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November 28 Guitarist leaves Torche.. DUN DUN DUNNNNN.....Read more here. WHAT OH WHAT DOES THIS MEAN ABOUT NEXT WEEKEND? Will I actually end up watching Locust? Only time will tell. Here's a video to keep us all going:
Playlist: Devo
November 27 ATP Nightmare Before Christmas stage times announcedHere's a rough plan/estimation of how the Melvins/Mike Patton ATP next weekend will go down, give or take a few trips to the bar, cooking of food in the chalet and smoking in the freezing cold outdoors. FRIDAY: 2.45pm Arrive in Taunton. Buy food, shop, head to site. 4pm Check in, check out chalet, run to the stages. 4.45pm MELVINS 1983, and 83 gin and tonics to commemorate this 6pm BIG BUSINESS 7pm Drink, maybe get something to eat? 8.30pm Who needs food when you have TORCHE, and them over Locust every time. Soz JP. 10.15pm ISIS 10.20pm Get bored of Isis, head to bar, head to other stages, smoke outside. 11pm Debate whether to see MEAT PUPPETS or WHITE NOISE. 11.15pm See neither and gatecrash a chalet party 12am Consider watching more bands as I'm actually at a festival and this is kinda the point 1am Sod that. Drinking and dancing in the pub 2am Refuel at chalet Several hours later Bed (and by bed, I mean sleeping bag)
SATURDAY: 11am Awake and feel intensely hungry 1pm Begin drinking, three hours after everyone else started 2.30pm Sample the delights of ATP TV 4pm Consider going in to watch some bands 4.15pm ATP apathy takes over and I don't bother 4.35pm HOLY SH*T MASTODON HAVE STARTED 4.45pm Perving on Troy Sanders. Swoon. 6.15pm MELVINS. Headbang. 7.15pm Getting annoyed that they're clearing the room before Butthole Surfers 8.15pm BUTTHOLE SURFERS 10pm FANTOMAS 11.30pm Consider going to check out the bands in the other room. 12am Don't bother. Sit on floor and consume G&T. 12.30am RAHZEL. Intrigued as to whether Patton comes out to perform on stage with him. 12.35am There he is. 1.45am Pretend to be interested in SQUAREPUSHER 2am Give up, go and dance in the pub. ? Bed (/sleeping bag)
SUNDAY ? Attempt to wake up 2pm Wake up 2.45pm Don't bother to go and see JOE LALLY, he is boring. 3pm Give in and have a Pizza Hut (Pasta Hut?) buffet 4.15pm Consider buying some focaccia and olives at the farmer's market. Oh wait... 6pm MONOTONIX. Tell people how great they were when I saw them last year in Holland. 8pm DALEK 9.45pm BLACK HEART PROCESSION 9.55pm Suddenly remember it's Sunday night and I need to start having more fun as it's the last night of ATP and I don't want to spend it depressed 10pm MELVINS 11pm Excessiveness and over-indulging 12.45am KOOL KEITH & KUTMASTA KURT 1.45am DOUBLE NEGATIVE. Moshing. 2am Give SQUAREPUSHER another shot. 2.10am Give up. 2.30am - 10am ...
There's actually no need for me to go now, I know what's going to happen. Playlist: This Heat
November 26 A new band I dig #6 - No DiceOn Sunday we put on a gig at the Windmill in Brixton, with awesome bands and the A record was planned to be released but issues with the label or something (no money? I can't remember - I was too busy shouting 'crack!' at the band) means it's not happening but you can purchase other goods including a split and the demo here. Playlist: Bloc Party, Team Dresch
November 25 Gigs last week - Low's Christmas Concert & Murcof at the Purcell RoomI've had quite a few gigs in the past week, two of which were actually ones I helped put on, but two others which were also amazing - Low & Murcof. Low playing a Christmas concert in November was slightly misplaced and lacking any festive magic which might have come a month later. It wasn't that I didn't want to hear the seasonal songs, I just think it would've been more special closer to Christmas. Anyhow, there was some truly horrific heckling taking place, firstly from a guy who clearly didn't have a clue what kind of band Low were and just wanted to be rowdy, and another boring old fart who has 'been coming to Low gigs for the past 11 years and this is not the Low I know!' The cheek, can you believe it etc. Heckling aside, the band were stunning, maybe even more so when Ida got on stage to perform some songs including the Christmas ones with them. 'Just like Christmas' actually saw people bopping/attempting some kind of awkward dancing, something I thought I'd never see at a Low gig. Murcof at the Purcell Room in the Southbank Centre was impressive, with a violin, cello and trombone accompanying him for some horror film-esque soundtracks, with some pretty menacing visuals thrown in too. But it's the support from Oren Marshall I keep talking about - who thought a tuba could be so much fun? At first, admittedly it did feel like some chin-stroking improv with a man, a tuba and some effects peddles. But his finale included him walking through the audience (no mean feat when you're carrying a mahoosive tuba and squeezing between rows of chairs) and playing in people's faces. Comedy tuba improv, that's more like it. Playlist: All the bands playing ATP
November 19 I can't believe Snow Patrol have played ATP
I love how casually they sit between Sonic Boom and SND, hoping no one will notice them. Mogwai's kudos has just gone down a few notches.
Playlist: Hot Bone
November 18 Wtf does 'indie music' mean anyway?If there's one term which is banded around all over the place so often it's as semantically hollow as Katy Perry's self-respect, it's the term 'indie', specifically 'indie music'. Yes, it used to mean 'independent' back in the day yadda yadda yadda, but the way it's morphed into this byword for NME-reading skinny white boys with messy hair and pin badges on their lapels is infuriating. In a flash it makes me think of god-awdful nights back in Snobs in Birmingham, essentially listening to the Killers greatest hits and revering Doherty and similar self-absorbed lowlifes. This isn't 'indie', this is just pop music! I don't have anything against this 'pop' malarkey per se, it's just 'indie' means nothing any more, I don't know why people pretend that it does?! I hate harping on about stuff being shallow and boring, because everyone knows this and no-one really cares, but this is going to have to turn into another rant against my mate Steven Wells, who is sounding more jaded/cynical/miserable/unoriginal/stating-the-ruddy-obvious than usual. His moaning blog about High School Musical 3 vs Indie Music (ding ding) is full of more daft generalisations than I care to reel off. Where are these white indie kids that are so staunchly anti HSM? I haven't heard them, not to mention a) 'indie' is devoid of any useful meaning, and b) far too many 'white indie kids' love HSM in a kind of pseudo-ironic-but-they-say-it's-not-irony way anyway. And talking about kids from socially-defined subculture X hatin' on subculture Y being stupid is, in itself, stupid. They've been doing it for years, kids hate pop music, look at me! Well, I just hate people ranting on when there's nothing to rant about. And since I started this off by saying 'indie' basically means nothing, I'm doing that too.... Playlist: Godspeed, Palace Brothers
November 17 Is it too early to start listening to Christmas songs?In preparation for the gig on Wednesday I got ready this morning listening to this, perhaps the only festive song which doesn't make me think 'bah humbug':
Playlist: It wasn't like Christmas at all
November 14 A new band I dig #5 (maybe?! I've still lost count) - BrontideI was always a massive fan of I Was A Cubscout so after they split I hoped they'd go on to form amazing new band(s), and guess what? It happened. Last night I saw Brontide (ex-drummer Will's new band) play at New Slang in Kingston and they were incredible; not that much like IWACS, but still incredible. The easiest and simplest comparison I can make is somewhere between Battles and Russian Circles; you know, all Battles polyrhythms and finger-tapping but then proper pummeling, driving riffs. Their ideas seem to almost overflow and spill out from the songs, and it's still early days, so once it's been reigned in and completely refined, they are going to get even more amazing. I love them.
Playlist: Brontide, Boris
November 12 Here, you can be anything, anything that scares you....The news that Jimmy Eat World will be touring the US next year playing 'Clarity' in its entirety to celebrate the album's tenth anniversary is AMAZING. Now I just need the means of actually going to one of those gigs. 'Clarity' is probably my all time most played album EVER. I played it so much during my first year at University, and actually threw the CD out by accident when I chucked away my broken CD player (probably broken through excessive CD playing). OK, this is not them, and I'm not usually a fan of these twee American acappella groups, but how good is this?!
Playlist: I am now going to play 'Clarity' in its entirety approx 17 times.
My year in listsI know they annoy a lot of people and tend to get very boring but I love end of year lists. Top albums and live performances are both given, but I'm also fans of favourite songs, new bands, and also random awards for anyone and everyone who I have particularly enjoyed in the past 12 months. Soon there'll be so many lists online you actually won't be able to differentiate between them and your head will be filled with lists of the same bands, just in different orders, so here's how my current 'top albums of 2009' list is shaping up (in alphabetical order): Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago Envy/Jesu split EP Flying Lotus - Los Angeles Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed Micah P Hinson - ... & The Red Empire Orchestra The Night Marchers - See You In Magic The Notwist - The Devil, You And Me Portishead - Third Rolo Tomassi - Hysterics Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust Torche - Meanderthal TV On The Radio - Dear Science Why? - Alopecia
Great, but not going to make it - Crystal Castles, Cut Copy, Earth, Lykke Li, Fu*k Buttons, Foals, Albums which I am yet to hear I still have to get - M83, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Boris, Fuc*ed Up, Vivian Girls, Marnie Stern, Friendly Fires Releases I am not allowed to vote for because I released them - Dananananaykroyd, Throats/Maths split, Throats/The_Network split Playlist: The Best Albums of 2008 Vol 1
November 10 Goodbye Beanos, againComing from Croydon, I don't have a lot of pride in my home town, or many reasons to go This is AWFUL news. Like anyone else with a vague interest in music, I cling onto Beanos as one of Croydon's redeeming factors, as it is home to this legendary place. Not to mention what it contributed to my CD and record collection (probably about 5%?). And the sad fact it simply can't survive any longer; people just aren't shopping there. Is it a victim of the digital age? Probably the main reason for its closure is online shopping and downloading, but also the fact people have become used to having their music so readily available they can instantly download it or buy it with a couple of clicks. Why take the train all the way to East Croydon to rummage through loads of records when they might not have what you want? That statement sounds pretty stupid to me but I'm sure it's what a lot of people think and why a lot of people simply couldn't be bothered. Sad times, we're all going to suffer for it now. I walked away with three CDs on Saturday, but will be going back for a lot more before the doomed day, estimated to be sometime after Christmas. Everyone should go, you'll get a bargain, if nothing else. Playlist: Polaris, Coliseum November 09 Why I didn’t go/am not going to HokabenWhen the line-up first came out for the new London festival, I was, like a lot of other people, pretty intrigued and excited. Don Caballero and Acid Mother’s Temple and Fuc*ed Up? SWEET! But jeeeeeeeezzzzzz…. I can’t stress enough my dismay at the ticket price. £60 for 3 days/40-odd bands isn’t completely horrific at first glance, but the fact is 80% of these bands tour and play in London regularly. And only a small handful are from overseas, so £60 for that number of bands is excessively overpriced; it’s the same cost Supersonic was, but compare the line-ups and there’s a HUGE difference in how far the bands travelled, how ‘big’ the bands are, and the actual quantity of live acts. So unsurprisingly, I passed, and I’m interested to see how many people bothered to go for weekend tickets rather than the cheaper day ones, if at all. I also resent their ‘about’ section on the website: “The idea is to have a festival in our capital city bringing together the weirdest / heaviest / craziest / most awesome underground bands on the planet under one roof with not a foppish indie band or yawnsome postrock band in sight.” While I make rash and silly comments about “foppish indie” quite regularly, the fact they’re writing-off music rather than being generally positive about themselves as a new festival seems to be shooting themselves in the foot a bit. This post wasn’t meant to be completely negative about Hokaben; while the last thing we really need right now is another ‘new festival’, it chose some good bands and could eventually become a half-decent festival, but for now, it seems an unnecessary addition, and an awkwardly placed one at that. Playlist: Gods & Queens, B-52s, Muhoney November 06 Obama basically won because of hip-hop, right?!Couldn't have said it better myself. Props on getting Paxman mad confused.
November 04 It's a list and supposedly it's 'cool'Look who sneaked onto the NME's annual cool list in 47th place? Well done Miss Spence. You have reached the pinnacle of your career. Everything from now on will be a slow and weary trudge towards disappointment and underachieving. The cool list has only been going since 2002 but can be seen as a marker of the magazine's transition from worthwhile music writing to glossy celebrity nonsense. Well done. Other observations from the list: - I don't know who a lot of these people are. Little Boots? Actually, I think she's the only one. But if the Guardian had trouble with the person at #1, how will the average folk manage? - On the flipside, there is rather a lot of big names on this list. Matt Bellamy, Robert Plant... it's like an odd mixture of classics, modern greats and hip young cool things the intern recommended. - Wow there really are a lot of sh*t bands taking up the magazine's pages right now. Apparently there's something more important going on in the world than the sodding cool list right now, but it's distracting me from a horrific cold at least. Playlist: Royal Trux November 03 Hatin' on my Last.fm top 10 Do you ever just look at your most played artists on Last.fm and think 'sometimes you REALLY annoy me and I feel like I never want to listen to you again'? Yeah, me too... 1. Cat Power - You will never be good again live, deal with it. Stop playing covers, they are never as good as the originals. You will NEVER be as good again as you once were. 2. Low - YOU ARE FREAKIN' MORMONS. 3. Sonic Youth - You are getting kinda old, which is fine, you know, rock out and that, but jeez doing gigs like catwalk shows and that is a bit embarrassing. You should just be all over the Royal Albert Hall now, and that's it! And Thurston Moore, your solo stuff just sounds too much like SY, do something different. 4. Braid - You shouldn't have reformed for that one off gig, it wasn't worth it. Stick with the whole 'quit while you're ahead thing'. 5-. Blonde Redhead - Admit it, getting the cutesy Japanese girl singer was originally a ploy to get people to like you, wasn't it? 5-. Planes Mistaken For Stars - Talk about fizzling out. 5-. Sigur Ros - You are now well-known for soundtracking wildlife programmes, how does that feel? Don't you just wish you weren't quite as popular as you are? And while you're thinking about that you should remember that no album you ever make will be as good as 'Agaetis Byrjun'. 8. Les Savy Fav - Enough with the live tomfoolery already. It is definitely starting to wear thin now. Tim Harrington, great and charismatic frontman yes, but comic genius? No, so know when to shut up. 9. Portishead - You should really say goodbye to 1997 now. 10. Johnny Cash - You have a lot of very very cheesy songs, where was your creative control? Why didn't you simply refuse to record some of that naff stuff? Playlist: A Silver Mt Zion |
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