Sounds like a keeper - can't wait to hear it start to finish ...

Steve Cropper's guitar, production and songwriting embodied the sound and the spirit of Stax and the southern soul of the `60s. At the same time, in the Northeast, there was a band called The Rascals, whose sound was epitomized by the brilliant songs, B-3 organ and voice of Felix Cavaliere. Now these two R&B legends come together to Nudge It Up a Notch, a tour de force of 12 smokin' original tunes, guaranteed to satisfy your soul.

http://www.amazon.com/Nudge-Up-Notch-Steve-Cropper/dp/B001B2KUP6/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_1_1

Sunday is traditionally Metal Day at Reading. This means I steer well clear of the main stage all day because a) I really don't get metal and b) I feel half-dead and am covered in enough bruises so getting caught up in a circle pit will only make matters worse. No, instead I stick to my comfort zone of indie schmindie, throwaway pop fun, safe in the knowledge that Rascals' fans won't make me run around in a circle, bashing into other people.

I start Sunday in the Festival Republic tent with XX (formerly Xerox) Teens. 'Welcome to Goon Island' is their long awaited debut album and is one that shows innovation and imagination can still exist within modern music. Without doubt, the highlight of the set is 'Darlin' but the rest of the set provides a lively and fun wake up call. A hop, skip and a jump (or a very slow and painful walk) away, Yeasayer are having technical problems in the NME/Radio 1 tent, which eventually results in them only being able to play four songs. All in all, it's a very underwhelming experience, either because of the length of the set or the fact most of the small crowd don't seem that into it.

Henry Rollins is a legend (I'm really hoping you didn't need me to tell you that) and so the Alternative Stage is packed long before he is due to perform. My disappointment of the weekend is not seeing the ex-Black Flag man because of this - I got bored staring at the back of someone's head and not being able to hear - but New York's Adam Green cheers me up a little with his drunken dancing and nonsensical banter. Still, through the rambling he does share with us the very useful formula for converting celsius into farenheit...

You know, this journalism lark is hard sometimes. Specifically, writing about bands you love to death. You want to keep at least a little bit of objectiveness and refrain from gushing but sometimes it's so god damn hard. This is the problem I am faced with when writing about Johnny Foreigner, the best thing to come out of Birmingham (and, potentially, the UK) in a very long time. Singer/guitarist Alexei Berrow greets the crowd with a video camera, recording their enthusiastic response to the start of JoFo's set, before he and fellow bandmates Kelly Southern (bass) and Junior Laidley (drums) tear into one of the sets of the festival, which includes songs like 'Sofacore', 'Hennings Favourite' and 'Yr All Just Jealous'. After the ridiculous fun times had watching JoFo comes the more chilled out, beautiful times of watching Emmy the Great. Much overlooked, despite her involvement with several well-known musicians like Lightspeed Champion, Emmy is very much a hidden treasure with her delicate acoustic gems feeling delightfully rewarding when you discover her.

The first of two doses of live Miles Kane action comes via his first band, The Rascals. The Festival Republic tent is heaving, as it should be, as the three lads from Liverpool walk the boards. Coming on to the title track of their debut album, 'Rascalize', gets the crowd pumped up before they confidently rattle through their short yet magnificent catalogue of dark, cinematic tunes. A short while and a costume change later, Kane is stepping out on the NME/Radio 1 stage with fellow Shadow Puppet, Alex Turner. Backed by a 16 piece orchestra, the duo charm and enchant the packed tent with songs from their album 'The Age of the Understatement'. The singles receive the biggest cheers but the crowd respond well to whatever Kane and Turner say or do. Where this time last year, this tent was moving to futuristic synths this year it's gone way back in time and is dancing it's socks off to what could quite easily be a 60s spy movie soundtrack. And funnily, SMD's James Ford had some involvement with both of them.

Other highlights: Pulling some shapes to Chromeo, finally getting to see the wonderful Conor Oberst, standing *this* close to actual radio/music journalism legend Steve Lamacq and ending the festival with the moderately attended yet utterly brilliant Johnny Foreigner show at Club NME. Same again next year?

Rhian Daly

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It is now just 30 days until the start of the 4th Loopallu Festival in Ullapool.

Bands confirmed include Levellers, The Rascals, King Creosote, The Family Mahone, Red Hot Chilli Pipers (no typo), The Vatersay Boys, Frightened Rabbit and many more... regular updates on the site.

Depending on your musical persuasion & feeling about crowds this is either a great time to visit the area or the absolute worst... Take your pick.

Tickets are available from The Seaforth & Northwest Outdoors (who should also be able to supply you with camping equipment if you want to stay at the Broomfield Campsite in Ullapool). They cost £50 for the weekend.

Update 26/08/08 - The Ullapool News are reporting just 500 tickets left and a big headline Saturday night act to be announced within the next 10 days.

Update 2 30/08/08 - Now hearing that the Saturday night headliner might be Travis but can see no confirmation on the site.

Update 3 08/09/08 - Echo & the Bunnymen confirmed as headliners.

Διαβάζω σχεδόν παντού για το πόσο αδιάφορο έως μέτριο είναι το Rascalize (Deltasonic). Πόσο κακή προσπάθεια αντιγραφής από τη λίστα των επιρροών τους από Scott Walker και Beatles μέχρι Coral, Zutons και φυσικά Arctic Monkeys. Για το πόσο μεγάλο λάθος ήταν η ενασχόληση του Miles Kane με το project των Last Shadow Puppets με το φίλο του Alex Turner μιας και ήταν άκαιρη η κυκλοφορία ενός τόσο καλού δίσκου που ανέβασε τις προσδοκίες πριν το μέτριο Rascalize, πως οι υπόλοιποι Rascals θα πρέπει να αισθάνονται απογοητευμένοι επειδή ο Kane κράτησε τις καλύτερες συνθέσεις του για τους LSP και διάφορα άλλα τέτοια γραφικά. Προσωπικά δε θυμάμαι τους Corals και τους Zutons να έχουν κυκλοφορήσει τόσο καλούς δίσκους και οι όποιες ομοιότητες με τους Scott Walker και Beatles σταματά στις στιλιστικές προτιμήσεις των πιτσιρικάδων από το Liverpool, εκτός κι αν το πομπώδες στη μουσική είναι εφεύρεση του προαναφερθέντων. Όσο για τους χρυσοποίκιλτους Arctic Monkeys μόνο στις φωνές των δύο frontmen μπορούμε να έχουμε θέμα ομοιότητας.

“All aboard our adventure” τραγουδά ο Miles Kane στην εισαγωγή του Rascalize και είναι αλήθεια πως πριν το πρώτο άκουσμα σκας ένα σαρκαστικό χαμόγελο ύφους σιγά ρε μεγάλε μας τα ’παν κι άλλοι φτασμένοι, το οποίο βέβαια στη συνέχεια καταπίνεις αμάσητο. Το Out of dreams γνωστό από το ομότιτλο EP τους είναι πεντακάθαρο groove κομμάτι που καταλήγει σε φρενήρη απόδραση καβάλα σε κιθάρες ξυράφια. Οι κακεντρεχείς θα πουν πως η μπασογραμμή των πρώτων 8 δευτερολέπτων θυμίζει το Teddy Picker των Arctic. Με τη βοήθεια των Clash και του Moricone μας δίνουν το εξαιρετικό The Glorified Collector, ενώ στο Fear invicted into the perfect stranger η ορθόδοξη κιθαριστική pop διαδέχεται χωρίς αιδώ kraut ξεσπάσματα! Στον απόλυτο δυναμίτη του δίσκου Does your husband know you are on the run?

[audio http://backtomono.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/06-the_rascals-does_your_husband_know_that_youre_on_the_run.mp3]

το τρένο εκτροχιάζεται μετά από ξέφρενη πορεία σε ευθείες μπασογραμμές και τα σπιρούνια μυρίζουν λιωμένο λάστιχο σε καυτή άσφαλτο. Απλά το volume δε φτάνει γι’ αυτό το κομμάτι! O συμπαγής ήχος του Freakbeat Phantom

που είναι το πρώτο single του δίσκου και αγαπημένο του Kane, του γεμάτου ενέργεια People Watching και του πομπώδους Stockings to suit δείχνει το πόσο καλά έχουν δέσει μεταξύ τους οι μόλις τρεις Rascals και πόσο καλά γνωρίζουν ο ένας το παίξιμο του άλλου. Ένας επίσης βασικός λόγος δημιουργίας του ήχου αυτού είναι η chamber pop παραγωγή του δίσκου που δίνει μία wall of sound χροιά.

Μαζί με τους εξαιρετικούς ήχους των Last shadow puppets είχα την ευκαιρία να γνωρίσω και τον κύριο Miles Kane του οποίου φυσικά την ύπαρξη αγνοούσα πριν. Και αυτό που ήταν υπόνοια με το άκουσμα του Out of dreams EP έγινε ξεκάθαρη δήλωση με το άκουσμα του Rascalize. Το age of the understatement είναι πόνημα Kane από το Α ως το Ω. Οι αλλαγές στους ρυθμούς, οι μελωδίες, οι ενορχηστρώσεις, τα φωνητικά, το στυλιζάρισμα είναι όλα δικά του. Είναι ένας δίσκος όπου ο Miles Kane έβαλε το είναι του και ο Alex Turner to ΝΜΕίναι του. Το Rascalize δεν αδικείται από το AOTU, είναι το συμπλήρωμά του, είναι η απόδειξη του πόσο ικανός δημιουργός είναι ο πιτσιρικάς από το Liverpool μελωδικά και στιχουργικά. Ο Kane δεν ανακατεύει πέντε συγχωρδίες για να μας τις πουλήσει ως καινούριες όπως κάνουν πλήθος συναδέλφων του. Μέσα σε μια χρονιά μας παρουσίασε δύο δουλειές από τις οποίες η μία είναι όμορφη, φωτεινή, σαν Κυριακάτικο ηλιόλουστο απόγευμα με βάφλες και παγωτό, η cleancut καθωσπρέπει εκδοχή όμορφα τακτοποιημένη στο συρτάρι των πλούσιων ενορχηστρώσεών της, ενώ η άλλη το τρελό ξενύχτι της Παρασκευής που σε συνεφέρνει Δευτέρα πρωί ίσα για να πας στη δουλειά, η χωρίς κανένα περιορισμό χαοτική διάταξη, η σκοτεινή εγκεφαλική εκδοχή που την ανακαλύπτεις όλο και περισσότερο σε κάθε άκουσμα. Του βγάζω το καπέλο του "όμορφου" και ελπίζω να μη στενοχωρώ τον μεγαλύτερο fun του Alex Turner που τυγχάνει να γράφει γι’ αυτό το blog.

by ColdMushrooms

The shortlist for the Mercury Music Prize, which will honor the album that is determined to be the best in the UK or Ireland over the last 12 months, was announced yesterday. The following artists and albums are under consideration:

Adele = 19
British Sea Power = Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial = Untrue
Elbow = The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle = Shine
Laura Marling = Alas I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon = Stainless Style
Portico Quartet = Knee-Deep In The North Sea
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset = The Bairns
Radiohead = In Rainbows
The Last Shadow Puppets = Age of the Understatement
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss = Raising Sand

I think that the judges are going to have to wrestle with their decision, because there are quite a few quality albums on the shortlist.

Radiohead probably should win, but I don't think that they will due to the huge publicity that the In Rainbows album generated upon its release because of the ability for fans to download it at any price they wanted. Awarding the prize to Radiohead seems a bit too obvious. I would like to see Adele win since I really enjoyed her 19 album and the two live shows of hers that I had the opportunity to see in New York City this year. I don't believe that she will be the winner, however. I think that the prize is going to go to The Last Shadow Puppets, the side project of the Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner and Miles Kane of The Rascals.

Last year's Mercury Music Prize was won by Klaxons for their stellar Myths of the Near Future album.

There is more information about the Mercury Music Prize shortlist in an article from BBC News at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7519452.stm.

The BBC's Mercury Music Prize microsite at http://www.bbc.co.uk/musicevents/mercuryprize2008/ features video of the announcement of the shortlist for the prize.

The official site for the Mercury Music Prize, which is sponsored by Nationwide, is at http://www.nationwidemercurys.com/.

It's articles like this that make me glad I'm not an Indy musician. I mean I like the hair, sometimes, and the tight jeans work sometimes as well, but it's not really 'my kinda scene', to quote another huge indy band, Powderfinger of course.Does the World need another Indy band?

Friday night on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. This is the venue Radiohead played a career-defining show 11 years ago. In the past, it has hosted masterful live performances from The White Stripes, Muse and The Who. Tonight's headliners are the terrific Kings of Leon. Before they can take the stage, however, there's one more support act to soak up. In the half-dark just after sunset, a tousle-haired man in a promising Pink Floyd T-shirt steps up to the mic, carrying his comforting, classic Gibson Les Paul guitar. But then he opens his mouth. His name is Jon Lawler, and his band are known as The Fratellis.

Festival season is in full swing now. Across the land, stages are being raised in city parks, in country farms and on ancient estates for what promises to be Britain's biggest ever summer of music. But if they want to book enough acts to justify the inflated ticket prices in these harsh economic times, once-eager festival organisers have a struggle on their hands. How will they fill that gaping hole on Sunday afternoon? Who's going to warm up the crowd for The Ting Tings? Luckily the current UK music scene has just the thing. Someone has even compounded a helpful term to use when you call the record companies in a line-up emergency; this uninspiring, guitar-gelled Polyfilla – of which The Fratellis are a fine example – is now known by some as "landfill indie".

As in every musical era, one style dominates the hearts and minds of our nation's youth; it dictates their fashion sense, their relationship with their parents and, quite possibly, their personal-hygiene regimen. These days, it's indie that's the cholesterol in the veins of popular culture, and we need to start thinking about a crash diet.

You know who they are, these smooth-chinned strummers, with their smart-arsed, self-admiring band names almost invariably prefaced by the definite article: The Kooks, The Courteeners, The Holloways, The Rascals, The View, The Wombats, The Automatic, The Pigeon Detectives, The Hoosiers. Their turgid, tuneless banalities use all the oxygen between ad breaks on XFM; they mop up the soggy midday slot on the main stage. Indie is the 30-year-old genre that gave us The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Blur and Arctic Monkeys. But in that period it has also produced Ocean Colour Scene, Menswear and Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong.

John Niven was an indie fan in the 1980s, an A&R man in the Britpopping 1990s, and is now the author of Kill Your Friends, a sadistic satire of the record industry of which he was once an enthusiastic member. "I was in Gap a few weeks ago and there was some sort of generic indie music playing," he says. "I was with a friend who's a promoter and a bit younger than me. After about three or four tracks I asked him: 'Whose LP is this?' And he said, 'No, it's a compilation.' Every track sounded identical. The guitars, the production; all these bands sound like they're made in the same studio with the same producer. It's such a ball-less, soulless, generic whitewashed indie sound. You could probably take a member from each band and throw them together in a new group and no one would be able to tell the difference. They're completely interchangeable. Scouting for Girls are like the sound of Satan's scrotum emptying. They're abysmal."

Once, indie was a world away from the mainstream. "Originally we talked of 'independent' music, meaning music on independent labels, and at that time there was still a shared (if loose) framework of ideology and sonics that traced back to punk," explains Simon Reynolds, pop historian and author of Rip it Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984. "It was an oppositional term: independent music opposed itself to the mainstream rock and pop released on major labels. The idea was that on independent labels you would find more experimental or adventurous music, people exploring esoteric and non-commercial directions, making sounds too abrasive or weird to be on daytime radio. The lyrical content would be radical or challenging, either exploring the dark side of human condition, or being political in various ways, or just very sophisticated, ironic, and so on.

"By about 1984/1985, though, 'indie' meant a style of song-oriented, guitar-based music whose opposition to the mainstream took the form of no longer being contemporary – spurning synthesisers and drum machines and sequencers, avoiding the R&B and dance music influences that dominated the pop charts, and instead looking back to rock's archives, principally the 1960s. 'Indie' meant jangly guitar groups. By 1986 'indie' pretty much equated with a refusal of the pop present. Because it now meant a style of music, not a means of production and distribution, it could be uncoupled from the independent label system, and that is what gradually happened."

Between NME's seminal C86 compilation tape (which crystallised the 1980s indie sound) and the Britpop revolution a decade later, the genre still had a separate chart ' and "indie" really meant independent. It just so happened that most of the bands on indie labels played jangly guitars: baggy bands such as The Charlatans and Inspiral Carpets, T-shirt bands including Ned's Atomic Dustbin, shoe-gazers such as Ride. Whenever one of them managed to break into the mainstream weekly pop chart, it was a major event.

Britpop changed everything. Overnight, bands from the fringes of pop culture became the country's biggest acts, their independent sound suddenly the industry standard. Blur and Pulp demonstrated intellect and cultural awareness, Suede were pale, interesting and androgynous, Oasis brought the attitude. But already the indie waters were muddied. Oasis was on the Creation label, whose founder Alan McGee had sold 49 per cent of the company to Sony for £2.5m in 1992. Suede's label, Nude, was also part of Sony. Blur was signed to Food, which by 1994 was a subsidiary of EMI. Meanwhile, the majors realised the commercial clout of appearing to be indie and started up their own boutique labels in the apparent hope of fooling fans: BMG, for instance, spawned Indolent and Dedicated, and Virgin gave birth to Hut.

"[Britpop] was great fun," wrote the journalist Andrew Collins in a 2006 piece for Word. "But it wasn't indie, and it pushed a whole slew of workmanlike guitar bands centre-stage, where they were even expected to represent their rebranded country, giving the quite false impression that Cool Britannia was an Indie Nation. The essence of New Labour, indie was capitalism dressed up as revolutionary socialism."

These days the term 'indie' is little more than a generic sonic description for any band that plays guitars and probably wears skinny ties, skinny jeans, and skinny cardigans. Collins, a former NME writer and ex-editor of Q, says now: "'Indie' has become a meaningless term. It just covers guitar bands. But it was never meant to be about a type of music, it wasa spirit and an attitude. When I glance around the bands that are supposedly 'indie' today, I don't see any attitude. I don't see any content in their records, any political interest in the band members. They're a terrible generation, unfortunately, but they're becoming famous overnight and selling a lot of records. I've heard them called 'mortgage indie'. It's a career path – a way of making a lot of money very quickly. The Kooks did so well so quickly. Scouting For Girls, from a standing start, have become a really big band. The Fratellis have become massive in a remarkably short time."

There are still indie die-hards out there, the pre-eminent example being Arctic Monkeys, who rebuffed all major label interest in favour of signing to the small, principled Domino Records, then ended up shifting 363,735 copies of their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, in a week. Seattle's Sub Pop label just celebrated its 20th birthday by bringing the wonderful Fleet Foxes to these shores, while XL Recordings maintains an enviable and varied roster that now includes Vampire Weekend, MIA and Devendra Banhart. Tellingly, XL was also chosen by Radiohead to distribute the physical version of their last album, In Rainbows.

But the success of Arctic Monkeys, and the brief blaze of The Libertines, has brought its own Britpop effect. Before the Arctics' ascendance, guitars and pianos plodded along at a stately pace, Keane and Snow Patrol playing out a parodic imitation of The Verve. Since Whatever People Say I Am..., rubbish radio filler has become faster and more frantic, but also, arguably, worse. At least Keane have an ear for a tune.

At the same time, the Arctics' supposed recipe for success – the much-hyped MySpace profile that let them build a fanbase without a budget – has been co-opted by the rest of the industry. Like the establishment of those boutique brands, it's now just another major label marketing ploy.

Pity any guitar-playing teen from north of Watford. The well-deserved success of the Arctics means record companies are on the hunt for more teenage wunderkinds like their frontman Alex Turner; thus we have a glut of youngsters, such as One Night Only and The Enemy, with underdeveloped ideas that have never been given a chance to mature. By the time they're grown up enough to learn more than one trick (or three chords), the NME will already have started the backlash, and another young group of guitar plodders will have taken their place. Indie is merely apeing pop's abiding obsession with youth. Here's another term for the indie glossary: a "firework band". It means a widely touted young act whose label has a debut LP to sell. They begin their professional lives by exploding into the top of the charts, shine brightly, then drop out of sight. The turnover of new acts is terrifying. Parklife, lest we forget, was Blur's third album.

"Everything has accelerated," says Collins. "I can't believe Scouting For Girls. I remember hearing that song 'She's So Lovely' and thinking, 'What's this shit?' And the next thing you know, it's a hit, and they're a hit, and the next two singles are hits. New bands go massive on their first album, but there's almost no chance they can follow it up on their second. Record companies are there for the shareholders. If they can make some money quickly off the next big indie band, they will, but it doesn't mean the band will make any. The band will be left scratching their heads and wondering what happened. Whereas Arctic Monkeys will continue to be supported by Domino, and luckily they're massively talented – enough to continue making good records. A lot of other bands, I'm afraid, are not in it for the long haul. 'mortgage indie' is a nice idea, but I'm not sure it will end up actually paying their mortgages."

For many acolytes of the original indie scene, the saddest by-product of its decline is the state of the NME, formerly their paper of record. The organ's journalists were once so passionate about the integrity of the genre that they threatened a schism over the inclusion of too much hip-hop on their pages; now it, too, has become a corporate entity.

"I recently saw an interview with Conor McNicholas where he was talking about 'growing the brand'," Niven recalls. "The editor of the NME using the expression 'growing the brand'! It's hardly Nick Kent sneaking out of the office to run down Carnaby Street and score smack, is it?"

Nowadays, to be an "NME band" is all too often to be a "firework band". The annual NME Awards at which they're celebrated are sponsored by Shockwaves from Wella, the very hair gel with which indie kids style their Kook-ish coiffures from Glasgow to Guildford. With such bland uniformity so speedily infecting our nation's youth, is there any hope left for a flourishing, and truly 'indie', scene?

"I'm sure there's a real indie scene out there somewhere," says Niven, "with some great bands and kids running really happening club nights. I went to a venue in Glasgow last year called the National Pop League, and it was a room full of 18-year-old kids all dancing to The Weather Prophets, The Loft, Primal Scream, The Jasmine Minks – indie records from the 1980s. It was like when we were going to Splash One in Glasgow in the 1980s and dancing to Velvet Underground, Big Star and things that were from a generation before us. Maybe the market will right itself, but right now we're living through a generation of bands brought up on the tail end of Britpop. If it's a time when you're feeding off Sleeper, Gene and Shed Seven for inspiration, it's not going to yield nourishing results."

Forget the filler, it's this year's Glastonbury headliners that should point the way for the next generation. There was Jay-Z, of course, the world's greatest rapper. There was the Kings of Leon, who manage to make interesting noises with electric guitars (despite their preference for skinny jeans). And there was The Verve, who, almost 20 years after their formation, remind us what indie really meant to people in the days when there was no danger of troubling the pop charts, nor of paying the mortgage with music; when the words were about something, anything – politics, perhaps, or at least an original thought about love; when waifish white boys had more to say than simply, "Look Mum, I'm in a band!"; before Britpop and MySpace and landfill indie.

"Once these bands stop having hits every day it will dry up," argues Collins. "The kids will get bored. You can't grow up on a diet of The Pigeon Detectives and think you could topple the Government one day. If we end up with 20 years of Tory government, it'll be The Pigeon Detectives' fault."

How indie ate itself

1977: The Buzzcocks release their Spiral Scratch EP on their DIY label, New Hormones. Pop historians will refer to it as the first indie record

1986: NME and Rough Trade compile and release C86, the cassette (featuring, among others, Primal Scream, The Soup Dragons and Half Man Half Biscuit) that defines the indie genre

1987: The Smiths leave independent label Rough Trade after four albums and sign a more lucrative deal with EMI, then split acrimoniously before they record a note

1990: The Stone Roses, led by singer Ian Brown stage a Woodstock for the baggys generation – a huge gig at Spike Island in Widnes. Among the 27,000 fans is a young Noel Gallagher

1992: Alan McGee sells half of Creation Records to Sony for £2.5m. Later, Nude is sold to Sony, Factory to London Records, Go!Discs to Phonogram and Food to EMI

1993: Indie fans Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley take over Radio One's high-profile Evening Session slot and make it their own. Blur release their second album, Modern Life is Rubbish. According to John Harris, the author of The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of British Rock, this is the first true Britpop album. Alan McGee goes to Glasgow venue King Tut's Wah Wah Hut to see his label's act 18 Wheeler play, and discovers a little band called Oasis

1995: Blur and Oasis release singles in the same week ("Country House" and "Roll With It") in what NME bills as a "British heavyweight championship". Blur win the immediate battle to reach number one, but Oasis win the war: their album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, sells 18m copies worldwide

1997: Oasis's third album, Be Here Now, is bloated and ugly. Blur by Blur sounds American. Britpop dies a belated death

2001: New York hipsters The Strokes release Is This It. Everyone forgets about Britain

2002: The Libertines release their debut, Up The Bracket. Shambling guitars become chic again

2004: Snow Patrol's Final Straw and Keane's Hopes and Fears top the album charts. Indie reaches a low point

2006: Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not becomes the fastest-selling debut album in chart history. The major labels snap up every 17-year-old guikookstar player in the land

2008: Scouting For Girls' debut album reaches Number One. Indie eats itself

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www.theindependant.co.uk

azumuth.info

www.azumuth.com

www.myspace.com/azumuthmusic

www.trig.com/azumuth

www.reverbnation.com/azumuth

But the great debate I refer to is taking place in an online forum hosted by an online publication called the Yonkers Tribune, which posted my "City of Gracious Living" essay and stirred up lots of back-and-forth about the demise of the city's old downtown and about Yonkers politics and politicians.

Check it out. The link is:

 http://yonkerstribune.typepad.com/yonkers_tribune/2008/07/city-of-graciou.html

I should note that the essay itself, which I posted in an earlier blog entry, is really a personal, sort of stream-of-consciousness trek (sort of like young Bob Dylan's "smoke rings of my mind") through my memories of growing up in the city, my impressions of the city past and present, my knowledge of the city's colorful history, and the true story of my mother's uncle, Thomas Crooks, a young man who "fell" into a vat of acid while working at the old Alexander Smith carpet factory in the 1920s -- Thomas, according to the city's late, great daily newspaper the Yonkers Herald Statesman, had a premonition of his own death just before he died. Read the essay again with that in mind -- the parts about young Thomas Crooks are just as true as the fact that Son of Sam and Gene Krupa and Linda Lovelace all lived in Yonkers.

As for the great debates I mentioned earlier, I'd say Nixon lost to Kennedy, Douglas lost to Lincoln and the Rascals lost to the Beatles but put up a damned good fight with songs like "Groovin'," "People Got to be Free," "Good Lovin' " and "How Can I Be Sure?"

Miles Kane's Other Band seems to be in a good place right now. The debut album, called (cringe) Rascalize, has popped up on iTunes (although from the looks of those little Popularity bars, no one's been buying it). Miles recently got that crucial shout-out in Nylon, which printed an article about the Puppets and also described his first band, Little Flames, as "underappreciated." Their Myspace photo album regularly get comments like "you guys are HOTT. and your music is awesommmmm." AND they've got a lucky 999 fans on their Facebook fan page.

COOL. For the record (ha! pun), MKOB's little name problem seems to be a recurring issue: on their official site, the page labeled "BLOG" is clearly not a blog, it is a bio...Oh wait, I'm joking, the title of that page is actually "BIOG." Which looks exactly like "blog."

Ok, this is really pissing me off.

mp3: "Bond Girl" - The Rascals

Blandness in it's raw form.

It's been a while since an album has been released that I feel completely indifferent about. This album succeeds at not making me hate it. While it's another indie by numbers album that has no unique ideas or interesting development anywhere in it and thus should be condemning the band to a firey death and embarking on a quest to remove any trace of this band from the earth, but I couldn't really care about the band or what they do. I feel absolutely nothing while hearing these songs. It's as though I'm not listening to anything at all.

Is it worse to have a band that doesn't even inspire you to hate them? Can they get any percentage mark at all?

Listen to this album: ?

Rating: -

Extracts from 'The Glorified Collector', 'I'd be lying to you', 'People Watching' and 'How do I end this?'
[audio http://bumchickens.googlepages.com/TheRascals.mp3]

'Out Of Dreams'

O duo lançou o seu debut album , The Age Of The Understatement, em Abril deste ano.

Falando para o The Guardian, Kane brincou que se a banda não estivesse indo tão bem, ele esperaria estar passando a sua aposentadoria da música velejando.

“Sim, talvez” disse Turner, quando questionado se a banda poderia durar 45 anos.

“Eu vou estar com 67 anos” adicionou Kane. “Igual o Paul McCartney. Ele parece estar bem. Se não, eu quero estar num iate”

Adicionando que Alex Turner fez uma apresentação surpresa na música ‘Is It Too Late?’ do Rascals no Wireless Festival ontem, que aconteceu no Hyde Park, em Londres.

Fonte: NME.com

Tradução: Murilo Portescheller (mUKa)

Amanha posto umas bandas novas, com downloads.

See You Later. Innovator

Voila l'ambiance de mon départ de chez moi ce matin...ce qui est pratique en période de vacances, c'est d'avoir tout un immeuble a soi, so no soucy pour le volume ^^) J'adore cet album!

Projet solo d’Alex Turner – leader des ARCTIC MONKEYS – et de Miles Kane (THE RASCALS)

...26 aout 2008 a l'Olympia, je serais en vacances, j'y pense ^^

From Billboard:
Arif Mardin, the legendary producer/arranger whose career spanned landmark recordings from Aretha Franklin to the Bee Gees to Norah Jones, died yesterday (June 25) in New York. Mardin was 74 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for about a year. Born in 1932 into a prominent family in Istanbul, Mardin attended the London School of Economics, but it was a lucky meeting in 1956 in Turkey with Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones that lead to his decision to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston. He graduated from Berklee in 1961 and Nesuhi Ertegun, a fellow Turk whom he met at the Newport Jazz Festival, brought him to Atlantic Records two years later. At Atlantic, Mardin took his lessons about engineering and producing from a team of in-house giants that included Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd. Mardin originally wanted to be a big-band arranger, but he caught the pop bug in 1965, while co-producing the Rascals with Dowd. In the coming decades, he produced hits for a remarkable array of Atlantic artists, including Franklin, Average White Band, Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, Roberta Flack, Brook Benton and Dusty Springfield. In the mid-'70s, Mardin helped the Bee Gees redefine their sound and revive their career with the album "Main Course," which included the No. 1 hit "Jive Talkin'." Mardin showed great diversity, with successes ranging from Bette Midler's sweeping ballads "From a Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings" to Chaka Khan's funky "I Feel For You." He also produced memorable folk albums for John Prine, jazz albums for Eddie Harris, Herbie Mann and Charles Lloyd and country sets for Willie Nelson. Mardin remained at Atlantic until 2001, rising to senior VP. Shortly after retiring from the label, he re-emerged as co-VP/GM of EMI's revived Manhattan label under Blue Note chief Bruce Lundvall. It was at EMI that Mardin put the final crescendo on his career, co-producing Norah Jones' breakthrough Blue Note album "Come Away With Me." "Come Away With Me" won Grammys for album of the year and record of the year in 2003 and earned Mardin producer of the year honors. He also produced Jones' "Feels Like Home," which sold 1.02 million units in its debut week in February 2004. According to his official biography, Mardin collected close to 60 gold or platinum albums and won 12 Grammy Awards. In 1990, he was inducted into the Recording Academy's Hall of Fame. - Ken Schlager

Big Blue Ball Big Blue Ball . Buy MP3: Habibe	Sigur Rós Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust Buy MP3: Gobbledigook	Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer . Buy MP3: Language City

There is an amazing record getting a physical release this week in the form of the Big Blue Ball projects' self-titled LP. The album brings together almost 18 years of open-studio recordings at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios in Wiltshire. A collaborative effort, featuring names like Natacha Atlas, Jah Wobble, Tim Finn and Sinead O'Connor, helmed by Gabriel and Karl Wallinger. The music itself is like the entire catalogue of Real World records, a mix of superb instrumentation and strong, haunting voices all melded together onto one LP. So impressive is the end product that it may have a shout for album of the year.

Sigur Rós return with their fifth LP, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, translated as 'With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly'. Expect the usual melodic epics, bursting with slow burning crescendos and, for the first time, an English language track. This is a good, rather than great, album but definitely warranting further investigation. It's streaming on last.fm and their Myspaz.

Canadian quintet Wolf Parade unleash their follow up to 2005's Apologies To Queen Mary with this fantastic effort. A real mix of accessible stuff, such as the track provided here (via SubPop), and the more experimental gear, it's a record that bears out repeated plays.

The Presets Apocalypso Buy MP3: This Boy's In Love	White Denim Workout Holiday Buy MP3: Let's Talk About It	Infadels Universe In Reverse Buy .

There's an old saying that runs along the lines of "talent imitates, genius steals", and two of these three records prove that saying is completely bunk. For the new albums by Aussie group The Presets, and the sophomore record by Infadels, are completely derivative yet only someone with a complete lack of cognitive functions would call their creators geniuses. Some tracks of The Presets record are alright, just nothing special. Universe In Reverse is just fucking dreadful, I mean their debut was bad (it lasted all of three days in my record collection before it was unceremoniously flogged on ebay) but this ramps the shiteness to a new level. Rabble-rousing tosh. White Denim provide some much needed respite on our second-tier releases this week with the accomplished Workout Holiday. A noisy, DIY-sounding record, this treads ground that is well worn, but manages to find its own charm and niche.

Semifinalists 2 Buy . .	The Beep Seals Things That Roar Buy MP3: I Dreamt A Metal Hat	(They Came From The Stars) I Saw Them We Are All In The Gutter But Some Of Us Are Looking At...

Releasing their second album this week are London's Semifinalists, whose debut was solid if unspectacular. Graceful indiepop with decent vocals. Heron Recordings, home of The Beep Seals claims they sound like "pure pysch-slacker pop", and who am I to disagree? I'm also not going to disagree with the world's best record shop, Norman's, who have named They Came From The Stars as owners of album of the week. I've included it here as it is basically demented bastardpop. Check out the Myspaz, the sound is pretty spectacular.

The Rascals Rascalize Buy .	Yeti The Legend Of Yeti Gonzales Buy	Cage The Elephant S/T Buy .

The Rascals are the Arctic Monkeys' best mates, and to be honest that is the only reason I can think they got a record contract. Deltasonic are the offending label, the band sharing a Merseyside heritage with their lead names The Coral. Unlike them, or the Monkeys they have no spark of originality and no charm. Bland indie-rock for the lads. As, unfortunately, is Yeti's effort. Yeti feature former Libertines bassist John Hassall who aptly shows that he wasn't the creative driving force in the Libs. And finally this week we end with live mavericks Cage The Elephant. For all the hype surrounding their gigging prowess the record is stodgy sub-Stooges schtick.

You can vote for your favourite release of the week over in the left sidebar!

The results from the last poll were:
=1. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
=1. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
3. My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Sharks Teeth

Superstar duo The Last Shadow Puppets' 2nd single embraces what all duos of past have created, perfect pop singles.  Clocking in at only two minutes and twenty-one seconds, "Standing Next To Me" evokes vintage chorus lines and to-the-point lyrics.

The music video itself mirrors a time and period that The Last Shadow Puppets embrace so effortlessly that you might almost forget that this duo is from 2008 and not 1968.

MP3: “Standing Next To Me“
Website: http://www.theageoftheunderstatement.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thelastshadowpuppets
Purchase: The Age of Understatement
Label: Domino

     Quizás sigue la euforia por The Last Shadow Puppets, quizás no. Por lo pronto después de tres singles, el disco debut de The Rascals, Rascalize sale en unos días y se terminan las dudas de como seria el disco. Con un sonido que no deja de lado sus inicios (The Little Flames) Kane y compañía nos dan un gran disco, aunque difícil de escuchar (necesitan escucharlo varias veces para agarrarle el modo), donde destaca la guitarra de Kane.

     Freakbeat Phantom (de las mejores canciones) en vivo:

Ahora sí, las canciones:

Rascalize

Out of Dreams

Bond Girl

The Glorified Collector

Fear Invicted Into The Perfect Stranger

Does Your Husband Know That You're On The Run?

I'd Be Lying To You

Freakbeat Phantom

People Watching

Stockings To Suit

How Do I End This?

I'll Give You Sympathy

A NME disponibilizou para audição o álbum 'Rascalize', do Rascals, que sai no dia 23 desse mês.

Por fin el esperado debut de estos chicos, el album lleva por nombre Rascalize y la verdad es un exelente material, este album merece ser escuchado, muchos dice que suenan a los arctic monkeys, y yo no digo que no, imaginense a los arctic monkeys con un toque de psicodelia, tendran como resultado a estos chavos.

En fin, el album lo pueden descargar aqui, de antemano gracias a los chavos de http://reinzidencia.blogspot.com/ por ofrecernos tan buenos albums, espero sigan asi.

Saludos!!

-------

Since I've been in Europe, I've managed to see a few concerts. When I found out about the Great Escape Festival I knew I had to go to Brighton. As a student and low-income earner ticket prices were an issue, but thankfully it only cost me £45 (or approximately AU$95) plus the booking fee. For three nights of live music and running around a town like Brighton it would be stupid to pass up.

And so I arrived in Brighton on May 14, the day before the festival started. I was lucky enough to be fucked over by the hostel I had originally booked, Sluggies Backpackers. I walked for 20 minutes with my bags in the hot sun to this place only to find out that (according to the woman on reception) their old manager had quit two weeks earlier and had 'forgotten' to enter my booking in their computer system, despite taking my £25 deposit. The bastards! Eventually, proof of my booking was found in their diary and I was offered one night in a bed followed by another three on a thin mattress on the floor. After seeing the room and pointing out the fact that you couldn't fit a mattress on their shitty floor, I reclaimed my deposit and commandeered their phone to find an alternative to this busted up excuse for a hostel. After 20 minutes I was walking back down the street to a bed in a better location. Problem solved.

After settling in my new hostel, I went for a stroll around town. Navigating Brighton's many lanes is incredibly confusing, but the best way to do things is to get lost and surprise yourself as you come across little treasures. Eventually, I realised I should probably eat something. After a late lunch and a trip to the supermarket, I made my way to the ticket stand where I traded my ticket for a festival wristband and programme. For the most part, the programme was well laid out - a few pages filled with the usual tripe from no one you care about, followed by a well structured timetable for the coming three nights, and finally the band section, where each performer had a two or three sentence writeup. The excitement was building...

Thursday 15 May - Day One

I spent my first morning in Brighton going through the festival ritual of working out how the fuck I was going to see the bands I had flown across the world to see. As always, with so much going on at the same time, it was going to be difficult, but I had a plan and it was going to fucking work. The night started early, somewhere around 6:30pm and I headed to Volks, a bar on the beachfront under Kings Road. I made the executive decision to turn up early and see a band I had never heard of. Seeing Scarlet were billed as having a sound "somewhere between Interpol and David Bowie" - what a lie. I can't describe their sound without using the words shit, crap, appalling or whatever else my thesaurus comes up with. The phrase "not worth your time" also comes to mind. I don't think I've seen such an egotistical display in a vocalist since Axl Rose. The arrogance he displayed could do nothing but annoy me and the music did nothing to ease the pain. It was a disappointing start to the evening. But like I said, I wasn't here for them. I had turned up early to get a good spot for We Are Wolves, a post-punky trio from Montreal. If their album was anything to go by then it was going to be a mystical live experience. Sadly, it was not be. After waiting for 10 minutes, a member of the festival staff informed those waiting that they had pulled out of their performance. After a brief moan, it was time to move on.

My festival plan hadn't started out so well - shite followed by a no show. Alas, I had something to look forward to. I decided I'd head to the next venue early to check out another band I had never heard of. So, I walked the 10 or 15 minutes to Pressure Point. To my surprise, Leeds-based Wild Beasts were one of my favourite performers in the entire festival, a pleasant surprise indeed. Their brand of indie rock was falsetto heavy with a mixture of catchy post-punk and afrobeat rhythms. Their vocalist/guitarist's mild disinterest in the audience only added to my curiosity at what they were on about, but I was hooked almost instantly. Highly recommended, I look forward to their debut album due in mid-June.

Following Wild Beasts' exciting display were L.A. DIY lads No Age. I challenge you to find me a more exciting band around, particularly from L.A. As soon as I found out that these guys were performing at the festival my heart skipped a beat. And when the speakers rumbled with their visceral brand of noise punk, my heart skipped another beat. That's right, it was love. Dean and Randy could do nothing but smile throughout their time on stage and it was infectious. Standing up front next to a speaker stack was the best decision I could have made that night. As they joyfully played their way through tracks off their new album, Nouns, I became somewhat euphoric. By the end of their set, I could feel the smile on my face saying it all - fucking brilliant. I've heard some criticism about their DIY roots and the attention being lavished upon them, but whatever you have to say it's impossible to deny their infectious positivity and deceptively simple yet incredible music. And they deserve all the attention they can get.

After indulging in the No Age live experience, I rushed over to the Spiegel Tent to see the dreampop duo Beach House. Admittedly, I arrived a tad late, but not enough to spoil the experience. The lighting as low and the mood a little weird thanks to Victoria Legrand's odd, but amusing, ranting. And so they played their way through a selection of spacious and soulful tracks that had the small audience swaying and generally enjoying the cosy atmosphere. The hype over these two is well worth it. If this little treat was anything to go by, you can bet I'm going to see their headline show.

From here, the live entertainment for the night ended prematurely. I was going to head to the Barfly to see Yeasayer and The Ting Tings, but the festival's disorganisation kicked in. After talking to a few festival patrons and looking at the official festival figures, I've found out that over 10000 tickets were sold to members of the public. If you then include all the performers, delegates and staff, you're looking at another 2500 tickets, at least. The festival structure was such that the majority of acts were playing between 6pm and 10pm. After 10pm the number of acts dropped dramatically, so much so that by 11:30pm there were only three venues with festival acts. Think of it - that's thousands of festival-goers wanting to get their money's worth by attending festival events, rather than going to a venue outside the festival schedule. So, getting back to my evening, by the time I left Beach House and arrived at the Barfly (a less than 10 minute walk), the venue was full and the line outside numbered somewhere in the vicinity of 500 at the very least. With a capacity of only 450 people, getting into the Barfly would have meant waiting for at least two hours - an experience I'd rather not have. And so my first night of the Great Escape Festival was over, although not before finding a small bar crammed with punters and satisfying a travellers thirst.

Friday 16 May - Day Two

Setting aside the details of my day leading up to the second night of the festival, I was still feeling a little cheated by the disorganisation of late night events. Nevertheless, I was determined to get the full Great Escape experience and headed out early once again. I strolled down to the Kings Road Arches and wandered into the Brighton Coalition, a more upmarket venue then Volks (a couple of doors down). I was pleasantly surprised by the first band to entertain the crowd that night. Unfortunately, their name wasn't advertised and instead they were billed as the winner of some Red Stripe new music contest. Nevertheless, they entertained the growing audience and even earned their respect after dealing very well with some sound problems. The vocalist and lead guitarist even left the stage and danced around the crowd with his ukulele when the microphones cut out. It felt very piratey - ar!

Since the first band of the evening had topped the first effort from Thursday night, I was in high spirits. Well, it was either that or because I was really looking forward to seeing Born Ruffians. Thankfully I didn't have to move and the wait in between bands was incredibly short - hoorah! I must admit I stared oddly at Luke Lalonde (vocals/guitar) for a while. I was curious about his style - the woolen jumper and boat shoes just didn't do it for me. Then he came back with a shirt, rolled up his sleeves and all was right again. Enough about style, this is about music. Born Ruffians didn't disappoint. They bounced around the stage like children on a jumping castle - their enthusiasm was infectious. Their indie-rock-meets-afrobeat rhythms and jangly guitar were a delight to see in the flesh. If anything, their set was too short, but that's what you get from a festival - something to whet your appetite, not engulf it. Thank you Canada.

And so my encounter with the Brighton Coalition was over. I wandered up the road to Revenge, one of the city's LGBT venues, but for the festival it was home to some incredible punk and noise bands. First up were English youngsters Rolo Tomassi. For such a young band (at the time their vocalist was still 17 and the other members were all under 21) they were fucking impressive. They kicked ten shits out of any teenage band in your neighbourhood as they pummeled their genre-bending prog-punk into the crowd. They've just recorded an album, which will hopefully be released by year's end.

20 minutes later, Canada delivered another amazing band - AIDS Wolf, from Montreal. I'd been waiting to see them for some time, and knowing that they'll probably never make it to Australia, I couldn't miss this opportunity. It was a strange, eerie set. Disappointingly, there weren't many people around, at least to begin with. The band donned their khaki uniforms and begin destroying the universe as vocalist Chloe Lum creeped around in black cape and unitard, doing her best not to look anyone in the eye. AIDS Wolf have at one time described their sound as "a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag". Whatever the fuck they sound like, I want more. See this band.

After the debacle that was late night Thursday, I headed to the Barfly early, where NME were hosting more late night entertainment. To my surprise, there was no line and instead people streamed out of the venue. This was my chance. I walked inside, ordered a beer and camped in front of the stage. After what was a stupidly long wait in between acts, Friendly Fires kicked it off. I can't say I fell in love. To me, they were a poor alternative to The Rapture. You could tell with just about everything they were doing. That said, the crowd lapped it up, bigtime. They were enjoyable, but nothing exceptional.

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of genres in the late night lineup. After the disco-rock of Friendly Fires, we were in for a subdued gothic experience from Ipso Facto. Think: The Horrors, but way moodier, and far less erratic. Channeling early Cure and Wednesday Addams (not mine), with their style and that awesome organ sound there was something refreshing about them.

By this time it was approaching 2am and the crowd was getting a little restless. It was time for Black Lips. The flower punks had taken their sweet time in getting to the stage, albeit because of technical difficulties, but once they started you'd have to have been a quadriplegic to be standing still. It was clear that Ian was fucked out of his mind, and the rest of the band were obviously drunk, but that only made things better. They stormed their swampy, doo-wop, bluesly garage punk like, well, themselves. I can't think of anyone quite like them. Can I have some more please?

And after all that, in a satisfying haze of distortion, beer and sweat, the second night was over.

Saturday 17 May - Day Three

The last of the three days was here. Even after an exhausting 8 hours the previous night, I could only welcome my chosen lineup for the evening. Like the other nights, I would be encountering bands that I had never heard of before, which I must admit is as exciting as it is daunting - could it be a waste of time? Only time would tell. So I set off in a good mood. It was drizzling rain, but I was on the other side of the world, it was my birthday and I would be seeing some of my favourite new bands all in one evening.

After walking some distance in the rain, I arrived at the Old Market in the west side of town. They hadn't opened up yet and a couple of hundred people were left to soak outside, snaking their way down the street. Soon the doors opended, we grabbed a beverage or two and took up our positions. The opener for the evening was School of Language, side project of David Lewis from Field Music. Unfortunately for them, I don't think there were many punters there to see them. However, I'd say they had won over a number of souls by the end with their laid back brand indie rock. I can't quite think who they remind me of, but it was a pleasant way to start the evening. Nothing too abrasive for a rainy Saturday in Brighton.

From my observations, I'd say that the crowd in the Old Market were made up of two groups - two thirds were a primarily young, "hip" crowd their to swoon over Dev Hynes, and the rest taken up by older men there to reconnect with their psychedelic roots via Black Mountain. Very amusing. Personally, I was there for Lightspeed Champion. Dev came out on his own, complete with large furry hat, his amp decorated with some tape in the form of 'LOL' (tres amusement). Dev then ran through some highly entertaining versions of songs from his new album. A seriously grunge version of 'Midnight Surprise' and, well, everything else. He even brought out a kazoo for a track or two. Unfortunately, I think he alienated those wanting to see a recreation of the album, but it refreshing to see him recreate the songs you've heard the same way a dozen times.

After Dev's solo effort, I hurried back through to Kings Road and to Digital. I was getting there early to try and catch some of Santogold's set. When I finally got there, much to my surprise, Santogold had morphed into some incredibly annoying trio from northern England - The Rascals. I wasn't very happy, and I wasn't the only one. Listening to them, all I could think of was the Arctic Monkeys (who I despise). They were just so fucking arrogant. Seriously - go away.

Finally they did and I could settle myself front and centre for These New Puritans. There was a slight delay before the band took to stage, but it was fucking worth it. Ever since discovering These New Puritans I've had this desire to see how they do it live. Jack (vocals/guitar) was, as he puts it, 'spitting the code'. The whole band was on fire. Sophie (synths) stayed hidden in the back, but kept everything going while the other three tore a hole time-space continuum. They're touring Australia in August and I can't fucking wait.

I had a choice ahead of me now - get to the Pressure Point early for the late night slot or rush to Hectors House to catch something new. Since TGE was all about new, I chose the latter. I arrived at Hectors House just as Esser were due to start. As usual, they were running late. I'd heard only a little about Esser and I was intrigued to say the least. They played their way through some delightful dancey tracks, with some interesting instrumentation and damn fine clothes. Overall, something worth checking out.

Phew! That was fun. I made my way up to Pressure Point for the final late night package. When I got there the line for the door freaked me out. My back was already killing me from two and a half nights on my feet, but I waited anyway. Things finally got moving and I was upstairs in time to see Flykiller. In all honesty, I saw nothing new in them. It was like Goldfrapp-meets-The Kills, and not in a good way. So, I sat down to rest my aching spine and paid them little attention.

Next up were Ohio-based trio Times New Viking. I don't know where the name comes from, but I'd had them recommended to me by more than one festival patron, so I was excited to learn they were playing three times throughout the festival. Theirs was superb trashy lo-fi indie rock. It was an absolute delight next to the boredom of Flykiller. Smashing their way through 30 minutes of solid music - no filler. They released a new album in January on Matador Records. Check it out.

My mood was as high as it could be after three nights on my feet, trudging around a seaside town, dancing to excellent music and waiting through the bad. But the end of the festival experience was something I was really looking forward to. I was going to watch Semifinalists - a band I never thought I'd see unless I made it to England. Like others before them, they were running late. There was a surprise. Ferry went on stage joined by two others that were not Chris and Adriana. Suddenly these amazing hip hop beats fucking pounded through the speakers and the two strangers began rapping. Ferry joined in from time to time, but danced the whole way through. It was incredible, especially at 2am. This lasted only 10 minutes (not long enough!) before the sound went down, Chris organised his stuff and the real Semifinalists took to the stage (minus Adriana who has moved back to the US.

Chris and Ferry then hammered their way through a selection dreamy distortion-heavy tracks from their forthcoming album. It was amazing. It was like Chris was channeling Kevin Shields. They played so loud the speakers were fucked, but it was worth every moment. Dance your fucking heart out, Ferry Gouw!

And that was that. The Great Escape in Brighton was over for 2008. Overall, it's the best festival experience I've had so far. That said, I am attending Glastonbury in two weeks time. Nevertheless, I wish I could afford to attend next year - it's sure to be just as exciting.

Alex Turner de Arctic Monkeys, y Miles Kane de The Rascals, o lo que es lo mismo Last Shadow Puppets, han publicado nuevo single. Standing Next To Me, a la venda en formato CD y en vinilo de 7".

]]> http://lotsofrandomwords.wordpress.com/?p=94 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:57:15 +0000 Nick http://lotsofrandomwords.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/june-in-singles-reviewed-by-the-twilight-sad/
[Images: John Lewis]

Instead of my usual ramblings on the month's singles for The Skinny magazine, this time we decided to let someone else do the slagging. The Twilight Sad are one of my favourite bands of the past year, and even produced The Skinny's album of 2007. I met them before their gig at Tigerfest in Dunfermline to play them some CDs. It went well until they started stamping on them...

James Graham - vocals
Andy MacFarlane - guitar
Craig Orzel - bass

THE RASCALS – FREAKBEAT PHANTOM

James: I don't mind that.
Andy: It just sounds like that other band, the Shadow Puppets.
me: D'you not think he sings like Alex Turner?
Andy: Aye I've listened to that Shadow Puppets record and I get confused.
me: Rating out of ten?
James: Six.
Andy: Aye, it's not bad, it's not good, it's just aaaaverage.
[Craig enters]
Andy: Ye missed the first one. A scouse band. Would you be intae that?
Craig: Aye why not?
James: He doesnae need tae hear that one.

6/10

James: Put on Little Man Tate, cause I know that's gonnae be pish! I heard one song by them and I nearly spewed.

LITTLE MAN TATE – WHAT YOUR BOYFRIEND SAID

Andy: They should just give up man.
me: Rating out of ten?
James: One. Two. One and a half. That was bollocks. I knew that was gonna be bollocks. I could dae this for a living. This is great.

1.5/10

LEVELLERS – BURN AMERICA BURN

Andy: Is What A Beautiful Day getting reissued? That's a ten!
James: How old are the Levellers? Pretty old.
me: I didn't know they were still together.
James: Neither did I.
Andy: It sounds like a gypsy version of The Associates. I dunno why they're still together.
James: Four, at the best. One for the fans!

4/10

GAVIN ROSSDALE – LOVE REMAINS THE SAME

Andy: See if it sounds like Gwen Stefani, it might be awright! Anyone who's boabin' her gets five marks straight away!
James: This is gonnae be shite. [sings] Swallowed. This sounds like a drummer's old band. Pure pop rock. They were amazingly bad. This just sounds like too American, like that band Daughtry. Slash played wi them once, and that's what this sounds like.
Craig: The start of it sounds like the Velvet Underground.
[play intro again]
Andy: Aye, Heroin.
James: It sounds like Heroin, plus he's got five bonus points for shagging Gwen Stefani.
Andy: Two points for Heroin and five for Gwen Stefani, so that's seven.
James: Naw ye cannae give it seven!
Andy: But if ye read the review it'll be explained!

7/10

JASON MRAZ – I'M YOURS

Andy: What's he got tae dae wi anything?
me: “San Diego-based troubadour”, apparently.
James: Eek.
Andy: This sounds like Jack Johnson or something.
James: I think a wee minus point might be in order.
Craig: [copying a lyric] I can't take no fucking more either!
Andy: That's no even worth talking about!
James: Gie that nothing. They were signed for tax reasons.

0/10

JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN – TO BE LOVED

James: She used tae go out wi Elliot Smith. [It was actually Jeff Buckley - easy mistake to make]
Andy: He's pure deid but.
James: It's pretty shite that eh?
Andy: It sounds like that lassie fae High Fidelity. She can get five bonus points for being in Rufus Wainwright's band, but she can get minus three for sounding like that lassie fae High Fidelity.
me: Equals two.
Andy: Aye but ye'll need tae explain that.

2/10

LYKKE LI – I'M GOOD, I'M GONE

me: Have you heard of Lykke Li?
James: Aye I like her. I've seen her name all over the place. She's touring wi that band that we played wi, Shout Out Louds.
Andy: Sounds like Feist.
James: Aye she is quite feisty but!
All: Hahaha!
James: I seriously didnae mean it like that!
Andy: I quite like it. I'd say a seven.

7/10

IRON & WINE – LOVESONG OF THE BUZZARD

James: I've got this album but I've no listened to it yet.
Craig: It sounds like Sex and the City!
Andy: It pure does!
James: I could take or leave it.
Andy: It gets a point off for them being in that cheesy film Garden State.
James: I liked that!
Andy: Was a seven, point off for Garden State.
James: So six.

6/10

HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR – YOU BELONG

James: It's meant tae be quite good this.
[CD fails to play]
Andy: Give it a zero. A big fat zero cos it doesnae work!
James: Gie it a ten!
Andy: Nut! Zero.
[CD eventually plays]
James: Orzel you like it already! Orzel likes Italian disco.
Craig: It sounds like Streets of Rage 2. It's got a dance soundtrack like this.
Andy: Is that Antony [Hegarty] singing?
James: Naw it cannae be. Pitchfork gave it like 9.8 or something.
Andy: Fuck Pitchfork!
Craig: It sounds like a wild night of sex and cocaine and it's all gone fucking wrong and they're fucking each other and there's coke everywhere and they thought, we've got tae do a song!
Andy: Give it two.

2/10

DOES IT OFFEND YOU YEAH? - EPIC LAST SONG

me: Will this offend you, yeah?
James: Yeah I've heard that and it's bollocks. Nearly as bad as the new Fratellis one.
Andy: It sounds like it should be on Skins. It sounds a bit like The Dykeenies.
James: They're no American enough tae be The Dykeenies! Give it two.
Andy: Dae gie it fuckin two, gie it zero!

0/10

PANIC AT THE DISCO – THINGS HAVE CHANGED

James: They did that Nine in the Afternoon song that was in Heroes. I liked Heroes. I didn't like the song though.
me: I thought they were an emo band but this isn't emo at all.
James: It seems like they're trying to go for the Queen vibe.
Craig: Give it 4.4.
James: One point for trying to sound like Queen, but take it off for sounding like The Feeling!
me: So that's a healthy zero?
Andy: Aye.
James: Andy, none of your ratings have got anything to do wi the tunes but.

0/10

ELBOW – ONE DAY LIKE THIS

Andy: He cannae sing.
James: He's a really nice guy but.
Andy: Who cares if he's a nice guy? He cannae sing!
James: Apparently he was one of the top 20 hottest guys in Glamour magazine.
Andy: He's a scruffy bum! Is there a B-side? We should review that instead.
Craig: A lot of bands just focus on one part. There's no chords in there. It's like a vacuum of noise. You can't identify the chords or bassline or anything.
James: I wanted tae be nice in these reviews.
Andy: Why kid on that you like something when ye clearly don't? Give that one.

1/10

The results have been collated and there is a tie for single of the month, but given that Gavin Rossdale's rating consisted entirely of bonus points for, ahem, being Mr Gwen Stefani, and sounding like The Velvet Underground, it seems fair to hand this month's accolade to the perfectly feisty Lykke Li.