Issue #10 July 2006
Click the headline to unveil the full story
"It`s something that our old guitar player used to say about us," says Pelland when quizzed about the origin of the album`s title "and I think to a few people in the industry that`s what we could be seen as.". "Which is kind of what we felt like sometimes." Donoso says, picking up the story "We had an EP out a few years ago called `Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique`, and the title was a reaction to the way people always want to label you and pigeonhole you in this industry. And the title of the EP was the joke, yet people in the industry still refer to our music as the title of this EP we had out years ago in a dismissive kind of way. I`m not saying that everybody in the industry is like that, but quite a lot of them are.". It must be difficult for a band like The Dears to compete (if they are competing that is) against this tide of opinion in an industry that likes it`s bands to come in nice, compact packages that tick the right boxes and send `The Kids` nuts. It riles Pelland. "A good example of how the industry works is all of these punk pop bands that are around at the moment. A load of bands that are usually suburban rich kids playing music that they and the industry like to describe as punk. There`s a major problem right there. I don`t know how they can do it.". "Punk to me is more of an attitude than a type of music. We know some jazz musicians from back home who are more punk in attitude than any of the so-called `punk` bands that are around at the moment.". It`s clear to see that The Dears care passionately and believe in the music they are making, regardless of what the industry thinks if them. If they don`t look like a typical band, then how can they be a proper band? "I don`t think that we have the typical look that many bands have," Pelland continues "I mean, we have a black guy in the band, we have girls in the band, we have chico over there [he points at Donoso, who laughs], we`re just a weird bunch of people.". A ragtag collective, then? "We prefer the term `Bendetton Band`, actually." Donoso says, before he and Pelland burst out laughing.
It`s clear that this group of outsiders are as tight as it comes. Although most of the actual song writing is carried out by lead singer Murray Lightburn, you get the sense that this band are a solid unit, rather than the revolving-door collective that they once were. The new album was recorded in their basement studio after the touring that accompanied their last album (2004`s `No Cities Left`), and the mood was relaxed and this is reflected in the mood and pace of the album. Whereas parts of `No Cities Left` were ambitious and slightly epic in nature, `Gang Of Losers` is a much more organic, stripped down affair, and what is noticeable is that the song writing really comes to the fore. I guess that`s what happens in a studio when there`s no room to hide behind the mixing desk. "We came off tour in July, and then we had a break." Denoso says "and we went back into the studio in September. We started slowly working on songs, and then we finally started recording the album around December.". "December 21st to be exact." adds Pelland. So did the time of reap obvious benefits in the studio? "Yeah, the pre-production stage of the album was pretty cool.. We just spent a few weeks away, not doing anything music-related at all, and when we all met up again, everything came together really well. It`s really easy to get busy in this industry. Bands tour when they`re not supposed to tour, and then the record company want the bands to come off a huge tour and record a new record straight away. We could have toured in the fall, but we didn`t and I`m glad because it meant that we didn`t have to rush the album". And the quality of the album reflects this attitude towards recording perfectly. It sounds more intimate, more together, more organic than perhaps their previous record sounded. "I guess we wanted the record to be more representative of how we sound live than a record with lots of needless production," says Denoso "we wanted to play and record the songs how they would be played live.". "`Lost Cities` was very ambitious, there was a lot of stuff on that record," Pelland continues "and I wanted the record to sound how we sounded on the road. After performing together live for so long, you start to form a real musical bond, you come together as musicians, and it`s so much better to record to together than to record drums, then bass, then keyboards and so on. That`s the way most records are produced nowadays. Too much thought is put into the production process, it`s like `right, we strum for the verse, use fingers for the chorus` and we didn`t want to record it like that. We wanted to record it together, and it really helped to bring the whole album together.". The results are staggering. Tracks such as `Whites Only Party` and `Bandwagoneers` sound more fresh and intimate than much of the material on `No More Cities`. Musically, The Dears have taken a step back from the expensive studios and the `grand sound` that so many records have these days, but if anything it`s helped them to show us that their music has a heartbeat that cannot be stilled. The record is a real step forward for the group, and they`re very happy with it, and are looking forward to touring the record, especially over here in England. This is clearly evident when the band play a sold-out show at The ICA a couple of days later. They take a cold crowd who are unfamiliar with so many of the songs they are performing, and by the end of the night they have them crying out for more. They even close the show with a long instrumental, which I dubbed `The Life Aquatic With Murray Lightburn`. But that`s the magic of The Dears music; they are an island all by themselves, and being out of step with current musical trends has rarely sounded as beautiful and poignant. "We love the touring experience." Pelland tells me before they disappear on a night out on the town (which they very kindly invite me on - I decline, as I look and feel like a shabby, unshaved Thunderbird puppet) "I love touring, but I forgot that a couple of days ago when I was going over the band`s accounts with someone. I was saying `I`ve got to go to London in a couple of days, but we don`t have a show until a few days after that, we could still be in Montreal for a couple of extra days really`. And the person I was doing the accounts with looked at me and said `Oh it must be SO hard to have to go to London on tour`. I then realised how much I loved it really!".
The Dears: intense in tents at a festival near you soon.
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
"I love London."
"…"
I`m finding it very hard to talk to Matt Oliver, front man of Sound Team, the Texan collective who fuse college rock, electro and Motown atmospherics with such frightening ease. It`s not because I don`t like him, or that he doesn`t like me; it`s just so different that I`m struggling to communicate with him. Words flow out of my mouth before I can stop them.
"Yeah, London`s like a wealthy old dowager. It may be rich in history, but it still smells a bit."
"…"
He looks at me. I`m baffled too, to be honest. If I was talking to an English band, I`m sure that this interview wouldn`t be a problem. Beers would be ordered, touring stories of girls and drunken fistfights would be told, and everybody would have a good laugh. Just don`t mention the music. British bands would rather talk about anything rather than the music. Fuck-Fight-Play Live, just don`t ask us about the creative process. Thankfully, Matt Oliver is more interested in the instrument shop three minutes away from The Barfly than telling me about his touring conquests. His only vaguely rockstar-esque indulgence is the rather fetching pair of sunglasses on the end of his nose. But then again, it is sunny outside. So we enter the shop, and he disappears into the back room to play around with various stringed instruments. It`s time for me to pull my tongue out of my mouth (which feels like it`s filled with toilet paper), and ask him how this show got on the road.
"Bill (Baird, bass) and I met in Austin, where there`s quite a big music scene. We`d played in lots of different bands before we got together. We started writing songs together on a four-track. Sam (Sanford, guitarist) moved down from Portland, and Jordan (Johns, drummer) & Michael (Baird, Bills brother and synth wizard) who grew up in San Antonio, which is just down the road from us.". Texas has become somewhat of a hotbed of musical talent over the past few years, especially with festivals and showcases such as South By Southwest I say, but Matt is quick to correct me on that count. " There is a lot of great music coming out of Texas at the moment, but I think that there`s always been great music coming out of Texas. The Robert Johnson recordings, `Blind` Lemon Jefferson and Daniel Johnston, all of these people were just amazing song… freaks.". And fond of travelling too, I point out to Matt, barring Johnston of course. He agrees. "I do think that we`re going to see a new era of travelling musicians in the future, especially now that anybody can make music with a computer and a drum machine. However, it`s really easy for a young kid to make a track that sounds like a cell phone ringtone, but I can imagine that it wouldn`t be very compelling watching the kid travelling around playing the ringtone to audiences." He`s obviously never taken the Number 29 before…
Sound Team may have signed to a major label over here in the UK, but make no mistake, they are no strangers to the DIY work ethic that Matt is talking about. After forming, the band released a series of 7-inches and cassettes (remember them?),whilst touring incessantly. When not on tour, the band worked all the hours they could in whatever jobs they could until they finally had enough money to convert an old record-pressing plant into their own rehearsal space and recording studio. It`s hard to imagine bands doing this sort of thing today, when you can record a track and have it up on Myspace within a matter of minutes. It must have been a hard slog. "Well, we did it because we didn`t know what else to do." Matt says "Although we`re signed to a huge major label so we`re not so DIY any more, but we still look after everything we can though. We handle all of the recording, Sam does all of the art work, and we still maintain our own website. We`re really lucky that the label trusts us as much as they do.". So they`re not going to try and gimmick you up by making you all dress as Mexican wrestlers then? "That sounds pretty promising actually. I`ll have to present that idea to them. If we all dressed up as Lucha Libre… What`s this here?" Whilst we have been talking, Mat has been feeling his was around the store, trying out every instrument he can lay his hands on. The instrument in question is a chorded zither, and Matt is fascinated by it. "This sound [strum] reminds me of all of the Carter Family recordings. We`ve got a great Carter Family recording that we all listen to a bunch, and it`s got Ma Carter playing an auto harp on it, and it sounds like this. I think she would have got a kick out of playing this, oh, and this…".
Throughout our conversation, I couldn`t help but warm to Matt`s attitude towards music. Like I said earlier, most British bands I talk to would be happy sitting in a pub getting shit-faced and making bad puns about Pete Doherty`s drug habit (later on, when I tell Matt that being 22 is considered quite old in the current British musical climate, he laughs and says "Nobody ever makes great music when they`re seventeen. Certainly not timeless music. How can you when half of the things you are singing about haven`t even happened to you yet?"). Matt took me to a MUSIC shop to talk about MUSIC. He plucks guitars, plays with instruments that I`ve never even seen before, and sounds really disappointed that he couldn`t bring a particular piece of kit on tour with him. "We`ve had to rent all of the keyboards for this tour because we couldn`t fly with the really old piano we usually tour with over in the states. It`s a Wurlitzer, the same kind that Ray Charles used to play. We prefer the way old keyboards sound, because every one of them has a different personality. We don`t hate new keyboards as such; it`s just that the older, handmade keyboards that have different qualities, and because they were made by hand each one has a different sound.".
A band and that loves old instruments, but aren`t afraid of techno and electro? What`s going on! "It`s not about techno, electro or folk music; we love any kind of music that has magnetism, and is played with passion. We never set out to make rock music with synthesisers, but not in a carnival-esque, cheesy or obvious way.". And he`s right. Later on that evening a half-empty Barfly is treated to one of the most visceral displays of aural energy this writer has seen in a very long time. Taking to the stage with a simple "We are Sound Team, and we are quite loud.", the band rip into a performance that brings to mind many musical touch points without bein derivative, and they even manage to carve out a few new ones of their own. Tracks like `TV Torso`, `The Fastest Man Alive` and `Your Eyes Are Liars` hum with a distinctive post-punk voltage, but without reverting to cliches or tried and tested structures. If the talking heads had developed a fixation with jangly college rock and decided to have a jam with Ben Folds and Modest Mouse, you`d only be halfway towards describing their sound. After a furious, compelling and kinetic set that runs through many highlights from their forthcoming debut album `Movie Monster`, the band exit the stage and head immediately to a gaggle of friends that have flown in to surprise them at the gig tonight. The rest of us are left wondering where the hell our hearing has got to. Sound Team: their potential is deafening, and they`re making all the right noises. Don`t miss out.
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
Why did the psudonym Bob Sinclar grab you?
I took the name from a French film called Le Magnifique with Jean Paul Belmondo, and in the movie Belmondo plays two guys. One of them, Francois Merlin, is a writer who lives his life through his books – which are about a French superhero, kind of like a French James Bond – he lives his life imagining he is a spy and has all these girls all around the world, but in fact he is living in a very small flat and he is really poor.
The other is the hero in his books, Bob Saint-Claire, who the girl next door starts to fall in love with. I really liked the way that these two completely different characters were actually, in a way, the same guy.So basically with me, Christophe Le Friant is the studio guy and Bob Sinclair is the superstar DJ, the VIP.
World, Hold On is without doubt a song that has more substance to it than just a whistled riff - did you feel under pressure to produce another whistle song after the success of Love Generation?
No I did not feel any pressure at all, in fact you will soon find this out when you hear my next single ‘Rock this party’, it is completely different. Love Generation is based on a positive vibe, and it’s just a vibe that I really like. With World hold On I wanted to keep the same colour, the same atmosphere and the same message. So I just whistled the tune again and it worked perfectly and here we are.
Yellow has been a phenomenal success - what does the future hold for Yellow?
We hope that the success will continue just the same . For next year we plan to release a new Africanism project, a new salomé de bahia project and maybe one or two more single’s from the Bob Sinclar album ‘Western Dream’ This is also available for release on Defected in the UK from July 10th.
Are there any more plans for Cerrone-related releases?
We don’t have any plans to work with Cerrone at the moment, although I am sure that we will.
I Feel For You will possibly be recognised as a house classic in a few years to come. How did you feel about the multiple different mash up bootlegs of the track that came out shortly after the original release?
Usually you can gage how big a record is by the amount of bootlegs that follow it. Now that DJ’ing is so accessible kids can do it at home in their bedrooms.
Did you feel that 'Gym Tonic' was unfairly ripped off by Spacedust's immitation 'Gym & Tonic'?
I heavily disagree with bootleg versions of any record, this was a big record that had been bubbling in the clubs for a long time. We couldn’t release it as Jane Fonda was against dance at the time and wouldn’t give us clearance. Cest la Vie!
Andy J (View Original Article)
It`s 2001, and Roy Kerr (as he was known back then to his employers) was working for Her Majesties Postal service as, well, a Postman. After finishing his degree at Dundee university, he had fell into his job at royal Mail, and had watched many of his friends enter into the music or media industry with varying levels of success, leaving him very much on the outside looking in. But then a simple idea changed his life forever, in the form of the now-famous mash up of Christina Aguilera`s `Genie In A Bottle` with `Hard To Explain` by The Strokes. What started on his PC ended up on Radio 1, and almost single-handedly kicked-off the bootlegging scene that still thrives to this very day. "That track really set things off for me, it was almost like an underground number 1 single." He tells me down the phone from his north London home, "[much-missed and possibly first of its kind music blog] Boom Selection picked up on it and it was all over the world in literally quite a few days." . With an underground hit already under his belt, the gigs and the remix offers started pouring in, until making tracks and DJ`ing didn`t just become part of his life: it became his life.
"I was still a postman at the time, and it all went a bit mental. I remember once doing an after show party at the MTV awards in America with Mark Ronson, and having all of these A-List celebrities dancing to my music and hanging out, and then on the Wednesday morning being back in Bow sorting office.". Obviously, a choice needed to be made. Luckily enough for him, under his Freelance Hellraiser moniker, remix work for the likes of The Reindeer Section (fronted up by university friend and Snow Patrol front man Gary Lightbody) Ian Brown, Christina Aguilera and Shakira started to pour in, which meant he was able to quit his job at the Post Office and become a full-time Freelance Hellraiser, just like one of his big heroes, actor Oliver Reed. And the one day he got a phone call that would have changed anybodies life: so, would you like to go on tour with a Beatle? That`s a tough choice…
After submitting a mix to Paul McCartney`s management, Roy found himself in the beyond-bizarre position of going from DJ`ing in sweaty-but-great little nightspots to DJ`ing in front of hundreds of thousands of Baby Boomers all over the world. How can you expect anyone to take that calmly in their stride? "It was fucking mental being on tour with Paul McCartney," He says, still sounding as if he can barely believe it happened himself, "and he`s a really nice guy too, very down to earth, but people talk to him and treat him like a deity. He was great to me, he let me stay with him and the band on the road, not that I would have fucking complained if he shoved me on tour bus with the road crew, even though the road crew`s transportation was still pretty big. He really looks after people on tour.".
Touring with one of music`s biggest icons is one thing: but to collaborate with them is quite another thing all together. Although, the way Roy explains it to me down the phone, it seems that the route to such a collaboration is a pretty simple one, and simply involved a shitload of vodka and a little bit of male groping. "Twin Freaks came about one night whilst we were in Russia. I was DJ`ing at Paul`s birthday party, and I got absolutely out of my fucking tree and got him in a bear hug and said "We`ve got to do a fucking album together". I woke up the next morning and couldn`t really remember that much, but luckily enough he remembered." The resulting album, Twin Freaks, was a double vinyl set that took one of the most prestigious and legendary back catalogues in pop music and cut them up into new shapes to fit the dance floor. And he`s happy to have got that experience under his belt. "It was good to do the Twin Freaks album, because it gave me a lot of ideas for the new album."
Waiting For Clearance
...is Freelance Hellraiser`s debut album , and could be one of the first big rays of psychedelic dance light to shine through the current dark cloud of Topshop Britpop bands. It`s an oddity of an album; not afraid to embrace rock elements, yet equally unafraid to maintain a certain anonymity that is associated with dance music and DJ culture. Recorded in Roy`s North London attic studio in between touring commitments, it sounds like a bubble storm in the summertime, melding rock and dance in a way not unfamiliar to Primal Scream`s classic Screamadelica, and album that Roy has a lot of love for. "Screamadelica was quite a big influence on the album. I got into that album quite late on, and at first I was more into the remixes by Andy Wetherall, and Terry Farley, but then I got into the album itself, and listened to it so much it soaked into my bloodstream. It`s a record that you really should have in your record collection.". I don`t, but like the man said, it`s influence has spread so far and wide that you can recognise any track off of the album when it`s played to you, so ubiquitous has it become. Using his moniker Freelance Hellraiser as an umbrella for himself and his friends (including Snow Patrol`s Gary Lightbody, former bassist Ian Baird and Roy`s good friend and song writing partner Nigel), Kerr has crafted an album that flows coherently despite the sporadic and often testing times that went into the recording of the album, especially when you factor in his best mates band taking over the world at the same time. "I went to university with Gary and Ian, so it`s weird seeing how big Snow Patrol have got now. On one hand it`s a good thing, because Gary`s my mate, but on the other hand, it`s really difficult to pin him down sometimes, because you never know what fucking continent he`s on."
But he`s still keen to stress that the album is very much a collaborative process with him at the helm, rather than Freelance Hellraiser and GARY LIGHTBODY FROM SNOW PATROL. It`s no more, and no less than the sum of it`s parts. "I wanted the album to be a collaborative musical project. Nigel and myself would write the melodies, and then we`d send the tracks on to either Gary or Ian. I was very aware of making an album that flowed together, rather than making an album full of collaborations, you know, `Freelance Hellraiser featuring...`. I also didn`t want to go down the `famous mate` road to success, and do loads of interviews where I talk about Gary constantly. Albums like that tend not to be that cohesive Freelance Hellraiser is more of a collective than a name for my solo project. You`re not going to see posters with my face on them plastered everywhere.". How refreshing.
After a bit of spit and polish from friend and Uber-producer Garrett `Jacknife` Lee ("He understands how to use the silence bring tracks together."), it seems that Waiting For Clearance is set to soundtrack more than just a Hoxton Loft party over the coming months. It`s warm, fuzzy and loveable, but still capable of being gently epic, a lot like Digby, the worlds biggest dog. It`s also coming to a town near you. Just don`t expect the Hellraiser to be at the front of the stage shaking his thing like Mick jagger with a grade 1. "I`m putting a band together to tour the album, and it should be good. Not sure what I`m going to do in the band, though. Maybe I`ll just sit in the corner with a laptop and a cowbell. Or maybe I`ll just be like Mike Skinner and wander around the stage texting my mates, or my mum. She actually always sends me texts whilst I`m DJ`ing, sometimes at really weird times, and I think `Shouldn`t you be in bed?`. It`s always stuff like `Hiya, how are you...`."
Freelance Hellraiser: DJ, Moptop laptop collaborator and mummies little soldier. In a second class musical environment, it`s refreshing to hear an artist that can consistently deliver. Always first class.
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
Click the headline to unveil the full story
So, who's Boothy? He's a friend of the band following on the great tradition of Oasis (Digsy) and, well that's about all I can think of, of namechecking friends of the band in song titles. He's kindly opened up his front room to the band and a small number of competition winners on August 9th for a private gig, whereupon a version of the single can be downloaded via iTunes afterwards.
To be in with a chance of having a cuppa with this year's Heavy Stereo you need to visit their forum. The 'House Party at Boothy's' single is out on August 14th.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Police became suspicious when they spotted Kroeger driving erratically on June 25th. When they pulled him over, they discovered that he was driving whilst over the legal limit. Eyewitnesses cannot confirm or deny initial rumours that Kroeger was spotted earlier in the day outside a local corner shop chewing his elbow and shouting at a maibox about how he was friends with Spiderman, although they could confirm that the shaggy-haired master of the major chords was driving with a a blood alcohol level over .08, which is very naughty.
Kroeger will appear before a judge on August 25th to answer to these charges. The world holds it's breath...
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
The Beach Boys’ 12th studio album, is universally hailed as one of the most important recordings of all time.EMI to release it along with previously unseen dvd footage and unheard tracks on 28th August 2006, the 40th anniversary of its original release. It will be available digitally (including video downloads)and on double coloured vinyl with a green LP with the stereo mixs ad a yellow one with the mono mixes, which is pretty damn cool
OK it's not the first time it's been re released but it is pretty damn essential that you own a copy,even if it's the downloaded version, so CDX recommends that if you haven't got it, get it.
Nick Foster (View Original Article)
"After having warned the crowd that we would leave, and having played more than two hours, we left the stage and called it a night with the full support of everyone in the band, out guests and Management. Izzy was the first to immediately support the decision verbally to me personally before I had physically left the stage area. Tommy and Frank came to my dressing room to say how much they appreciated the decision to not continue under those conditions, and express their support for not tolerating anyone throwing items at the stage with a negative intent. This has been G N' R's policy since playing Donnington in 1998."
It sounds like they were lucky to escape with their lives. Subjecting anybody to two hours of Guns n Roses music is normally met with a far worse fate than a plastic bottle in the gob.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The record, to be called `Stop the Clocks`, will not be a simple greatest hits record, rather it will feature only the best of Oasis from all their single releases. You`d expect this to only cover those up to and including `Some Might Say` but you`d be wrong...unfortunately.
Featuring alongside singles everyone has like `Supersonic` and `Wonderwall` will be `Acquiesce`, the number one record that Noel absent-mindedly released as a b-side and `Half the World Away`, forever synonymous with unfunny sitcom The Royle Family`.
Source : NME.COM (this is funny - they describe `The Importance of Being Idle` as a classic single!)
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
"New rave" is the NME`s latest movement, bringing together like-minded, yet largely different groups...but mainly The Klaxons...and how this seems to be coinciding with the resumption of "free parties", the DIY ethic of the web allowing word of mouth to travel further than the classic "meeting on the M25" ever could.
It`s not new though, of course not, the NME`s former darlings Franz Ferdinand ran many party nights in Glasgow before breaking through as a top-selling pop band.
In the article, the NME refer to a top secret night featuring the Klaxons being broken up by police, what it does not mention is that this gig was ticket only, had been set up via ticketweb and had been publicised on a number of websites. It`s not quite the same as the late 80s / early 90s and, to paraphrase SUAD, it was £3 to get in.
Yes, raves as we knew them are still going strong, but it`s nothing to do with the NME`s latest scene...
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The 'rockumentary' (imaginatively titled 'The Towers of London') features footage of the band taken over the course of a year, including a street fight in Tokyo which proves the band is really quite rock 'n' roll really.
To quote a respected colleague: "If we ignore them for long enough, maybe they'll go away."
Bryony Jones (View Original Article)
Jason will be joined by current Spiritualized guitarist Doggen, a string quartet and a gospel choir and, the good news for fans, is he`ll also be throwing a few Spacemen 3 tracks into the performance.
The tour calls at the following venues:
Oct 20 - Salisbury Arts Centre
22 - Brighton Komedia
23 - London Queen Elizabeth Hall
24 - Colchester Arts Centre
25 - Leicester The Y
Nov 22 - Kendal Brewery Arts Centre
23 - Gateshead Sage
24 - Manchester Lowry
25 - Edinburgh Queen`s Hall
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Old school nods are still there, particularly on `In The House` which is `Rapper`s Delight` for a new age and `Brown Girl (Suga Plum)` where the group collaborate with Brick & Lace to make Boney M relevant again. That`s not to say that the group have not moved with the times with the glitchy production of `Baby Please and employing similar tactics to Kanye West in roping in the Dave Matthews Band on `Work It Out` - a move which actually brings some cool to an otherwise incredibly bland act.
All in all, it sounds like the J5 have rediscovered their mojo - but don`t take our word for it. Try these swanky e-cards to listen to the album yourself!
| Card 1 | Card 2 |
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Slayer, the legendary thrash metallers, are back with their ninth album `Christ Illusion` on August 21st through American Recordings.
The new album sees original drummer Dave Lombardo return to the fold for the first time in fifteen years. It also showcases the production skills of Josh Abraham and Rick Rubin over a ten tracks that list as : Flesh Storm’, ‘Catalyst’, ‘Eyes of the Insane’, ‘Jihad’, ‘Skeleton Christ’, ‘Consfearancy’, ‘Black Serenade’, ‘Catatonic’, ‘Cult’ and ‘Supremist’.
On top of appearances at the Reading and Leeds festivals the band will also play a short tour later this year calling in at:
October
30th – Cardiff, International Arena
November
1st – Birmingham, NEC
2nd – Glasgow, SECC
3rd – Manchester, MEN Arena
19th – London, Brixton Carling Academy
20th – London, Brixton Carling Academy
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
In a sea of Britpop mediocrity, it`s great to have McAlmost and Butler back firing on all cylinders, and if you need reminding of how great they can be, check out their Myspace site HERE to listen to a sample of their new single and tracks from their previous two albums.
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
Japan is an Island was written during Nick & Thomas` senior year in high school (2000). The majority of the lyrics were improvised during the recording and have stayed intact. Japan is a history course taught at their high school in case you wondered.
You can download it from here - Japan is an Island
Enjoy
Nick Foster (View Original Article)
The one-time wonky-legged and no-degree holding Rivers has also expressed that he isn`t going to be releasing any songs on his own blurting out that he doesn`t really "see the point" of a solo career.
Rumours that the massive light-spectacular which is their Van Halen rip-off touring W is to be turned upside down and used by Morrissey have not been confirmed yet.
Weezer leave us with two good albums (`Blue` and `Pinkerton`), two alright albums (`Green` and `Maledroit`), and one meh album (`Make Believe`) to clutch to our rock-loving hearts until their return.
They`ll be back, and we all know it.
Dan Tappin (View Original Article)
Totti led the Italian players in a celebratory acapella run through of the song`s famous riff as Italy celebrated their victory. Across Italy, as millions partied, the collaborative riff grew louder and louder as more people began singing it.
At a concert in Milan`s San Siro stadium, veteran rockers The Rolling Stones were joined by Alessandro Del Piero and the controversial Marco Materazzi to belt out `Siamo i Campioni` (`We Are the Champions` in Italian) along with the fans.
The Stripes have not commented as yet and there are no plans to re-release the single in Italy or otherwise. Rumour has it though that the Crazy Frog is alredy ding, ding, dinging across the riff in preparation for another pointless single.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The club that has been open for 30 years, will be relocating to Las Vegas in 2008. It's a sad time for the rock venue that has held host to artists such as The Ramones and Blondie.
However the club's founder Hilly Kristal wont let the soaring New York rents get to him, "I am taking the bars with me, I am taking the stage - I'm taking the urinal that Joey(Ramone) pissed in with me. I going to take a lot of things - anything that makes this place CBGBs."
The final live schedule will be announced soon with artists that have made the venue what it is today.
Natalie Lief (View Original Article)
Syd was the LSD-addled frontman of Pink Floyd until 1968 when, with the band just about to make it big following their first two albums `Piper at the Gates of Dawn` and `A Saucer Full of Secrets`, he left the band and famously boarded himself up in the basement of his mother`s house.
Syd released two solo albums following his split from the band but never returned to the limelight. The song `Shine On You Crazy Diamond` from Pink Floyd`s classic `Wish You Were Here` is widely-thought to be about him.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Chris Cain says on the band`s website, "We were feeling more and more queazy about a second re-release (the `Nobody Move` re-release having been our last single), cuz re-releases are dumb."
CDX think this is great news and hopefully an end to these dodgy tactics employed by record companies to re-promote albums which have already sold well. It should also benefit the band by putting pressure on them to record a swift follow up to their debut, thus capitalising on a fanbase who still remember who they are and haven`t moved on (yes, The Killers, you might want to think about that).
We Are Scientists have also revealed that they`ll be touring the USA this autumn in a triple header with Art Brut and The Spinto Band.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Hope to see you there!
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Unsurprisingly the winner was neither Arctic Monkeys` `Whatever People Say I Am` nor `Definitely Maybe` by Oasis which would most likely have topped similar polls in NME and Q respectively.
No, Uncut is for an audience with slightly longer memories, and probably slightly longer beards, and therefore is allowed to cast its net in a more accurate fashion. Therefore, they`ve gone for the 1967 classic by The Velvet Underground, `The Velvet Underground & Nico` which you may know better as either `Andy Warhol` or `That one with the banana on the front`. The album, which was almost universally ignored on release, features such classic tracks as `I`m Waiting For My Man`, `Venus in Furs`, `Sunday Morning` and `All Tomorrow`s Parties`.
The importance of this album in terms of what we listen to today is immeasurable as, without it, David Bowie may have remained Ziggy Stardust thus not inspiring many new wave bands and `alternative rock` as we know it would never have existed. There`d have been no Sonic Youth, which means no Nirvana to chase away the hair metal bands of the late 1980s. Yes people, this truly was a landmark album...and much as I love both `Definintely Maybe` and `Whatever People Say...`, songs about coveting a friend`s lasagne and how much you hate bouncers just aint gonna start a revolution.
The top three was completed by Television`s `Marquee Moon at two and Jimi Hendrix`s `Are You Experienced?` at three.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
He told Ross, "Being skint, drunk, paranoid, no, I don't wish that for myself. For the first time in my life I'm upping the stakes in my battle against it."
Pete believes that getting clean will allow him to get back to songwriting, which he believed suffered under his addiction which anyone who heard the second Libertines album or the Babyshambles debut would be able to attest to.
Pete is currently without a record deal with Rough Trade choosing not to extend their deal with Babyshambles, but rumours on the underground suggest another prominent label may have approached Doherty about a solo album.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Chris Jones (View Original Article)
Founder Simon Williams said, "Everywhere you turn now there is another brilliant new record company doing all these one-off singles and they probably do it a lot better than we do, so it`s time to pass on that mantle."
The label will shortly release its 189th and 190th singles which will be the last.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The highest profile casualty is Steve Lamacq's Lamacq Live show - a spin off of the former Evening Session which has run for the past eight years. The show will be replaced by a similar-content vehicle entitled 'In New Music We Trust' for popular daytime host Colin Murray. On his MySpace, Lamacq says Radio 1 have offered him a one hour weekly magazine show, but it is unclear when this would be aired.
Elsewhere Mary-Anne Hobbs says goodbye to her now rather tired 'Breezeblock' slot to front a new experimental dance music slot on thursday night. Annie Nightingale is also expected to find a new slot, moving from her current 1-3am slot on friday mornings.
The good news for CDX and our readers is that the excellent One Music shows presented by Huw Stephens and Rob Da Bank will be unaffected by the moves.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
This news is music to CDX`s ears, not least because Kasabian have given us some pretty wonderful singles over the past couple of years, but because by others following their example we may be able to end this era of hyper-promotion, new entries at number one and general chart ennui.
The band are not worried about the effect that no pre-promotion may have on sales, they believe that fans will get to hear it as and when and the record will continue to sell over a period of weeks as a result. Just like in the old days eh? Remember that - a song used to enter the chart outside the top 40 and actually climb into it!
The chances of all major labels following suit is unfortunately extremely slim, and there are no plans yet for satellite music channel B4 to be renamed After.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Akala - 'Shakespeare' (Illastate)
Just like the song it samples (2003's 'Happiness is Loneliness' by Tomcraft), 'Shakespeare' is a sure-fire summer hit - providing the radio stations hammer it as much as it deserves. One of the standout tracks on Akala's 'It's Not a Rumour', it flies the flag for the channel U-style British rap which is now head, shoulders, elbows and jewelled-belly button ahead of the tawdry hip hop which is still mass-imported from the States. Record of the week, record of the summer!
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Ali Love - 'K Hole' (I Love Records)
We've been all over Mr. Ali Love for ages here at Culture Deluxe (do keep up NME, we beat you to this one), and this week he finally gets around to releasing this supercharged slice of new-wave power pop that has been sending audiences into spasms of rapture whenever he performs.Lost In A K Hole is the soundtrack to the unreleased second Ferris Bueller movie, part Devo, part Sigue Sigue Sputnik, the results are staggeringly good. Flipside Video Dream Girl is a sunkissed AOR-rock tinged work of art that manages to sound like Elvis Costello snogging Hall & Oates. Please buy it, for pop music's sake if not your own.
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
Archie Bronson Outfit - 'Dead Funny' (Domino)
'I am a disco dancer' wails the singer of the Archie Bronson Outfit, rather like Bob Smith yelping in pain, over the top of a tune which can't decide whether it's post-punk funk like the Rapture or scuzzy Led Zep blues and, it's the tightrope that it expertly navigates which keeps it interesting from start to it's exhilarating conclusion.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The Bobby McGee's - '...Yes Please EP' (Cherryade)
For a record which sounds like it was recorded in a shoebox in Partick, the new EP from Bobby McGee's is a lot of fun...and schizophrenic, skiffle fun at that. For instance, lead track 'Ivor Cutler is Dead' is a song about two people being 'best friends' with one wanting to be much more than. It's lovely, full of the finest sentiments and when it's followed by the shouts of 'Kill yourself! Kill yourself! Why don't you just fuck off and die!' on 'Molly's Lips' (no, not a cover) it's quite a shock. In fact, by the end of the EP we've had promises of throat-slashing, eye-gouging and calls of 'fuck you and everything you stand for' over jumpy, skanking backings and you come away thinking that the Bobby McGee's really hate you, the world and each other. Even if they do hate you, it's impossible to hate them back.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 'Cursed Sleep' (Domino)
With the music world becoming saturated with a flood of "singer / songwriters" (the latest PR buzzphrase) it's even more pleasurable to welcome back Will Oldham to the fold. 'Cursed Sleep' is a country lament, distilling pathos and all the while making Paolo Nutini sound like a crap fourteen year old bedroom poet. Topped off with sweeping Tindersticks-style strings, sadness has never been this much fun.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Fields - '4 from the Village' (Black Lab)
Villages are ace. There are generally only fourteen people living there, everyone knows each other and music is always at least ten years behind them thar big cities. Which is what seems to have happened here with lead track 'Brittlesticks' - it's as if the band have been listening to nothing but Dinosaur Jr in a glorious time where Travis have yet to exist and scuzzy love songs rock and reign supreme. Then you realise that there are another three quite breathtaking songs on this record and take the whole village down to the pub to celebrate!
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The Flaming Lips - 'The W.A.N.D.' (Warner)
The second strongest song off the slightly-less-new-than-it-was-a-few-weeks-ago-album is out to take your ears with no mercy. The Flaming Lips get dirty and effects crazy on yo ass with a song about power and war and stuff.
Fuzz-tastic goodness and sing along lyrics with extra good hand clap bit near the end, it is total Flamimg Lips usuality. Nice
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Franz Ferdinand - 'Eleanor Put Your Boots On' (Domino)
One of the album tracks that shouldn't be a single , but is. (Yep, but this is a brand new re-recorded version of the song which, well isn't really an improvement. They had the chance to release the fantastic 'Outsiders' and they didn't - shame really - Ed)
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Graham Coxon - 'I Can't Look At Your Skin / What's He Got' (Parlophone)
Two 7" singles, two a sides: One punky, one less so. Both brilliant. That's not the reason to buy them. Buy them for the b-sides, or at least one of them anyway. Graham does a cover of The Libertines' Time for Heroes and it's a cracker. Taken from a Jo Whiley session this isn't the first time Graham has done this track. He's previously performed it live with Pete 'What coke, officer?' Doherty during one of his gigs. Now, if only there was a youtube link somewhere...
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Jim Noir - 'Eanie Meany (If You Don't Give Me My Football Back)' (My Dad)
Very good football based song that for some reason is being re-released the first Monday after everyone in the world stops caring. Second Monday, if your an England fan. Thank god the b-sides are tops, even Norman Cook produces a decent remix. CD extras include the Adidas advert the song's been used on. There's something wrong about that, but I can't quite figure out what. Still, if it helps him sell records...
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Justice - 'We Are Your Friends (vs Simian)' (Virgin/Ten)
Apparently this tune came about by the two Frenchies in Justice remixing a Simian track 'Never be Alone' for a competition.They lost, but we have all won as the good people at Virgin have decided to release their version & a wise decision that is.This is a top fuzzed up bass club track with the shouty "we are your friends, you will never be alone again" refrain boring into your mind until it is hopeless to resist & you might as well just shut up n' dance.
Nick Foster (View Original Article)
Kasabian - 'Empire' (Paradise)
It's the baggy timelords, and they're back!On a serious note though, this is a fantastic slice of robo-glam hoolie-pop that owes more than a sly nod to Cauty & Drummond, and showcases perfectly why the Karloff/Pizzorno partnership (who sound like they should be playing for AC Milan) made Kasabian what they are today, and by getting rid of Karloff (the group's bleepy-bloopy man), we can expect more toss rock and sub-par bluesy trip-hop numbers like the b-side to this single.
There will never be another 'LSF' or 'Processed Beats' from this band, so enjoy the last offerings of their original lineup before it all goes a bit stale, and the toyshop ADHD madness of Meighan recedes into ballads about Mary Jane and lear jets.
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
The Knife - 'We Share Our Mother's Health' (Brille)
This sounds like something's gone horribly wrong in a lab somewhere - you can almost hear phials of bubbling, purple liquid smashing on the floor and the resultant gas turning two hapless scientists into raving, lunatic monsters. Those monsters are brother and sister act The Knife who quite literally do share their mother's health.
The track is a gurgle of synths, a clatter of baille funk and vocals pitched up and down at various points just to confuse things further - as if that were ever required. It's an exceedingly cool record. A remix from Trentmoller only make it friendlier to the dancefloor adding breaks, bass and bleeps to a record already likely to make a dancehead cream themselves. Meanwhile Radioslave goes acid house on its ass and Ratatat turn the song completely on its head by apparently playing the whole thing backwards! I'll repeat that again then, it's an exceedingly cool record.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The Pipettes - 'Pull Shapes' (Memphis Industries)
From 'Who the f**k are' to Radio 2 darlings. The road has been a long and hard one for the Pipettes. Their first mention on CDX came up about a year ago. It was a for a single that nobody reviewed because nobody cared. But you all care now, don't you? Oh yes, can't get enough of their incredibly knowing 60's girl group stylings, can you? The joyfully unrelenting, upbeat fun of it all makes you want to scream out loud, doesn't it? And there's the rub. You love it, I love it, but six weeks in the top ten later and you'll want to stuff their smug faces up Austin Powers' arse. We shall see.
Dean Coster (View Original Article)
The Raconteurs - 'Hands' (XL)
The best comment I have heard so far about this song was... "Is this the Raconteurs? Oh""Is that a good oh or a bad oh?"
"A hmmmmm on"
This is what happens when 2 really talent people get together and think they have make a super group. You get hmmmm songs.
Anyone who is a big fan of the album should have all of their comments on music taken with a large pinch of salt
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
The Strokes - 'You Only Live Once' (Rough Trade)
I WANT TO BREAK FREE, I WANT TO BREEEAAAAK FREEE... Oh, sorry, wrong song. This is still aces though, and as if you didn't need reminding, The Strokes pop up with yet another three minutes of thrillingly vital new-wave power-pop splendour that makes you happy that they've avoided meltdown. They've just kissed my ears, and I love it.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Tapes 'n Tapes - 'Insistor' (XL)
First single on XL for the Pixies/Pavement lovin' band from Minneapolis. Actually the main song here is very reminiscent of early Dinosaur Jr when they started to make that jump from hardcore to Americana. Very nice too. The cd single is backed by an album track Crazy Eights - a bass heavy slacker rock number. Good, but why bother? Get the album. Instead spend your pennies on the 7", which has a demo version of new song Frankfurt.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
We Are Wolves - 'L.L. Romeo' (Playlouder)
Now, this just sounds absolutely filthy! A massive synth line and a plastic drumbeat combine with the organic sounds of guitar, fuzz-driven bass and drums to create a grisly pot-pourri of Stooges-esque rock. That's before we even mention the vocals - an abrasive bawl from on high about L.L. Romeo - whomever or whatever that may be!
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
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I think we should start a site thermometer over this summer, and rate the venues by temperature, humidity percentage, and number of desiccated punters carried out in jam jars. So far, the Polysics gig would win by miles – I think Spitz on this simmering July evening would come a pretty close second, but without the Japanese punk. However, at least it’s popularising the use of fans again.
We walked in just as Dawn Landes was introducing the evening’s entertainment. Playing gently and unpretentiously in the manner of soft folksy female artists everywhere, she was perhaps sometimes a little too reminiscent of the Dido-ey ‘retrospective’ parts of girly coming-of-age movies in places, but in general this would be something you would be happy to put on in the background of parties. Occasionally, she does seem to feel the need to break from the norm by launching into wailing sections, but I blame this on the influence of Bjork, and only to be expected from solo female artists everywhere. Unpretentious and pleasant (apart from some illogical kazoo use), this young lady will rock no boats, but ruffle no feathers.
Polly Scattergood, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the devotees of emotionally heartrending music, but a quirky name doth not make a Tori Amos no matter how hard you try. I spent the first couple of songs trying to work out whether her entire stage character was a deliberate parody of a ‘neurotic female’ to try to justify the content-less over-emotionality of everything she played, or if she was trying so hard to inject emotion into everything that she’d forgotten how to be musically honest. Half the time she was concentrating so hard on heavy breathing and overacted wailing that she seemed to forget what she was actually singing. I started to listen to a story about the saddest photo she’d ever seen being a bunch of flowers outside a strip club, then stopped due to complete lack of interest. Was this just me? Fortunately I attended the gig with a qualified psychiatric nurse who was more than willing to give his professional opinion on her mental state:
“SHUT UP!!!! I can’t TAKE it any more! … Jung said that all neurosis was a substitute for genuine suffering – TONIGHT THIS IS SO TRUE. Oooh, a passing observation in Brixton - how urban. LEARN THE WORDS! Thank fuck she’s finished! … Oh shit no – premature! …” (sic.)"
Ah well. If you like overdone female music, you’ll probably love this. Just steer clear if you have any kind of sense of perspective. Or humour. Or sense.
By the time Joan As Police Woman came on, the crowd had moved from a group of happy school-assembly attendees on the floor to a dangerously intent group of clusteredness around the central stage. This boded well – a group of fans willing to kill is almost always an indication(to the experienced gig-goer) of good things to come.
Joan herself sauntered on with a band and a cheery attitude, and proceeded to chat up the entire audience in a sultry US accent just as though we were an attractive stranger she’d just met on a Greyhound to Pittsburgh. Within minutes we were nodding our head to the feel of an underground blues club, and treating the excessive heat as a mood enhancing aspect of the event. Moving from a PJ Harvey-esque modern fairy tale feel to way more soulful blues, Joan tinkered through a selection of her repertoire with the ease of someone who really couldn’t care less if people were listening or not – an impression she was then quick to dispel when she stopped halfway through one of her quietest and most intense songs to tell the people who were talking to shut up. Hooray! And just when we thought we’d heard it all, we get a short burst of intense ROCK, which apparently has developed mosh pits in the past. All in all, we had a lady who looked like Noel Fielding (Yootha Joyce, surely! - Ed) and sang like Mia Sheard – who could ask more than that? I also liked the fact that she played a song she had written that day before breakfast, with full accompaniment, then apologised because she might not have done it well. Bless!
She’s coming back in August, and I would thoroughly recommend it – an evening it would be safe to take anyone from a first date to an elderly relative to. Great stuff.
Bryony Jones (View Original Article)
But I’m getting ahead of myself. You may find this the case for the rest of the review. It’s very non-linear.
Thirty musicians playing funk for three hours. That’s the promise on the poster. It doesn’t disappoint, despite all of the obstacles put in the way. The first problem is the venue. The Manchester Academy may be the only place in the city specifically designed for music gigs, but that that doesn’t stop it being nothing more than a concrete box with a sound system made from Lego. It’s bloody awful, Shayne Ward should use it as a practice room so he can get used to the idea of no one listening to him.
Thankfully there are no major sound problems for the first part of tonight’s funkathon, Children of Production. Fronted by two female rapping singers (one of whom is George Clinton’s granddaughter, the first sign tonight that the world has moved on a long way from 1974), they have a poppy/funk sound that helps to warm up the audience for the main show. Well, what audience there is. The doors opened only a quarter of an hour ago and people are either still coming in or getting served at the bar. But that’s okay; a pattern is being set for the night. This isn’t like your usual rock gig; the vibe is more like a good club. The audience are being manipulated slowly into feeling the way the band wants them to feel. You want a break to go to the toilet or buy another drink? Here’s an extended guitar solo. No it’s okay, you can leave. When you get back the funk will still be flowing for you. If you don’t want to hear Poo Poo Man (yep, that is his name) do his James Brown tribute then go and shake hands with various band members at the merchandising stall.
Or at the bar.
Or in the audience.
This band is everywhere.
And if you feel that you know the direction something is going in then the band are willing to do something different. Like when… Like when… Like when an overweight guy with dreadlocks came on stage wearing a nappy and proceeded to shake his booty to the assembled masses. That’s Garry ‘Starchild’ Shider, the second in command. As Children of Production finished he wanders onto the stage to play Cosmic Slop, slowly followed by the regally dressed Poo Poo Man (yep, I still can’t believe he’d choose that name, does it mean something else in America?), the highly toned Sir Nose D’void O’Funk, the rest of the band and finally the high priest himself, Mr George Clinton. Dressed like a tramp.
Here’s the second reality trip. If you met George Clinton on the street you’d watch him from the other side. You’d be amused, but you wouldn’t want to share a bus stop with him. Dressed in a badly fitting brown tracksuit, the same waist measurements as a young Bernard Manning, hair last seen as an extra in ‘Muppets from Space’. The man looks his age. He sounds it too. The rest of the band, especially Garry Shider who during parts of the show is the only original member of Funkadelic on the stage, mainly takes vocal duties. Some reviewers have knocked other shows on the tour because of this, but they’re missing the point. Clinton has never been a good singer, he can barely play an instrument. Clinton is a guru, a talisman. He brings the vibes to the party and everybody else feeds off him. It doesn’t matter that he’s not on stage half the time. You’re still feeding off from the energy of his last appearance and the incredible grooves the band is creating. And they are good.
Well, for the most part anyway. There are cracks on the surface. The slow jam version of ‘One Nation under a Groove’ sounded shambolic to say the least. Not as disappointing though as seeing George choke on half a roll up thrown to him from the crowd. Manchester spliffs too strong for the original funkateer? The world has indeed gone mad. Still, the crowd threw enough for him to pick and choose, and the rest of the band seemed pleased.
Very pleased. Maybe that explains why they keep on playing long after the curfew is imposed. They should have stopped at 11.00, it’s now 11.20 and they’re still playing. The microphones are turned off half way through a jam version of a Jerry Lee Lewis number. The band plays on. The electricity is being turned off. The band plays on. Clinton leaves the stage. The audience stays. The band plays on. Almost half an hour after the gig is supposed to finish the drummer has finished his solo and the audience are finally stopping the chants of ‘SHIT! GODDAM! GET OFF YOUR ASS AND JAM!!’ and we can finally leave.
Except we don’t, because the band are still performing. Not on stage this time but by shaking hands and signing autograph at the merchandising stall. And that really sums up the difference between your average indie-rock group and the pioneer of P-Funk. Despite all of the images he projects as being the crazy fun lover who’ll get women on stage to take part in fake gang bangs (I think they were fake) or smoking whatever you’ve got, really he’s one of the hardest working men in showbiz. He understands that the people who are important are the audience. That’s why there’s a policy of allowing audiences to record shows. That’s why he’ll spend time shaking hands and signing cd’s. That’s why my girlfriend’s heart slowly melts for him when he gives her the warmest of smiles. She doesn’t do that normally for any bus stop nutter, excluding me of course…
Dean Coster (View Original Article)
The Tunnels is teeming tonight with fans of the sound of this summer, all eager to catch a glimpse of the close harmony female trio that the boys all want to date and the girls all want to be - and there`s not an Australian car insurance ad in sight! Yes sir, this summer`s fashion veers towards the trusty polka dot, and many of tonight`s crowd have cottoned-on to this particularly dotty fashion.
However, before the polka frenzy can begin we turn our attention to support act The Young Playthings, touring partners and surprise replacements for the 1990s who have had to cancel at the last minute. The three piece are particularly excited as they have recently lived out a rock n roll cliche and been ejected from a Scottish hotel bar - for smoking. This sets the scene well for the nod to hedonism that is first track tonight `Going Out and Staying Out` - the sound of Pavement in a moderate hurry. By their third song they`ve already started paying tribute to the headline act with a chunky slice of doo wop rock.
The Young Playthings comprise dual-pronged vocals from a couple of frontmen it`s impossible to dislike. In fact, listening to bassist and singer Jors Truly`s mid-song banter you almost believe you`re watching an out-take from My Name is Earl. Closing song `June` (or it may have been `Tune`) brings a fitting end to this surprise sundae, scooping large chunks of Weezer and Pixies-style dumb (yet so much fun) surf rock. They clearly love what they play, it`s a shame the near-capacity audience didn`t seem quite so enthusiastic. Young Playthings - Think We Are Scientists only better.
Dressed, as always, in matching polka dot outfits, The Pipettes take the stage, say hello and zip into former single `ABC`, all coordinated dance moves and effortlessly brilliant backing from the all-boy Cassettes. The girls look radiant, as a band always do at the end of a successful tour, and with big smiles they ask everyone to get their groove on for their excellent recent single `Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me`.
The crowd tonight do seem as though they`ve come along to stand and stare however, and the girls` appeals to dance with them are largely not met. Whether this is because the rather old and balding male crowd didn`t want to or if they simply couldn`t move to dance is not certain. Neither is the instruction to `smooch with the person next to you` to the straight outta Dirty Dancing tones of `Because It`s Not Love (But It`s Still a Feeling)` - in fact the girl next to me seems simply confused, trying to find a way to see over a sea of extremely tall men.
The new album `We Are the Pipettes` is showcased in full, each song oozing Spector-arrangements, tight rhythms and flawless harmonies. Better yet, they perform an amazing quattro-attack of pop before the encore in `Judy`, `One Night Stand`, `Dirty Mind` (which even has the legendarily grumpy Old Man Dunproofin` clapping along) and `Pull Shapes` - the finest-crafted pop song of this century, complete with a few hardy individuals attempting to pull off the dance routine at the front.
The lack of ability to exit stage left or right means the girls forego a break before a rousing encore of the oh-so more-ish sleaze-pop of `School Uniform` and their principal call to arms `We Are The Pipettes` proclaiming them as `the prettiest girls we`ve ever met` and, do you know, I think they might just be. If not the prettiest, then certainly the poppiest. In fact, just imagine The Pipettes produced by 80s-era Pete Waterman...it`d be a perverse pop prang that`d spell the end for the world - death by pure pop intoxication! Which is how we`d all like to go really.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
But what will the sweaty message-board massive think of the first band up tonight, the cheekily-monikered Victorian English Gentlemen`s Club. First of all, they are liars; two of them are girls. But this is a pleasant surprise to me, as I was expecting a four-piece Franz-a-like band with a fine line in foppish haircuts and synchronised jerky-legged movements. I`m glad I was wrong however, as this version of the band are fucking ace. Sounding like The Fall having a violent punch-up with The Cramps whilst the ghosts of Ikara Colt smile down on them is no mean feat, but Adam, Louise and Emma pull it off with aplomb, with track such as `Ban The Gin` humming with gothic cow-punk splendour. This band, along with their label mates Help She Can`t Swim are two groups that make you realise how much you miss listening to the John Peel Show. It`s enough to bring a tear to my eye. Well, I thought it did bring a tear to my eye, but it turned out to be a bead of sweat. Lovely. Did I mention that it`s a bit hot in here?
The next band up are sure to bring a nostalgic tear to anybody`s eye if they (like me) scanned the pages of NME religiously back in the mid-to-late 90`s. Data Panik comprise of all of the members of dearly-departed electro-poppers Bis (including every indie-boy-of-a-certain-age`s first crush of choice, the wonderful Manda Rin), and I`m glad to say that they have lost none of the energy and vibrancy that made their former band such a hit with the indie massive, who are here in full force tonight. Songs such as `Minimum Wage` buzz like a sherbet scud missile, whilst the band hop around the stage as if their instruments are on fire. Hyperactivity never sounded or looked this good, and this band, along with The Hedrons and 1990`s are certainly helping to put Scottish music firmly on the map in the sterling tunes department. So you can take your Kooks and shove them south of your border, NME (see what I did there? Oh…). After their show I saved Manda Rin from falling down the slippery slope between the bar section and the dance floor of this north London sweatbox of a venue. She thanked me, and I felt great about it, although in hindsight I should have invoiced her management for the cigarette I dropped trying to stop her from hurting herself. But it was worth it. She is brilliant. Yes, I am blushing now.
"Hello London, wearePOLYSICSandwearefromTOKYO JAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAN!!!". What. The. Fuck. Is. This? I don`t know, but it`s sending people here at The Garage into a sweaty, smelly mess of hair and alcohol (as if they needed any help or encouragement). Polysics are cartoon superheroes, and in a sane world they shouldn`t exist. Thank god the world`s gone mad. Sped up surf-rock fed through samplers and keyboards and lyrics that probably wouldn`t make any sense if they were sung in English, this band are the Japanese equivalent of the Hives eating Haribo with Godzilla, and are twice as much fun live. Needless to say the songs are shit, but hey, when you can perform in conditions like this and not flag like so many other bands would, you deserve Culturedeluxe`s respect. And you`ve got it, Polysics. Did I mention it`s a bit hot in here?
Ben Goldrun (View Original Article)
'Look what the cat dragged in!' shouts singer Joe Carnall as he's joined on stage by half the audience, "You're mental, you are!".
Yes, this could be the most enthusiastic crowd I've seen outside of a metal gig, and with just as much crowd surfing! It also seems that a sign seen hanging at the venue earlier reading 'Drugs Amnesty Bin' has found its way onto the dancefloor catching Joe's eye...or was that the ultra-subtle 'I'll cunt the bastard' one?
That's not to say Joe's not fond of a profanity or two, 'You'd better have bought this you tight-arsed bastards' he jokes ahead of current single 'Cheshire Cat Smile' which illicits the desired response from the gathered throng - massive, sweaty grins all round.
There's one thing Aberdeen crowds like to do, and that's sing. A lot. 'You lot sing more than me' remarks Joe during an unscheduled chorus of 'Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Aberdeen' for which the ramshackle community choir are joined by drummer Greeny showcasing the funkier side of his skinsmanship.
Ex-single 'Showroom' (absent, according to Joe, from their forthcoming album) is an immense crowd pleaser with a chorus featuring hundreds of grinning fans chanting 'The Book That You're Reading is Upside Down'...those that aren't hanging from the rafters, avoiding flying scotsmen surfing above the heads of a now very sweaty crowd.
'We're definitely coming back here' grins Joe as the band head into the final triumphant 'What You Could've Won'. Unlike unlucky contestants on Bullseye there's a massive grin on everyone's face as they leave...still singing.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)
Ha ha ha! Well, bless their souls, Gnarls Barkley in all their wisdom decided to move the original concert date of the 5th to the 6th just in case England managed to get into the World Cup Semi Finals and would be playing Italy on Wednesday! Apparently this is because the duo behind the biggest hit single of this year, Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo, are big football fans and didn’t want to miss out watching the match live. However, if that last statement was true then they would have known that England didn’t have a rat’s-ass chance of getting an further than the Quarter-Finals judging by their current form, so they may as well have kept the original date and enabled people like me to see the whole gig instead of having to rush off after only half an hour because of other pressing, prior arrangements. They are partly forgiven though, as the half an hour I did catch was excellent and could still be a contender for my gig of the year.
Unfortunately, unlike the MTV music awards, they didn’t dress in Star Wars outfits for this performance (Cee-Loo as Darth Vader, Danger Mouse as a Jedi) but instead chose to dress up in prep school uniforms and enter to a cover of Pink Floyds ‘Another Brick in the Wall’. OK, I expect you can imagine how ridiculous a small, overweight, bald black guy would look in an undersized pair of shorts and a badly fitting blazer, so it goes to show how incredible Cee-Loo’s presence is that he still comes over as cool, natural and sexy as any of your latter day rock gods whilst dressed in this garb. The stage set up is quite simple, backing singers to your left, (dancing) string section to your right, Cee-Loo at the front , Danger Mouse directly behind the bassist & guitarist with the drummer slightly off centre and a mad Zappa-esc guy with a red cape looking like he just stepped out of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown on keyboards duties just to DM’s left. Gnarls Barkely is obviously a combination of all DM’s ideas, that have been festering for quite a while, thrown into one big melting pot. It doesn’t work all the time, but when it does the sound is just as kooky and eclectic as you would expect, every thing from rock to psychedelic funk, soul and even a bit of prog noodling is thrown into the mix. Apart from muddy sound problems for the first track tonight it all sounded excellent. I had to leave before ‘Crazy’ and new single ‘Smiley Faces’ made their appearance but for the amount of time I spent in the Apollo (not my favourite venue) I thoroughly enjoyed myself, although I can imagine that anyone who came along expecting a more hip hop show may have walked away a bit disappointed.
Richard Brown (View Original Article)