice cuts from their first 4 albums. I would say "hits" but they didn't play "A Perfect Teenhood". What's with that?<br /><br />Confined to such a tiny stage, Trail Of Dead's usual appetite for destruction is limited by the mass of equipment. Instead, the songs get a more focused work out. A more than enthusiastic crowd makes up for any lack of movement on stage, leaving some nervous looking bouncers (and one grinning tech) after one too many back-flip-come-stage-dives. The songs from that come from the under rated "Worlds Apart" get beefed up and rocked out, especially "Caterwaul" which sees singer/drummer Jason leave his kit for the safety of the audiences hands for most of the song. "Totally Natural" gets an extended breakdown/build up, providing a spectacular ending to a set, one which most bands would be proud of. But not Trail Of Dead. The house lights come on, the pa starts playing the new Bloc Party album, and Trail Of Dead come back on stage to play "Mistakes And Regrets". The strict live curfew long gone, Trail Of Dead play what is probably their biggest hit with more passion than you'd expect from a band who are disillusioned with playing live. As the last chord rings out, half the band leave the stage, along with the mics. But not Jason and Conrad - they treat us to a version of "Richter Scale Madness" with one guitar and drums and vocals being yelled into thin air. Midway through the song the power is cut. As the drums clatter to a halt, the rest of the band leaves the stage safe in the knowledge that few bands can top them as a live band.<br /><br />So what if they didn't trash their equipment?Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-928488788945367442.post-11328483506970920322007-08-23T16:04:00.000-07:002007-08-23T16:12:02.622-07:00REDCARSGOFASTER ARE FUCKING DEAD!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This post is dedicated entirely to Matt's wonderful final words on redcarsgofaster. It is a lovely piece of writing about what made up and took over the last four years of my life. I don't really have much to add. I feel old.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It's </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://thedirtistemporary.blogspot.com/2007/08/redcarsgofaster-are-fucking-dead.html">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07579543376089052514noreply@blogger.com1