tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3059625665781666002024-02-07T06:00:27.457+00:00Hardcore for NerdsAn ode to the
'steady soundtrack of discordant suburban whiteboy blues'
- sweetbabyjaysus, burningdowndreams.blogspot.comgabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-6495198927850378342010-10-02T23:16:00.001+01:002010-10-02T23:18:02.567+01:00Hardcore for Nerds is now on TumblrGo here: <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/">hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com</a>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-65049837160991570382009-05-02T21:15:00.004+01:002009-05-02T21:34:24.957+01:00New Irish Music: So Cow, Halves/Subplots, Cutaways<div align="justify"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TwstuknXkusTA_bbMkTHD6NHO9cXpRF4J270mTX-8V1XwVUGh9L5O32wm8d5oHDokbCFIi5mw6Y3idorxYic24EercRC37wwCWlMhXoYEBU6FyxJwuQKkG-EwmibdYUXKz4HwuvtVw/s1600-h/so+cow+lp.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330537447015292146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 397px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TwstuknXkusTA_bbMkTHD6NHO9cXpRF4J270mTX-8V1XwVUGh9L5O32wm8d5oHDokbCFIi5mw6Y3idorxYic24EercRC37wwCWlMhXoYEBU6FyxJwuQKkG-EwmibdYUXKz4HwuvtVw/s400/so+cow+lp.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_0HDoTuZLKPnkkEfoqbbsvn3OtVVakt0DidXABgncbfA1XSAxnpLbuggNlaFcJXwClynvkTVIUV1gau_KrWurwCYs7ldGOA0HHX_pVDySpR-A5vy7cidrMufC-N2TkInJNNWIw1htA/s1600-h/so+cow+lp+2.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330537444413165026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_0HDoTuZLKPnkkEfoqbbsvn3OtVVakt0DidXABgncbfA1XSAxnpLbuggNlaFcJXwClynvkTVIUV1gau_KrWurwCYs7ldGOA0HHX_pVDySpR-A5vy7cidrMufC-N2TkInJNNWIw1htA/s400/so+cow+lp+2.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Casablanca.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow - 'Casablanca' (vinyl rip)</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/11%20Shackleton.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow - 'Shackleton' (vinyl rip)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So I picked up </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/socow"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow's </span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">self-titled/'greatest hits' LP last week in Road Records (I would have got it there on Record Store Day, but I couldn't get in the door) and it's really rather good. A little less than half the tracks are from his 2008 album, <i>I'm Siding With My Captors</i>, and the rest are from his send-off-money-to-my-myspace-practically-self-released-CD first album, <i>These Truly Are End Times</i> and possibly also his </span><a href="http://thosegeese.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/the-year-interlude-2-homemade-stapled-together-super-limited-ep/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">homemade, stapled-together, super-limited ep</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Some of them I know from the WFMU live session, especially the opener 'Casablanca'.</p><p>While the best songs - 'Greetings', 'Shackleton', 'One Hundred Helens' - are from the second album, all the of them fit together quite well. There is some interesting, quirky stuff like 'So Cow vs. the Future', 'League of Impressionable Teens' and various Korean-titled tracks ('Choh Ah' and 'Ja Ju Ah Pa Yo', as well as 'Moon Geun Young'). Obviously it doesn't supplant <i>I'm Siding With My Captors</i>, but it's great to have all these songs together and on a properly retro-progressive format. Speaking of which, the cover drawing really needs to be seen in its full size to do it justice; and the record label has got that old school gradient thing going on as well.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(the So Cow LP is a US release and can be bought direct from the label, </span><a href="http://www.tictactotally.com/releases?sku=TTT-019-1"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Tic Tac Totally! Records</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">______________________________________________________</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkl3ACtqppD9gfhHKY8Dwxhrc9ye2PQXZN9CT12YkDJPDrDftTBBe9BsfV_FIK1498zt3KACdUnJGIMkX_o0x9P8H16A4ol9oklxgXBwVZowxCZMUqXJMPRHm-xHcPvjkv4i1FvRMn2A/s1600-h/Blood+Branches+Cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330537441644001698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkl3ACtqppD9gfhHKY8Dwxhrc9ye2PQXZN9CT12YkDJPDrDftTBBe9BsfV_FIK1498zt3KACdUnJGIMkX_o0x9P8H16A4ol9oklxgXBwVZowxCZMUqXJMPRHm-xHcPvjkv4i1FvRMn2A/s400/Blood+Branches+Cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq9GJXZWHxPvr25wB_wAEAwvGYY8WILLxmaz9XA7Qy68c8R7XUk-Rh5DCzOVAwhYsBJWfy5P9TifEPnE5IZ_UWPPiE7O7N0V40mZLHTzaJ3P4k2-ifrnVNtpxgXyR9rCGMJlYnrYwNw/s1600-h/Leech+Cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330537438065626066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 397px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq9GJXZWHxPvr25wB_wAEAwvGYY8WILLxmaz9XA7Qy68c8R7XUk-Rh5DCzOVAwhYsBJWfy5P9TifEPnE5IZ_UWPPiE7O7N0V40mZLHTzaJ3P4k2-ifrnVNtpxgXyR9rCGMJlYnrYwNw/s400/Leech+Cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/Blood%20Branches.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.google.ie/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.myspace.com/ahomeforhalves">Halves</a> - 'Blood Branches'</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/Leech.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.google.ie/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.myspace.com/subplots&ei=Fa38SevIKdyZjAe-htyZAw&usg=AFQjCNEBlGfLH5X7paf6F8tFPCA9y5bVZg">Subplots</a> - 'Leech'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This split 7" by two Irish bands, both on the sort of post-rock-y spectrum, is an interesting idea. Not that it's a totally novel idea for here - most notably two Cork bands climbed Ireland's tallest mountain, Carrantouhill, to record a split 7" single entitled </span><a href="http://hbii.bogwalrus.com/about.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'The Highest Bands in Ireland'</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> - but it's unusual enough. The 7" is enjoying a renaissance in indie/alternative music in general, especially with bands releasing material solely on 7". Another Irish example of this is the brilliant </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/05/hooray-for-humans-already-sleeping-7.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Hooray for Humans blue 7"</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> of 'Already Sleeping', mentioned in an </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0321/1224243190301.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Irish Times article</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> on the resurgence of the format. It's a similar deal with this record, except it comes with a download for the mp3s of the songs. People say that people buy these 7"s without having a record player, but that just seems a little weird for me to understand. In any case, if they do, their money won't be totally wasted, as they can get a good digital copy alongside the slab of useless vinyl.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Anyway, on to the music. Halves are a mix of Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros-type post-rock sounds, which they do very well, but usually in the framework of a lengthy 'EP' (<i>Haunt Me When I'm Drowsy</i> is 32 minutes long with 7 tracks, including an intro). One side of a 7" seems rather short to adequately present their sound, although that said, it is a good song. Subplots are a band of whom I've heard a fair bit, but this is the first time I've heard them on record. To my ears, it sounds quite like Radiohead, whom I have a mixed feelings about, but again it's a pretty good song. Make up your own mind, anyway. At least the artwork for each band is excellent, and as this was quite pricey for a 7" - €5.99 in Tower - hopefully the record will be a grower.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">______________________________________________________</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OtOP2oW1sKOjuohSJi12qrsrQrllNjktZkAg3YaeUchns-Tu70t1tgmv9HBykPSF2ssuqYbSbsoCmQGGudAi-ViaMf9FUNA67MdjkqQirRQngENAxgAgNrOK2zwBFzYAlKc7pjjpaw/s1600-h/cutaways.png"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330538889435071794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 350px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OtOP2oW1sKOjuohSJi12qrsrQrllNjktZkAg3YaeUchns-Tu70t1tgmv9HBykPSF2ssuqYbSbsoCmQGGudAi-ViaMf9FUNA67MdjkqQirRQngENAxgAgNrOK2zwBFzYAlKc7pjjpaw/s400/cutaways.png" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.google.ie/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.myspace.com/cutaways&ei=F678Sd24CoKsjAeQ3bW6Aw&usg=AFQjCNFeQ0A_SHqbsVVZi53twuMAN145mw">Cutaways</a> are a "synth-driven indie-pop trio" (i.e. guitar, keyboards, drums) from Belfast that I think are pretty neat. Without going into all the socio-political history of this island in the 20th century, I don't know that much about bands in Northern Ireland. Of course I'm a big fan of the classic punk bands the Undertones (Derry) and Stiff Little Fingers (Belfast), but in my opinion the Radiators (from Dublin, and/or Space) were just as good if not better than either of them. Anyway, at the moment there's even a specific collaboration between indie magazines </span><a href="http://www.iheartau.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">AU</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (for 'Alternative Ulster') and the Dublin-based </span><a href="http://www.state.ie/blog/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">State</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> to bring bands from the South up North, and vice versa.</p><p>Hopefully Cutaways might be brought into one of those line-ups, because without actually calling them 'the next Fight Like Apes', they should fit very well into the Dublin indie scene. Even more than Fight Like Apes, they remind me a lot of Grand Pocket Orchestra (a minor-key, even quirkier version of the former) and the male/female vocals of Hooray for Humans, and even with a bit of jarring, Bats-like bounce to them. Outside of Ireland, in the mainland UK scene which I know even less about, Danananakroyd seem to be doing a similar sort of aggressively quirky indie-pop. But apart from all the comparisons, this band have really strong songs. I've listened through the full stream of the album Earth and Earthly Things (see below) several times, and it's strikingly attention-inducing, varied, and downright fun.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Promotion for Cutaways is done by Nick of Penny Distribution, which I mention because he writes </span><a href="http://pennydistribution.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">a very good blog</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> on how the music business, particularly in the case of independent artists, works - or should work - with the internet and the music blogosphere. Cutaways are using the Bandcamp service, which means you can listen to their whole album </span><a href="http://cutaways.bandcamp.com/album/earth-earthly-things"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">there</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> or, well, here:</span></p><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="100" ><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=2984529627/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=2984529627/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" width="400" height="100" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality=high allowScriptAccess=never bgcolor=#FFFFFF ></embed><noembed><a href="http://cutaways.bandcamp.com/album/earth-earthly-things">Milo of Kroton by Cutaways</a></noembed></object><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">______________________________________________________</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCa6rsPv_RyBaTe4dGV4RRLcIug9QBTa8t3r0noLPFmcA0dKytK7wTvJky9vPXYHKj1iR3ETnUk242P8ugsV4HTWuyZ4mhVXdf2Q1A7U83neqV79paifZUPHeAjlX1QiQmWV_pvKqgA/s1600-h/so+cow+lp+3.JPG"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330916536064733682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 340px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCa6rsPv_RyBaTe4dGV4RRLcIug9QBTa8t3r0noLPFmcA0dKytK7wTvJky9vPXYHKj1iR3ETnUk242P8ugsV4HTWuyZ4mhVXdf2Q1A7U83neqV79paifZUPHeAjlX1QiQmWV_pvKqgA/s400/so+cow+lp+3.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(gratuitous picture of the So Cow LP on a duvet, with hat-tip to </span><a href="http://thosegeese.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/record-store-day/#more-398"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Those Geese Were Stupefied</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/18%20To%20Do%20List.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow - 'To Do List'</span></p></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-19732023295930255222009-04-11T22:03:00.016+01:002009-04-16T21:29:33.508+01:00Top 15 Irish Artists in Words (top 10)<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></strong></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Top 100 Ticket list <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/theticket/articles/2009/0410/1224244309293.html">here</a>, with commentary <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/04/10/the-ticket%e2%80%99s-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now-part-two/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/04/10/the-ticket%e2%80%99s-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now-part-two/">here</a></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Those Geese Were Stupefied <a href="http://thosegeese.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/taking-the-bait/#more-367">takes the bait</a> with his 15.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1. </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Fight Like Apes</span></a></strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (Ticket list #4)</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Ireland has, quite simply, never seen a band like Fight Like Apes." That about sums it up as to why this band is my no. 1, and has been for the last year and a half that I've been listening to them (starting </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/11/fight-like-apes-lend-me-your-face.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">). Read the rest of the description in the Ticket article or </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/post/92660713"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Their meteoric rise in that period is based essentially on two EPs (repackaged and re-recorded into a debut album) of great songs, plus a few more, and consistently fantastic live shows. Fight Like Apes aren't consciously a punk band, not even I suppose when they are channelling Mclusky, but to me their music is 90% there. The ability to be quite popularly appealing while retaining a definite hard edge has been crucial to their success. For all the people who find the band irritating or bemusing, there isn't really a corresponding faction which decry them as bland or derivative. Which can only be a good thing for Irish music.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/eathamsandwich"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Ham Sandwich</span></a></strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (Ticket list - #!?)</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">While not as distinctive musically, the quality of this band's rock/pop output probably more than matches that of Fight Like Apes. Guitar-heavy, melancholy and perfectly pitched to male and female vocals, the debut album <i>Carry the Meek</i> is tragically underrated and under-recognised in Ireland. All-killer and no-filler, as a simple collection of songs it definitely puts them ahead of Fight Like Apes (as I did for my best of 2008 list, where it was only second to the Welsh/Australian Shooting at Unarmed Men record). Their live shows are fantastic as well, with a refreshing element of kitsch.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/socow"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow</span></a></strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (Ticket list #99)</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Lo-fi, straightforward and endearing punk-pop with the emphasis on the 'pop' in a complex, indie-rock deconstruction sort of thing. It's really difficult to describe the sound of So Cow in anything approaching one sentence, so I'll abandon that contradictory explanation for a simple statement that Brian Kelly is a pop genius. This is a rating based personally on only one album and one live show, but I can assure you there is a lot of depth to So Cow. Karl has a live review over on </span><a href="http://thosegeese.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/if-the-words-are-incidental-then-whys-what-you-write-so-mental/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Those Geese Were Stupefied</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> which declares him number one in Ireland (despite the name of the blog coming from a Fight Like Apes song).</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/cathydavey"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Cathy Davey</span></a></strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (Ticket list #3)</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">There a further acts, other than Fight Like Apes, in the Ticket top five that I do like a good deal, and definitely deserve their position, but that I wouldn't personally count amongst my top artists - Jape, Lisa Hannigan and David Holmes being of course three of them. Cathy Davey's album <i>Tales of Silversleeve</i>, however, was something I got into myself, even if it wasn't as rock-ish as the other Irish artists that appeal to my particular tastes. The first four songs on the album - 'Sing for Your Supper', 'Reuben', 'The Collector' and 'Moving' - are just stunningly good, while the quality of the rest, from 'Mr. Kill' which reminds me bizarrely of the sound of Green Day's <i>Warning</i> album, stand up equally if not as immediately noticeable. The fact that it is from 2007 (though I must have bought it the following year) but stills stands out as an obvious contender testifies to the strength of the album.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5. </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/boxes2piece"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Boxes</span></a></strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (Ticket list -)</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A relatively recent discovery for me, this is one Irish band that definitely isn't 'indie' in the usual sense. I can't quite decide which is better, the 2008 album <i>Animal</i> or the 2006 (Albini-recorded) <i>Bad Blood</i>, but either way this two-piece's brand of post-hardcore/math-rock has made a great impression on me. They may not seem as original (at least, if you listen to a wide variety of 90s US post-punk) as some of the newer bands on this list, but they are distinctive, and accomplished, enough in themselves to be worth praising highly. Meanwhile, very few people in Ireland seem to have noticed them.</span> </p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>6. </strong><a href="http://www.myspace.com/alazarussoul"><strong>A Lazarus Soul</strong></a></p><p align="justify">Constructed from the members of another well-known Irish rock band Future Kings of Spain, A Lazarus Soul is a more post-punk style (especially Joy Division) band based around the vocals of Brian Brannigan. The lyrical content - melancholy, reflective, and ambiguous - is about life in the parts of Dublin then as now left behind by the economic boom, but more generally recalls the impact of one of Ireland's greatest bands of the 1990s, Whipping Boy. Most of all, it's a portrait of an environment, "a hand brake wheelspin lullaby".</p><br /><p align="justify"><strong>7.</strong> <a href="http://www.myspace.com/leatherbeatsfeather"><strong>Bats</strong></a> (Ticket list -) <strong>and 8.</strong> <a href="http://www.myspace.com/adebisishank"><strong>Adebisi Shank</strong> </a>(Ticket list #97)</p><p align="justify">These two bands are the cream of the current Irish underground. Bats would be my personal favourite, a sort of math-rock/dance-punk/metal combo which increasingly rip shit up every time I see them play. The first time was in 2007, supporting the Locust, when songs like 'Atom and Eve' reminded me of a more muscular Q and not U, while their more recent stuff destined for the group's first album has matured a good deal from there.</p><p>Adebisi Shank aren't really a favourite of mine at all, in that I'm not personally into their super-mathy, metallic instrumental rock, but I respect what they are doing and what they are trying to do. It's not something that appeals to most indie fans, hence the perception that they are often unfairly overlooked by Irish music critics. On the positive side, though, it appeals to a wider audience of metal and punk fans both outside and inside Ireland (the Sputnikmusic reviews of both Bats and Adebisi Shank are <a href="http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=26121">here</a> and <a href="http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=30474">here</a>). Given that Adebisi Shank's debut album was produced by J. Robbins, and that Bats are recording with Kurt Ballou of Converge, its clear that the real Irish alternative scene has the potential to travel some distance.</p><br /><p><strong>9. </strong><a href="http://www.myspace.com/chequerboardmusic"><strong>Chequerboard</strong></a> (Ticket list #19), aka <a href="http://www.boldypants.com/">Boldypants</a></p><br /><p>Chequerboard's <em>Penny Black</em> was one of my <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/12/rest-of-best-of-2008-pt-2.html">favourite albums </a>of last year, a beautiful, atmospheric combination of classical guitar and electronic beats. A musician and graphic artist, Chequerboard's John Lambert created something superbly nostalgic and evocative with the wonderfully packaged album, or as I (loosely) described it, "Victoriana put to dubstep". The electronica also has a harder side, as evinced on the previous album <em>Gothica</em> and in his <a href="http://www.nialler9.com/2009/04/06/chequerboardboldypants/">recently resurfaced</a> musical alter-ego, Boldypants.</p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/boldypants.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p>Boldypants - 'Emotional Wreckingball'</p><br /><p><strong>10. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/hoorayforhumansband">Hooray for Humans</a></strong> (Ticket list -)</p><br /><p><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="/javascript/tumblelog.js"></script><span id="audio_player_95507832"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/swf/audio_player_black.swf?audio_file=http://www.tumblr.com/audio_file/95507832/Q4cMxn7XZm7o3a1u9TcNnZ12&color=FFFFFF" height="27" width="207" quality="best"></embed></p><p>'Already Sleeping' b/w 'Hidden Hands'</p><br /><p>This Cork-based electro-rock group with some tangential emo influences were a revelation when I first them on their heard their 2007 album, <i>Safekeeping</i>; that there was an Irish band who liked a lot of the same US bands I did but also made that into far-above-average indie music. The only release after that album so far has been the 7" above, which is brilliantly presented (pink sleeve, blue vinyl). In musical terms the band are fun, energetic and play great hook-laden pop songs, but at the same time you can find something much more expressive and 'post-hardcore' influenced in there. Plus, guitarist and main man of Hooray for Humans, Alan Healy, has a dead-on screamo mixtape posted <a href="http://letterfrombelgium.blogspot.com/2009/03/screamo-mixtape.html">on his blog</a>.</p><br /><p><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/tagged/hooray_for_humans">hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/tagged/hooray_for_humans</a></p><p><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/05/hooray-for-humans-already-sleeping-7.html">Hooray for Humans - 'Already Sleeping' 7"</a></p><br /><p align="justify">(more to come)</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-66586094641150112632009-04-06T22:24:00.007+01:002009-04-13T16:23:45.302+01:00Top Fifteen Irish Artists About Now-ish<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXnvJ_WYDHiazz2bDJChVrhxpoNx1r7ZTDoTgrD28Ag7VSWDZG4l57pQNBIKh1U1V7aKTmwHIUJ5hNsbDpoPwHVaZDuRUNaouShHZguAygrAPT2YuvA-HJoM9LkH95LDJKczFxgNncg/s1600-h/XVirl.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321245157325811746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXnvJ_WYDHiazz2bDJChVrhxpoNx1r7ZTDoTgrD28Ag7VSWDZG4l57pQNBIKh1U1V7aKTmwHIUJ5hNsbDpoPwHVaZDuRUNaouShHZguAygrAPT2YuvA-HJoM9LkH95LDJKczFxgNncg/s400/XVirl.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In a move partially designed to piss off the internet, or at least the Irish part of it (and the part that cares about somewhat-less-than-famous bands, the <i>Irish Times</i> published a list of the </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2009/0403/1224243925837.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">50 best Irish music acts right now</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, with comments running to about three times that number on Ticket writer Jim Carroll's accompanying </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/04/03/the-tickets-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">blog</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. The invitation to 'do it yourself' has already been taken up at a couple of sites, with alternative lists of fifty each on </span><a href="http://www.nialler9.com/2009/04/03/my-50-best-irish-music-acts-right-now/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Nialler9</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a href="http://2uibestow.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-top-50-best-irish-artist-list.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2 U I Bestow</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I couldn't reasonably do a list of the full fifty (though there are plenty of bands out there), and after all the original Ticket list was the product of four professional journalists, so I'm going to stick with a comparatively meagre but more exacting fifteen. (And for the record, I'm not a rugby fan. But Ireland <i>did</i> just win the </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0322/breaking3.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Grand Slam</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As with the Ticket list, these artists have all toured/released in Ireland in the last year or so. The picture is of the latest release from the artist, more or less. From the top down, as I'm not into cheap suspense:</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PgzfsYKt_wMRWJ3C40VOebpETG5f9CgfMbctW6rYAKmOQV3zo5SEdVqi2uC83tOkpEqLpGF5BViBTuT8ijDRhnie_h-JM17YTf1yRzONgacco5eSJA2Y0SN6yxUA54RhaBba0icLAA/s1600-h/apesmedallioncover.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321237983011269986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 290px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PgzfsYKt_wMRWJ3C40VOebpETG5f9CgfMbctW6rYAKmOQV3zo5SEdVqi2uC83tOkpEqLpGF5BViBTuT8ijDRhnie_h-JM17YTf1yRzONgacco5eSJA2Y0SN6yxUA54RhaBba0icLAA/s320/apesmedallioncover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Lend%20Me%20Your%20Face.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1. Fight Like Apes - 'Lend Me Your Face' from <i>Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion</i> (2008) [<a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Lend%20Me%20Your%20Face.mp3">file</a>]</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEEJOpMWfICUacv2C5O4craRe4sLkQ9bNicSQ6YYhFOn-1KMhrbKywzk_fIKP1hV5y5PP-hbrtJDF-xmVRHuSq57EztispUDKf6zcOGJE2EkWMjTbSpe_5goFcSBOmWVbj1R7qbaBiA/s1600-h/carrythemeek.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321237982150980898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 313px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEEJOpMWfICUacv2C5O4craRe4sLkQ9bNicSQ6YYhFOn-1KMhrbKywzk_fIKP1hV5y5PP-hbrtJDF-xmVRHuSq57EztispUDKf6zcOGJE2EkWMjTbSpe_5goFcSBOmWVbj1R7qbaBiA/s320/carrythemeek.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20Sad%20Songs.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. Ham Sandwich - 'Sad Songs' from <i>Carry the Meek</i> (2008) [<a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20Sad%20Songs.mp3">file</a>]</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDK2c4wypRJPQbw-Bd6ItZHBAG6rKtsLpEFXIjQzY_ndx56-O76oEcrOFYiE2yWcQQkmh46UrJqmOmHROM5T-i1B9HBagWZODMo9c1bvfCYBAmCWENMvhyphenhyphen2aNobQBUpCErFS9_Y4VnAg/s1600-h/so_cow.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321237979735608194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 315px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDK2c4wypRJPQbw-Bd6ItZHBAG6rKtsLpEFXIjQzY_ndx56-O76oEcrOFYiE2yWcQQkmh46UrJqmOmHROM5T-i1B9HBagWZODMo9c1bvfCYBAmCWENMvhyphenhyphen2aNobQBUpCErFS9_Y4VnAg/s320/so_cow.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/03%20Commuting.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. So Cow - 'Commuting' from <i>I'm Siding With My Captors</i> (2008) [<a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/03%20Commuting.mp3">file</a>]</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxUE8bKTxTOCizP-u_l7jEbdNFm42MAAPOnOCd3uRIOiaIVS4YrEHppqGXK7Wsdvt1fZ8otbmkvYwmey8a6O1SFbO8Op8MPACmNhxv51JLY0WEb1VSNScHJVz889yQsibF9oYNPHhwQ/s1600-h/silversleeve.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321237979777666066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxUE8bKTxTOCizP-u_l7jEbdNFm42MAAPOnOCd3uRIOiaIVS4YrEHppqGXK7Wsdvt1fZ8otbmkvYwmey8a6O1SFbO8Op8MPACmNhxv51JLY0WEb1VSNScHJVz889yQsibF9oYNPHhwQ/s320/silversleeve.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/04%20Moving.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. Cathy Davey - 'Moving' from <i>Tales of Silversleeve</i> (2007) [<a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/04%20Moving.mp3">file</a>]</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPJcuj9hlCsrBr52PRAdsPM8PxrAxhKwo48A9XVXmHEGfSr6Fd3aokguy6Y8zx5TMpXlAvD2lH9uPZJG-s4qGbx45-_N5Mds_K2AZgK5F22k3Wp2Im0WyVf60UrKDMG-wQs5oBabloA/s1600-h/boxes-animal.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321237972786964050 " style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 316px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPJcuj9hlCsrBr52PRAdsPM8PxrAxhKwo48A9XVXmHEGfSr6Fd3aokguy6Y8zx5TMpXlAvD2lH9uPZJG-s4qGbx45-_N5Mds_K2AZgK5F22k3Wp2Im0WyVf60UrKDMG-wQs5oBabloA/s320/boxes-animal.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Animal.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5. Boxes - 'Animal' from <i>Animal</i> (2008) [<a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Animal.mp3">file</a>]</span></p><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?423izhdmm2z">Download Ireland V</a> (zip file, 21mb)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This list on <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/tagged/ireland_xv">Tumblr</a><span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">6-10 & 11-15:</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">___________________________________________________</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfdMkjhdQ0SRtDymdzTiSTjTke53HHwtPEjV99tYrRrNXvC-zgwlMoUfsJBvML8lLmwFI_AQo1j9nymI1l765WsidF5WRzWw2ADSWSaVqjDC26-k17ZjRs_F0wTUQRJUDg_sq3uZS2g/s1600-h/graveyardburntoutcars.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243798931376322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 313px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfdMkjhdQ0SRtDymdzTiSTjTke53HHwtPEjV99tYrRrNXvC-zgwlMoUfsJBvML8lLmwFI_AQo1j9nymI1l765WsidF5WRzWw2ADSWSaVqjDC26-k17ZjRs_F0wTUQRJUDg_sq3uZS2g/s320/graveyardburntoutcars.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjweDClk94MSS7EH8jWuO412XfqN4cX_mjalsQHjRck9RjWOkqbnzHrDGnduqQ_9YzqEbhyVikqueypNNigNIuD9TJnbmFFhFYA_zDujVjqGsrx7wszEJJRssRgJhq16eiWS6DtmSBfwQ/s1600-h/BatsEP.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243797446519522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 279px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjweDClk94MSS7EH8jWuO412XfqN4cX_mjalsQHjRck9RjWOkqbnzHrDGnduqQ_9YzqEbhyVikqueypNNigNIuD9TJnbmFFhFYA_zDujVjqGsrx7wszEJJRssRgJhq16eiWS6DtmSBfwQ/s320/BatsEP.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrbRC0OHNzryD9sH2JQbW6YIAjPfOIZcRR9YYAIoS-rfvPgsdAWxy0ERd8T_LGvkK2Uzri0l8zYDehRtBGOUAYJJ6DPbx5cq3pMAZDMWvw3RmqbLAYH3YFo5OfydfdU-bpQJbCOt8RQ/s1600-h/adebisi_album_cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243795507106834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 285px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrbRC0OHNzryD9sH2JQbW6YIAjPfOIZcRR9YYAIoS-rfvPgsdAWxy0ERd8T_LGvkK2Uzri0l8zYDehRtBGOUAYJJ6DPbx5cq3pMAZDMWvw3RmqbLAYH3YFo5OfydfdU-bpQJbCOt8RQ/s320/adebisi_album_cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Adebisi Shank - <i>This Is An Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank</i>)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7zAT6bxMqAIqAV6BAIR_8PAeWsaOffFRd9mgdnkMKnb8Ety1cmEN4bi_-C4SB7_oM6MTv_x9c8S2V6_l2PQNDKk9ZykcnPQOpBii7Mhf0b5Ve-4w8zBGJ1iWI2FNhI04ggNjHUlbIKw/s1600-h/penny_black.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243793914168130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 283px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7zAT6bxMqAIqAV6BAIR_8PAeWsaOffFRd9mgdnkMKnb8Ety1cmEN4bi_-C4SB7_oM6MTv_x9c8S2V6_l2PQNDKk9ZykcnPQOpBii7Mhf0b5Ve-4w8zBGJ1iWI2FNhI04ggNjHUlbIKw/s320/penny_black.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Chequerboard - <i>Penny Black</i>)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2CIHtGlDtc42oVyCsgwR4iyx7XXVfXKGacCqdMhean9X7eclCrrMyBjhz0EpUX7xC-sRXGA_uCpqvRB5Ugtq8ocO65unmewmAvGZSBDQ6phWKyjPMH7pZTjw8U8_1bqRnp9Hob_WSw/s1600-h/alreadyfront_clean.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243789330781874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 317px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2CIHtGlDtc42oVyCsgwR4iyx7XXVfXKGacCqdMhean9X7eclCrrMyBjhz0EpUX7xC-sRXGA_uCpqvRB5Ugtq8ocO65unmewmAvGZSBDQ6phWKyjPMH7pZTjw8U8_1bqRnp9Hob_WSw/s320/alreadyfront_clean.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Hooray for Humans - 'Already Sleeping' 7")</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">___________________________________________________</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IzF188s2TT2oaaR-4h_CFO9vCvsruMVydO23AlSZDCQBefHRN1vM0Pfp1wErZehC7VKYe6TYDMiantVJKlABrE69wF8AisUP7aFA5c6NQsam6CY-IX-MRXhY0anx9nFvhqCG41jZCg/s1600-h/heathers.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243055147731970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 272px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IzF188s2TT2oaaR-4h_CFO9vCvsruMVydO23AlSZDCQBefHRN1vM0Pfp1wErZehC7VKYe6TYDMiantVJKlABrE69wF8AisUP7aFA5c6NQsam6CY-IX-MRXhY0anx9nFvhqCG41jZCg/s320/heathers.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZS0zvkHmFSg81QFeC2Ba9UswuWt4PyTuCt4-j4Od6eFMbxtE5GAoF8kot7zyRvTNnrWUo66SAwBcbW_svj7o4k20P02lrQhiufcfuFTD_xoV1baGcFiHLtZcbg_Qoqz5TjMAbZOIfFg/s1600-h/RMNMN.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243055092472962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZS0zvkHmFSg81QFeC2Ba9UswuWt4PyTuCt4-j4Od6eFMbxtE5GAoF8kot7zyRvTNnrWUo66SAwBcbW_svj7o4k20P02lrQhiufcfuFTD_xoV1baGcFiHLtZcbg_Qoqz5TjMAbZOIfFg/s320/RMNMN.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(The Redneck Manifeso - <i>RMNMN</i> EP)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtmaOS5VOWrILfufQ4VV6ovPpJNa76T7F8AiHUnJYbafMUxV2Fb-JKAai-J010tjSH0vDWDd5YoellX0CO-MRFTbTTW45u4IcrAq-e9xYT0rg4RM2kV_RwmE-tiiJ885i_aNTp0OC3A/s1600-h/Haunt_Me_Cover.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243050509233810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 287px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtmaOS5VOWrILfufQ4VV6ovPpJNa76T7F8AiHUnJYbafMUxV2Fb-JKAai-J010tjSH0vDWDd5YoellX0CO-MRFTbTTW45u4IcrAq-e9xYT0rg4RM2kV_RwmE-tiiJ885i_aNTp0OC3A/s320/Haunt_Me_Cover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Halves - <i>Haunt Me When I'm Drowsy</i> EP w/ elastic strap)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylcl6MLov0maiYCcm2oIprI-kLN36IIGF3oSeIvRvrD4QzKQgbL6wkR0YgqqskKWQxDm7GvI9nIz7_Gvv_dMuybrq9Z7GTftQpG8L8ZS_dP1F4zJULLWu5Yp5yX91nYz7RpgK4d4LmQ/s1600-h/god_is_an_astronaut_front.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243051693998338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylcl6MLov0maiYCcm2oIprI-kLN36IIGF3oSeIvRvrD4QzKQgbL6wkR0YgqqskKWQxDm7GvI9nIz7_Gvv_dMuybrq9Z7GTftQpG8L8ZS_dP1F4zJULLWu5Yp5yX91nYz7RpgK4d4LmQ/s320/god_is_an_astronaut_front.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxk16c7r06J2ibiFiWY9fKOyu5IJB3uhvfSjGpF1lklai9cHNXM3l7_ROSxcUnO7cujybSX9jKWt2r-ufEPd4Du5eBQbZB52bVbi5Bb6VsVpre4sJpGC1Jhdik-Jn1U_9oCFLiThpMgQ/s1600-h/rsag.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321243045588558946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 293px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxk16c7r06J2ibiFiWY9fKOyu5IJB3uhvfSjGpF1lklai9cHNXM3l7_ROSxcUnO7cujybSX9jKWt2r-ufEPd4Du5eBQbZB52bVbi5Bb6VsVpre4sJpGC1Jhdik-Jn1U_9oCFLiThpMgQ/s320/rsag.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">words above, <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2009/04/top-15-irish-artist-in-words.html">here</a></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">___________________________________________________</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-70033752914683351672009-03-29T22:02:00.001+01:002009-03-29T22:39:41.685+01:00Age Sixteen - Open Up Finders, Please<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZN-FPcj8t9VARfBCuRkh1LEW0OQ5iyxBcIFVMWDx2p_kuBO5KY1jXOdPNQmQiRu9z1ZHdwAkGU6LQwEVayC6HZbDn5PqQkiaQ6wVXBrHh1RaOJapn6po59G-OCiWKo3RwlpWJE_aDLA/s1600-h/age16albumfront.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318638138014438370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZN-FPcj8t9VARfBCuRkh1LEW0OQ5iyxBcIFVMWDx2p_kuBO5KY1jXOdPNQmQiRu9z1ZHdwAkGU6LQwEVayC6HZbDn5PqQkiaQ6wVXBrHh1RaOJapn6po59G-OCiWKo3RwlpWJE_aDLA/s400/age16albumfront.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Peter%20Pan%20Complex.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Peter Pan Complex'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This album is part of a series of events making me feel very positive about modern screamo. The first is last year's releases from well-established members of bands (...Who Calls So Loud, with members of Funeral Diner and Portraits of Past) and well-established bands themselves (Sinaloa), plus Loma Prieta's new take on Honeywell-style hardcore emo in <em>Lost City</em>. Age Sixteen's debut may not be quite up there with some of those former releases, but it fits into an exciting pattern. The excellent blog </span><a href="http://stokingtheroots.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Stokingtheroots</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, which already covers a lot of current hardcore bands, has a brief but detailed review of the album </span><a href="http://stokingtheroots.com/2009/03/10/age-sixteen-open-up-finders-please/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, but I think there are a couple more strands I can add.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">First of all, there is a reasonably obvious La Quiete influence on this band - it's that kind of chaotic yet deeply melodic sound which defines European screamo for me in contrast to the more technical style of many US bands of recent years. Yet while La Quiete's most recent output - they haven't released a full album since 2004's <i>La Fine non é La Fine</i>, but have had two self-titled 7"s in 2006 and 2008 - has developed into a purer form, Age Sixteen is still distinctly a punk band. The album is only slightly over 20 minutes long, and mixed with the melody is a good deal of abrasive, old-school hardcore emo moments. Like <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2009/01/loma-prieta-last-city.html">Loma Prieta</a>, Age Sixteen has managed to reinvigorate the earlier 90s styles of screamo in a contemporary sound.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Secondly, much has been written elsewhere about the other 90s emo revival of Algernon Cadwallader. I think they're pretty cool, although I don't listen to much of them, just as I don't listen to Cap'n Jazz/American Football in the first place. Great stuff, but not my style. What I do like about some of the Algernon Cadwallader songs, however, is how flawlessly shambolic, pained, and anxious they become that they move from the state of energetic, punky indie rock to somewhere very close to the chaos of screamo. Age Sixteen, with their La Quiete-ish melodies and harmonies, approach the process from the other side but with same endearingly tender result. The jaunty opening to 'Empty Nest' I think typifies this momentary glimpse into quite a different style, naturally woven into the general sound of the song and album.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So there are my reactions to this album. It's not solely about this release, which is as much a promise of further good things from a new band and, (as the Stokingtheroots review points out) a representation of a terrific live sound, as it is an excellent release in itself, but also it is symbolic of some new sounds coming through. <em>Open Up Finders, Please </em>is uncompromising screamo, nevertheless with deeply melodic and even poppy touches. Age Sixteen's creative adolescence straddles the old and the new of screamo and other related genres, resulting in a suprisingly mature and contemporary sound.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Download the album </span><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?4ydfydndn53"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> or - because if you like it as much as I do, you're going to want to support the band - buy it via their </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/agesixteen"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Myspace</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> ($7 US, $8 international).</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-26476899315360892052009-03-27T21:13:00.004+00:002009-03-27T21:19:59.917+00:00state of the musical nation - Galway, Ireland<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHzqjOEIsYKiCzRrUAEwLEzVN8dz683ff-ebvQc3FyDjBe3IodC4eLeMiZiHmOnjqlI9UF3iFFkvXq38ga8YHVJEmJke7DAADrA_U6Fx7NPBroEHWX4oHfNWZh9oqafa7px4OG2rUxQ/s1600-h/socow2.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315402165135961506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 398px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHzqjOEIsYKiCzRrUAEwLEzVN8dz683ff-ebvQc3FyDjBe3IodC4eLeMiZiHmOnjqlI9UF3iFFkvXq38ga8YHVJEmJke7DAADrA_U6Fx7NPBroEHWX4oHfNWZh9oqafa7px4OG2rUxQ/s400/socow2.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Photo taken from the Indie Hour </span><a href="http://indiehour.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/i-am-so-cowoh-no-wait/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and an MS Publisher sticker slapped on to it - instant graphic art.)</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20This%20Angry%20Silence%20%28Television%20Personalities%29.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow - 'This Angry Silence' (Television Personalities)</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20I%20Wanna%20Enjoy%20The%20Warm%20Spring%20Breeze%20%28Kim%20Jung%20Mi%29.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow - 'I Wanna Feel The Warm Spring Breeze' (Kim Jung Mi)</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"</span><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I WANNA FEEL THE WARM SPRING BREEZE (bom ahra bul baram) - 1970s Korean psyche folk singer...mostly associated with Korean fuzz dude Shin Jung-Hyun. More </span><a href="http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/jung.mi.kim.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. If anyone wants to get at me about pronunciation, shove it.</span></em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"</span></p></blockquote><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow Sings!/So Cow In A Shed is an album of cover songs by Tuam-based lo-fi pop artist </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/socow"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So Cow</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, aka Brian Kelly. The full list of songs is as follows:</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1. This Angry Silence (Television Personalities)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. I Wanna Feel The Warm Spring Breeze (Kim Jung Mi)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. Boris The Spider (The Who)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. Banana Uyu (Fiddle Bambi)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5. On M'a Toujours Dit (Annie Philippe)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">6. Little Bear's Song (Big Monster Love)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">7. They Don't Know (Tracey Ullman)</span></p><p><a href="http://www.iamsocow.com/socowinashed.zip"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Download So Cow in a Shed</span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The opening track, 'This Angry Silence', is the first time someone other than Brian has been on a So Cow recording - Galwegian live drummer Tony Higgins provides drums and backing vocals. Under the moniker </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/roadsignsofourage"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">junior85</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, he's also been attempting an 'EP a week' project with three diverse EPs produced so far: </span><a href="http://www.stresssurrounds.com/junior85Awake.zip"><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Wiiiiiiiiiiide Awake</span></i></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (uptempo electronic music), </span><a href="http://www.stresssurrounds.com/junior85%20Sleepy.zip"><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Sleepy</span></i></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (ambient electronic) and </span><a href="http://www.stresssurrounds.com/junior85noweverynone.zip"><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">now it's for everyone/now it's for noone</span></i></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (noise), each available for free download and as limited edition CDs.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nbA_NcBATdUdNDT1VESGq52i7T9O9PCvufBTv2ws2CHkOAgJtAWQdQXImQbOuqhLmbg58jUCxOkXgyz4ifkMLkWvvPIESIIHpPpTJHQIoIGCnn8CjN-3A0KGAC9nshLV8SePcKR5mw/s1600-h/tic+tac+so+cow+lp.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317967314346941138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nbA_NcBATdUdNDT1VESGq52i7T9O9PCvufBTv2ws2CHkOAgJtAWQdQXImQbOuqhLmbg58jUCxOkXgyz4ifkMLkWvvPIESIIHpPpTJHQIoIGCnn8CjN-3A0KGAC9nshLV8SePcKR5mw/s400/tic+tac+so+cow+lp.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Meanwhile, the So Cow 'greatest hits' LP has just been released stateside on </span><a href="http://tictactotally.com/releases?sku=TTT-019-1"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Tic Tac Totally! Records</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Artwork above. A North American tour is to follow in May and June, dates on the </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/socow"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">myspace</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">.</span></p></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-83702004974158056692009-03-16T21:18:00.009+00:002009-03-16T22:51:43.910+00:00state of the (musical) nation - Dublin, Ireland 2009<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/coTEtnzEjVY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/coTEtnzEjVY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(video found via </span><a href="http://www.state.ie/blog/bats-lower-deck-dublin/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">State.ie review</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> of the recent Bats album fundraiser at the Lower Deck, Dublin)</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The above video is of Ireland's best hardcore band of the moment (and by 'hardcore', I mean prog-metalcore/death disco punk, genres I wouldn't normally like if played by other bands, so I'll just call it hardcore), <a href="http://www.myspace.com/leatherbeatsfeather">Bats</a>, performing a track from the soon-to-be-recorded album with Kurt Ballou of Converge. Their sound has developed a good deal from the excellent 2007/2008 EP <i>Cruel Sea Scientist</i>, less schizophrenic (notwithstanding that I enjoyed that quality of <i>Cruel Sea Scientist</i>) and more rounded, though still heavy and hard-rocking.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://thosegeese.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-road-records-should-do.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Those Geese Were Stupefied: What Road Records Should Do</span></a></p><p align="justify"><br /></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Also picked up </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/03/16/the-randomiser-says-anyone-for-some-breakfast-tacos/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, this is <a href="http://www.analoguemagazine.com/">Analogue Magazine</a> writer and fellow Bats fan Karl's list of suggestion for how Road Records could improve their sales of music in Dublin. This is following on from the sold-out and, by all accounts, successful One for the Road benefit gig in Andrew's Lane. What some people seem exercised about is the suggestion of a gap between the headliners of that gig (Jape, the Jimmy Cake and Si Schroeder) and the generation of artists which should be connecting the record-buying youth - such as there are, and those who don't are mostly beyond the reach of any store - with a shop like Road Records.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's a fair point that established acts are the ones to headline such a gig, which moreover was organised by the artists themselves, or at least that section of the musical community - but that in itself points to a gap between the ideals of the past, however sincere, and the realities of the present and future. A band such as Fight Like Apes - for example - is also restrained by touring commitments (specifically, SXSW) but again it's likely that they have achieved their success by more contemporary, i.e. internet-based methods (based even more on very physical gigging, though), beyond the willing and recognised support of somewhere like Road.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">What it seems to me to come down to, as a somewhat similarly placed "average 20 year old who for one reason or another likes to buy a CD or a 7" every now and then", is a sort of ambivalence as to whether a physical local record store is totally <i>necessary</i> as well as merely valuable. I've enjoyed what I've found and bought in Road, but I'm still largely too young to have a real affection for the 'record store' experience much beyond a more immediate version of mailorder.</p><p>There are other issues there, such as the difference between Road and the generally very well stocked Tower Records a few streets away, and the availability of releases by small Irish bands (which could however be ably handled by an online distro, such as Bats' </span><a href="http://www.richtercollective.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Richter Collective</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">), but most of all I'm not totally convinced that a phsyical Road Records is absolutely needed by me, or even more importantly, by someone five years younger than me (i.e., a 16-year old) now and in the future.</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-92138981978593591012009-03-13T13:22:00.008+00:002009-03-13T17:39:53.525+00:00Friday Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'Zero'; Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DxZGYGojPeE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DxZGYGojPeE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'Zero' from <i>It's Blitz</i> (2009)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I don't really listen to that many indie rock bands, on the world scale, although from listening to the radio I'm probably more familiar with them than most other people with my otherwise obscure tastes in music. Of the handful of indie bands that I do end up really liking (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Editors, Foals, Vampire Weekend...) it's usually because there's something in their music that I identify with, punk rock- or (specific) postpunk-wise. Not that they <i>are</i> punk bands, or the second coming of the Clash, or anything like that, but that they're interesting enough that I can spend time with them, absorb their music, as I would with the more solidly punk or hardcore sides of my music collection.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Of course, 'interesting enough' also just means something subjective and quality-wise - as Louis Armstrong said, there are no genres of music inasmuch as they all collapse down to 'good' and 'bad' music.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Which is all a roundabout way of saying that this a pretty good video, and sorta punk rock too (you could imagine the Ramones making it). 1980s New York new wave rock at its finest.</span></p><p align="justify"><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">_______________________________________________</span></p><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHr8vEJtBNfSFRDZf72kKf7S4ZiyNwu-CAoCD0U1I4j0cDf-O2u-9QmN2hoF2RIB_Wn1GM8sOvPCHm1R6K6N5vuvJMJIDzAoDT1WHYK5BWGrteRf099r83MW27c5QdC-EB4WvlwXzeTA/s1600-h/show_your_bones.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312718488225024450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHr8vEJtBNfSFRDZf72kKf7S4ZiyNwu-CAoCD0U1I4j0cDf-O2u-9QmN2hoF2RIB_Wn1GM8sOvPCHm1R6K6N5vuvJMJIDzAoDT1WHYK5BWGrteRf099r83MW27c5QdC-EB4WvlwXzeTA/s400/show_your_bones.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>Show Your Bones</i> is my fifth favourite album of </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Best%20of%202006"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2006</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (the order isn't particularly important). I first started listening to it in mid-2007, and bought the LP in early 2008, a week before I got my turntable. The LP has a couple of differences, some might say advantages, from the CD version: it is a track shorter (no 'Deja Vú') and the printed cover (below) is unadorned by text or title. The first is an advantage because, at 12 tracks, the CD drags on a little to long with <i>Show Your Bones</i>'s somewhat undifferentiated indie rock; the second because, well, the cover picture is stylishly and strikingly awesome.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As for the music itself, 'Gold Lion' is undeniably the best song on the album, but the rest of the tracks are all pretty great. It's the rhythm and the heaviness to <i>Show Your Bones</i> that makes me like it so much - it's clever and affecting rock'n'roll, energetic indie rock played with both skill and fireworks. Plus, Karen O's often versatile, often unrestrained vocals are probably the best thing to come out of rock music this decade.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3aXjkqNTJhdRr6BjeOQ5iDU2JyzI8rfVd2LL-_00-90gPbgqR-pDUWVeSzjPEce8BFZjrfQPlI5nUcpEtBh27oRry8rX0R08leWARt1pyB-K_uswbIuSJ7m0aInZk8oUuHxrpO742Yw/s1600-h/syb1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 308px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3aXjkqNTJhdRr6BjeOQ5iDU2JyzI8rfVd2LL-_00-90gPbgqR-pDUWVeSzjPEce8BFZjrfQPlI5nUcpEtBh27oRry8rX0R08leWARt1pyB-K_uswbIuSJ7m0aInZk8oUuHxrpO742Yw/s320/syb1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312728075584043042" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsin2b1JrzpxXeWUtPuN6J4oX0PInmHeuwTTAdtazZdeaI-PdM36MO4UaQCnSDnCVu28Wnk1K2siYxHWSQCaBG9ccoA3uc9tJdEX9FF_wkEg7mW4uNDZjcg5YawJE39RWYrpaPFIV8Q/s1600-h/syb2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsin2b1JrzpxXeWUtPuN6J4oX0PInmHeuwTTAdtazZdeaI-PdM36MO4UaQCnSDnCVu28Wnk1K2siYxHWSQCaBG9ccoA3uc9tJdEX9FF_wkEg7mW4uNDZjcg5YawJE39RWYrpaPFIV8Q/s320/syb2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312728074865821714" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><a href="http://sleevage.com/yeah-yeah-yeahs-show-your-bones"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">sleevage.com/yeah-yeah-yeahs</span></a></p><br /><p><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/01/friday-video-yeah-yeah-yeahs-gold-lion.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Hardcore for Nerds: Friday Video [#1] - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'Gold Lion'</span></a></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-43183848341158415812009-03-10T17:52:00.010+00:002009-03-17T22:01:49.816+00:00The Bouncing Souls - The Gold Record<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCg04nNM0d64xFRTeIDz9S7_d189yH6XcrU9nnl4wU_dCqWoLBsMIEj8iPlCWJzJoXoJc2f7QUHqUoOQbd6NKMp5_sb1s4cZ41Q99OyeL9sNriIkTD0t9a50L-HcrlcgeUEpZAxnkX5Q/s1600-h/gold-record.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311622849360040546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 398px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCg04nNM0d64xFRTeIDz9S7_d189yH6XcrU9nnl4wU_dCqWoLBsMIEj8iPlCWJzJoXoJc2f7QUHqUoOQbd6NKMp5_sb1s4cZ41Q99OyeL9sNriIkTD0t9a50L-HcrlcgeUEpZAxnkX5Q/s400/gold-record.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20The%20Gold%20Song.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'The Gold Song'</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20So%20Jersey.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'So Jersey'</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/03%20Sounds%20Of%20The%20City.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Sounds of the City'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">These three songs may be all you need to hear to know how great an album <i>The Gold Record</i> is: a solid 1-2-3 opening punch of punk rock. It's not like the album is all frontloaded, with it best songs behind it by track 4; it's also not the case that <i><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/09/bouncing-souls-how-i-spent-my-summer.html">How I Spent My Summer Vacation</a></i> being the Souls' crowning achievement in ridiculously upbeat melodic punk-pop, or its immediate follow-up, </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/11/bouncing-souls-vs-zen-and-art-of.html"><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Anchors Aweigh</span></i></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, being next in line in the band's musical artistry, makes this album any less of a great record. Like <i>Insomniac Doze</i>, <i>The Gold Record</i> is a maturation from its predecessors, not an equal copy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">That said, 'The Gold Song' is a quintessentially Bouncing Souls track - fast, shoutalong and melodic. I remember seeing the Souls here in Dublin as part of a double with (ex-Hot Water Music) The Draft in 2006, and hurrying down the stairs in the Temple Bar Music Centre from the roof garden, where we'd spent the break in between sets, to the sound of this song's opening drumbeat. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'So Jersey' is Springsteen-esque punk-pop, which the Bouncing Souls were doing in their own way before the Hold Steady or The Gaslight Anthem, complete with organ and piano licks. It's about childhood, New Jersey and the importance of music - backing vocals from Chuck Ragan and Brett Gurewitz, among others - a common theme of the songs on this album.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I've never been to Jersey, but it's funny how its residents simultaneously seem to deprecate it and elevate it, how it's both classy and lowbrow, both Springsteen and the Souls, <em>Garden State </em>and <em>Clerks II. </em>There are sunny afternoons everywhere in the world - everywhere habitable, at least - but a Jersey one sounds especially pleasant.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The closer of the trio, 'Sound of the City' takes the directness of classic, punk rock Bouncing Souls - of 'The Gold Song' - and combines it with the nostalgic anthemicism of 'So Jersey' and other, equally classic Souls songs. Lonely streets, whoahs, soaring guitar riffs, and the philosophy of sounds and music. It's the final passage that crushes and uplifts, the essence of the Bouncing Souls translation of melancholy into optimism.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Afterwards, it's a detour into the slow, acoustic but charming 'Pizza Song', a throwback to songs like those on <em>Hopeless Romantic </em>and before, when Bouncing Souls were half jokey and wistful as well as - usually in the other half of the album - frenetically punk. It's followed by the super-anthemic 'Sarah Saturday', and an inspired, enthusiastic and heartfelt cover of the Kinks' 'Better Days' - "I hope tomorrow you'll find better things".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The second half of the album begins with a tribute to teenagehood and, it seems, to Iron Maiden, 'The Messenger' - "oh to be a kid with no worries it seemed so hard". 'Lean on Sheena' is another cover, this time of the relatively obscure - but rather good - punk group Avoid One Thing and, like 'Better Things', makes for a very good Bouncing Souls song. Simple but enormously affecting, and catchy as hell too:</span></p><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nDRTziqh99s&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nDRTziqh99s&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A topical and political song - the words written by a real soldier who served in the war - 'Letter from Iraq' reminds us that 2005 and its surrounding years were one of the worst for global conflict of this millenium so far, and the role punk rock in presenting such information. (Indeed, at the show mentioned above, the singer Greg took time out of the set to remind the audience in the most humble way possible of the differences between the American people and the then government. It's okay, we Europeans already knew that). The next track 'The New Thing' is an injection of personal optimism, forming the start of a closing trio of powerful, superbly emotional songs, along with 'Midnight Mile' and </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/04/oi-endoxos-necros-mixtape-in-tragedy.html#souls"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'For All The Unheard'</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">; "for all the music left behind, all the songs left on the floors in the closets of our minds".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>The Gold Record</i> was the last Epitaph album I bought, from a label which was instrumental in shaping the sort of music I listen to now, as well as the sorts that I don't, at least not anymore. It's a maturation as well as an encapsulation of everything that's great about the Bouncing Souls - their music, their humour, their attitude and their influences.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?miln15mjhym">The Bouncing Souls - <i>The Gold Record</i></a> (2006)</span></p><p><a href="http://www.epitaph.com/artists/album/481/The_Gold_Record"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Epitaph Records</span></a></p></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-9074594348601868132009-03-09T21:04:00.007+00:002009-03-11T13:02:54.768+00:00Hardcore for Nerds on Tumblr<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVk6MD-RgdLAGpRWgS6PAe7uz9RxpxNdb-rUG5jAifj-Yl6zXdHsI6SrDjj6CoyC9k1AGyjoav5VmVBga5Y5-srmoXEAaXPHidchW-EMuP40L9M5iQ35759EZBAhfAGJx-0yW1hebMQ/s1600-h/screenshot.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311297327364234050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 327px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggVk6MD-RgdLAGpRWgS6PAe7uz9RxpxNdb-rUG5jAifj-Yl6zXdHsI6SrDjj6CoyC9k1AGyjoav5VmVBga5Y5-srmoXEAaXPHidchW-EMuP40L9M5iQ35759EZBAhfAGJx-0yW1hebMQ/s400/screenshot.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com</span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So I've moved into a new field of blogging, the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblelog"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">tumblelog</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (really dislike that word). Same name, same ethos, roughly the same raison d'etre, and similar but slightly different content. Despite what the screenshot above might indicate, I'm not just reblogging (sorry, terminology again) everything from this blog, but the aim is to tie in with the main Hardcore for Nerds - which isn't going anywhere - from time to time. So <i>Insomniac Doze</i> is there (briefly) to tie in with <i>A Dead Sinking Story</i>, which I've given with Tumblr the specific highlight that it's lacked on here so far; and both tie back into what I have written on them here.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The description is 'emo, screamo and 90-00s post-hardcore. whatever you want to call it. as seen here' and the link leads to the 'emo' tag </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Emo"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">on this blog</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. The main aim of the new format is to keep a focus on the genre/subgenre/historical period that this blog started off with, before I became distracted by all the other sorts of music I listen to. I think the Tumblr is a good way to condense down that side of Hardcore for Nerds and </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Reasons%20to%20be%20Emo"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Reasons to Be Emo</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, etc., but also to cover some fairly important bands that I haven't gotten around to <i>writing</i> about on here.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The thing about <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> v. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Blogger</a> is that while, as I outlined in the previous post, I feel writing is an integral part of (full) blogging, tumble-logging or 'micro-blogging' is more immediate - superficial, almost, but beneath that surface is a world of links to other sites; either in the form of reblogged content from those users who do have the concision of writing style to match the constraints of the format, or to existing, long-form posts from this blog (and probably some others).</p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The issue of how Tumblr handles content, when you actually get to use the interface, is quite interesting. Though you can select a pure text post (and I think you can then add pictures, but they need to be already hosted), the main options I've used so far are the audio and picture posts, which include text as an optional extra. Theoretically Blogger works that way as well, but I've become so used to carefully constructing posts with stylesheets, paragraph layouts, and multiple pictures and streaming clips that 'micro-blogging' feels really fresh and new.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Tumblr allows one audio clip to be uploaded per day (and no more than 10MB so sorry, no 'A Will Remains in the Ashes' or 'Unrepairable Gentleness' from Envy unless you want them in 92kps or less). Although I've been supplementing that with externally hosted files (from Fileden, on this blog), I intend structuring the new format around one new band each day, time permitting. Tomorrow I'm thinking Moss Icon.</span></p><br /><p>- A large debt must go to scott pgwp's oft-mentioned and excellent <a href="http://doyoucompute.tumblr.com/">Do You Compute</a> for pioneering this field of nostalgia [micro-]blogging (although it's only vicarious nostalgia for me); he gets the first reblog for <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/post/84642500/doyoucompute-hoover-pretender-from-the-lurid">Hoover's 'Pretender'</a>, in return for <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Hoover%20Genealogy%20Project">a previous nod</a> to the Genealogy Project.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">- 'Hardcore for Nerds, on Tumblr' - I wanted to keep the same name really only in broad terms, but couldn't think of any snappier recombination of what is I think an already rather streamlined moniker - is still at the experimental stage, and may yet prove to be ephemeral, so any comments, suggestions or tips are especially welcome. I'm only half the process, whatever the format or the medium.</p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-27415800166598271322009-03-08T18:20:00.003+00:002009-03-09T22:14:14.247+00:00Envy - Insomniac Doze<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHl6t-jOpYXT2A5OLBHAmTQ3NBjsxMxI_iJXOg-ZFwGEKuhrNCU48IPeQtPfeKK1Jo6QLW5xG42luWeLsJ4oV_tJ6cQBBGwb9lVnM46gWwnqKhVcGhyphenhyphen4z06IretGNHzMudEEOPgNjMLg/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+01.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307897064588934034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 398px; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHl6t-jOpYXT2A5OLBHAmTQ3NBjsxMxI_iJXOg-ZFwGEKuhrNCU48IPeQtPfeKK1Jo6QLW5xG42luWeLsJ4oV_tJ6cQBBGwb9lVnM46gWwnqKhVcGhyphenhyphen4z06IretGNHzMudEEOPgNjMLg/s400/Insomniac+Doze+01.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Further%20Ahead%20Of%20Warp.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Envy - 'Further Ahead of Warp'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">All photographs of the <i>Insomniac Doze</i> 2xLP - unfortunately sold out, according to the </span><a href="http://www.temporaryresidence.com/catalog/index.php#trr112-2lp"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Temporary Residence Limited Catalog</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Just sayin'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Before I get on with the post for this excellent album (just listen to the rumbling bass, and trilling post-rock guitar, of the opening song above), a short service announcement...</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">______________________________________________</span></p><br /><blockquote><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The <strong>Hardcore for Nerds (Retrospective) Manifesto</strong>, with exposition:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>to present music accompanied by writing</strong>; there are plenty of album blogs with little content other than download links, so basing myself on my </span><a href="http://zen-face-punch.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">original inspiration</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">, I try to offer description and explanation of music that I think other people would like to hear. The aim is for it to be well-written, thoughtful and (to a degree) personal, but not an objective review - every album I put up here I already really like. At the same time, I want to show that I like this music for a reason, and that means putting it in context - genres, movements, history, and art.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>to present music accompanied by images</strong>; while music can be (and mostly is) enjoyed purely through sound, the aesthetic benefit of visual artwork is integral to its full enjoyment. Also, the internet is primarily a visual medium and text cannot generally be presented on its own. Therefore, I try at least to provide a decent-sized cover (400x400 pixels) for each album. </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Vinyl"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Vinyl</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> - I've owned a turntable for just over a year - is especially well suited to visual aesthetics, and when I'm feeling artistic I like to try out my minor interest in </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Photography"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">photography</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> on the sleeves, records and insets.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>to provide music accessibly and responsibly</strong>; of course, words and pictures can be no substitute for the music itself, and it is in this sense that the internet is the most revolutionary for the transmission of new and old styles, artists and releases. I believe in the continuing and central importance of the 'album' in music, hence the full-album downloads instead of individual tracks - that's how I like to try out and hear new music. However, for the sake of immediacy, I've also been using streaming (full-song) clips in the past while, so you can listen to the band directly. On the flip-side of accessible music is the responsibility to support the artists and labels involved; I believe that "buy it if you like it" is implied with every download, at least where practical (and where you do really like it). To encourage an ethical approach of that kind, I try to include a link to the band and/or label website, and (legal download site) </span><a href="http://www.emusic.com/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">eMusic</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> where available, and likewise to the Dublin city and online store of </span><a href="http://www.roadrecs.com/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Road Records</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">. Furthermore, I avoid posting full downloads of current (past year) album releases, although paradoxically a simple Google Blogs or Sordo db search will quickly lead you to at least the most popular ones. </span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></p></blockquote><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">______________________________________________</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Envy's 2006 album, <i>Insomniac Doze</i>, represented a significant shift from the almost genre-defining, 2001 release <i>A Dead Sinking Story</i> (one of my </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/08/shape-of-punk-to-come-2001-2007-mixtape.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">top six punk albums of the 21st century</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">), itself a significant development in the expanse and nuance of the group's style from <i>All The Footprints You've Ever Left Behind And The Fear Expecting Ahead</i> (1999). Between these three full-lengths there is a fairly rapid evolution by the Japanese band from screamo to post-rock, and for many people <i>Insomniac Doze</i> goes too far in the post-rock dimension. For me, however, it's a great album in both categories, and deserving of almost as much praise as <em>A Dead Sinking Story </em>for creating the uniquely epic and intense Envy sound.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">That's not to say I don't understand other people's criticism of this album, though I don't always agree with them. Pitchfork's </span><a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/38983-insomniac-doze"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">6.3 review</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> took issue with the album's relative somnolence, describing it as "mild enough for the dentist's office", whereas I really enjoy its epic, cinematic tones. Nick from </span><a href="http://worshipandtributemedia.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Worship and Tribute</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'s generally very positive review </span><a href="http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_7421"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">for Sputnikmusic</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> has a gripe with its "harmonic vapidity" and otherwise unadventurous musicianship; I have to agree that listening to <i>A Dead Sinking Story</i>, it seems much more musically creative in certain ways. As he says, it's "a trade-off; I like their ability to build huge passages out of simple, slowly repeating chord progressions, but I dislike the plodding feeling of it all"; though I find that the simplicity is mirrored by emotional intensity, the post-rock side just a part of the adapted screamo style.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVM8-T3hGZ6-Z9_35ESqF53oYUe1WyW-SSBfk2b2R5Cmu9kLHInkzmZha2522yaRMHGxpMLfWU9rQDWkJUzy3UUXONwh4K-M8RT6woj0QVEJol6w5kWOqhkWLYLP5ta0NUqWqlYOct6A/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+02.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307897061301587042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 395px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVM8-T3hGZ6-Z9_35ESqF53oYUe1WyW-SSBfk2b2R5Cmu9kLHInkzmZha2522yaRMHGxpMLfWU9rQDWkJUzy3UUXONwh4K-M8RT6woj0QVEJol6w5kWOqhkWLYLP5ta0NUqWqlYOct6A/s400/Insomniac+Doze+02.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCA1i8EAjrv6zW6iVlm93e2n9JQOmiqMDGjv8kZ2ZQOdPUI3nvC8CvjbL51oM86pcj4Uc-h94Bl-luczWISJWMEL4Jp0WQMxm3RjPZAaR3qJ7sTEkk4DwmMYSHudkE8eMalx-Qm-6v8A/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+03.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307897057207419490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 396px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCA1i8EAjrv6zW6iVlm93e2n9JQOmiqMDGjv8kZ2ZQOdPUI3nvC8CvjbL51oM86pcj4Uc-h94Bl-luczWISJWMEL4Jp0WQMxm3RjPZAaR3qJ7sTEkk4DwmMYSHudkE8eMalx-Qm-6v8A/s400/Insomniac+Doze+03.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hp_4wVg-Ti4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hp_4wVg-Ti4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Scene' (video)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Though I came to <i>A Dead Sinking Story</i> some years after the fact, I was eagerly anticipating the release of its follow-up. 'Scene' was the first song - in the form of this video - that I heard, and it was really a microcosm of the issues raised by the whole album. Expecting more of the really crushing heaviness of <i>A Dead Sinking Story</i> alongside that same album's quietitude, what 'Scene' presented was a far slower build-up to a more muted crescendo. On the album itself, 'Further Ahead of Warp' is a more energetic if broadly similar opening song, and 'Shield of Selflessness' is the closest <i>Insomniac Doze</i> gets to the shorter old-school Envy style of hardcore.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Scene' is the statement of the new Envy, which is really just an adaptation of the old Envy, as the video makes clear. All in a blue monochrome blur, views of clouds in the ether are interspersed with shots of the band performing the song live, edging towards full catharsis mode. It's the combination of the cinematic with the electric which makes <i>Insomniac Doze</i> work so well, long arcs of harmony mixed with smooth crescendos of angst.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Bm-jB6YeRo9FKUhl-NZB1E-BFt2i89_L3ceHvpO0ki0PUbF3j-DtyonKuYvmnnjf9qCG5IqwvZs1aJ2wCAN5qRvQgLTcczYDgFBu4vrjsqpbywRS8FeK-_WYSL8fnE6dVbyLx1GpBA/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+04a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 313px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Bm-jB6YeRo9FKUhl-NZB1E-BFt2i89_L3ceHvpO0ki0PUbF3j-DtyonKuYvmnnjf9qCG5IqwvZs1aJ2wCAN5qRvQgLTcczYDgFBu4vrjsqpbywRS8FeK-_WYSL8fnE6dVbyLx1GpBA/s400/Insomniac+Doze+04a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310887502096946290" /></a><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-l1GwVUFzoP8HLw_I9LRnnROOWgyw3yWnemfQkFrrW-o2mdS2v-JDvkgKRSW0fRPVZK1ArsBSUe04T0NqZzwAMHoge0cvk_5DZEoXpRaZY-TftacChzHHokApj_Zq-9u9MFfse7usA/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+05.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307902162920622514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 309px; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-l1GwVUFzoP8HLw_I9LRnnROOWgyw3yWnemfQkFrrW-o2mdS2v-JDvkgKRSW0fRPVZK1ArsBSUe04T0NqZzwAMHoge0cvk_5DZEoXpRaZY-TftacChzHHokApj_Zq-9u9MFfse7usA/s400/Insomniac+Doze+05.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/04%20Crystallize.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Crystallize'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Right after 'Scene' comes this next post-rock song, so epic that it takes up a whole side of one LP (as does the next one, 'Unknown Glow'). 'Crystallize' is in many ways more cinematic, and certainly more artistic, than 'Scene'. As </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/10/envy-scene-video_08.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">discussed previously</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, it's got an insistent melody that reminds me of 'Soon' from My Bloody Valentine's archetypal <i>Loveless</i>, and I think that <i>Insomniac Doze</i> as a whole has a strong shoegaze feel to it. More importantly, 'Crystallize' signals a new interest by Envy in simple, yet arty, melodic songs that continues into their more recent, shorter releases, such as <i>Abyssal</i> and songs like 'Life Caught in the Rain' and 'Conclusion of Existence' from the Jesu split.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpVeqJ30Ag-S_xU9zSIV1p1HtlKvh2QwV45IflOJSD071r0CeR-vikv16TPpfEPf2PjIpY7iU84xitJegz8nyv8zIZ-3UQFNKH9XiF_2bCDRVKskhULRGxgDgZIHuA9Oh1Oc4MDIrYBw/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+08.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307902160357728722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 305px; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpVeqJ30Ag-S_xU9zSIV1p1HtlKvh2QwV45IflOJSD071r0CeR-vikv16TPpfEPf2PjIpY7iU84xitJegz8nyv8zIZ-3UQFNKH9XiF_2bCDRVKskhULRGxgDgZIHuA9Oh1Oc4MDIrYBw/s400/Insomniac+Doze+08.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5hZwBCx8OxPuguwc5C5K0GURKDa-EgnLFaaNzaYf45h0MVuLn1pXTLHBO7XYHMe2uDfMfX2enJiNQ6Ih-k0Rr2gdfxi_3a-nrABR49LGxX6i3dDvSBbwdoZWczFlPup-1NGI58OpQw/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+09.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307902149932871746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 307px; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5hZwBCx8OxPuguwc5C5K0GURKDa-EgnLFaaNzaYf45h0MVuLn1pXTLHBO7XYHMe2uDfMfX2enJiNQ6Ih-k0Rr2gdfxi_3a-nrABR49LGxX6i3dDvSBbwdoZWczFlPup-1NGI58OpQw/s400/Insomniac+Doze+09.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/06%20Night%20In%20Winter.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Night in Winter'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Although 'Further Ahead of Warp', 'Scene' and 'Crystallize' I think provide ample proof of <i>Insomniac Doze</i>'s brilliance, it wouldn't be right not to include anything from the second LP of the album. The ten-minute long 'Unknown Glow' is, like 'Scene', an epic movement of post-rock/screamo, at times almost quasi-classical, spanning the range from near-silence to aural near-destruction; 'A Warm Room' is an intense, cathartic closer with some of the most <i>A Dead Sinking Story</i>-like moments on the album. 'Night in Winter', however, is a particularly beautiful, atmospheric track to bridge the gap between <i>Insomniac Doze's</i> weightier moments.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgdsLSZ38fz5jPIKJIjeUYDWEsataALwiukms6LL2xwXv7J-NeVHx5GP9DGHD0ODyDpHwQ_1rbGWNvFIqPrga6TXtahyphenhyphenXKeE8e6F1gOi5oQYoT-ve1pZkll1aDVsybcVK_ITztJKWkg/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+03-1.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307902167590330930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 160px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgdsLSZ38fz5jPIKJIjeUYDWEsataALwiukms6LL2xwXv7J-NeVHx5GP9DGHD0ODyDpHwQ_1rbGWNvFIqPrga6TXtahyphenhyphenXKeE8e6F1gOi5oQYoT-ve1pZkll1aDVsybcVK_ITztJKWkg/s400/Insomniac+Doze+03-1.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkoAg9XHXkj98uARn_JvQJEGQS6NJM0xmfhlPsAH5muuUI04AbsNPYvf5HN-fLeEJaIHrkTAxnPgyLPFtKP_t0mIxmP-CWqGJWELlODlaonjkfVX20K0Yd3SEjV9XDmlsEWEdcU8qZA/s1600-h/Insomniac+Doze+07.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307915362401977122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 386px; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkoAg9XHXkj98uARn_JvQJEGQS6NJM0xmfhlPsAH5muuUI04AbsNPYvf5HN-fLeEJaIHrkTAxnPgyLPFtKP_t0mIxmP-CWqGJWELlODlaonjkfVX20K0Yd3SEjV9XDmlsEWEdcU8qZA/s400/Insomniac+Doze+07.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OFUVQEZJ"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Envy - <i>Insomniac Doze</i></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (2006) (link via </span><a href="http://zen-face-punch.blogspot.com/2007/03/envy-japanese-hardcore.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Zen and the Art of Face Punching</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</span></p><p><a href="http://www.temporaryresidence.com/descriptions/trr112.php"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Temporary Residence Limited</span></a></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-48235316701900613562009-03-08T12:50:00.009+00:002009-03-08T17:47:51.960+00:00i wish this blog was more like tumblr<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">...so that I could post like this more often.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.tumblr.com/">let's see how this works out</a></span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/03%20Scene.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Envy - 'Scene' from <i>Insomniac Doze</i></span></p><br /><p align="justify"><i><a href="http://burritolingus.blogspot.com/2009/02/week-5-envy.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">burritolingus:</span></a></i></p><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Envy is far from your run-of-the-mill "I just got dumped by my girlfriend of two weeks and want to kill myself" scene or image conscious, attention-whoring pop-punk "emo" facade; no sir, Envy represents something far more cerebral, personal, real. It's no wonder, then, that despite the language barrier, they've become renowned worldwide as one of the finest screamo bands on Earth.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Oh, and worth noting is that (despite their album names and song titles being in English) the vast majority of Envy's music is, in fact, in Japanese. Very poetic Japanese that you could learn a thing or two from, at that."</span></p></blockquote><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Proper post on the album coming up next.</span></p></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-54041107634551980492009-03-06T22:18:00.009+00:002009-03-06T23:15:09.448+00:00Friday Video - Jape, I Was A Man; The Redneck Manifesto - Thirtysixsongs & Cut Your Heart Off From Your Head<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rbmw5ZEUOyw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rbmw5ZEUOyw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Winner of the </span><a href="http://www.choicemusicprize.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Choice Music Prize</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> for the best Irish album of 2008, for <i>Ritual</i>. Well deserved, although the bookies should have been giving shorter odds than 6/1. See my </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/12/year-end-november-rhythm-and-blues.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Best of 2008: Year End November</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> - featuring 'Phil Lynott'.</span></p><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/richiejape"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">www.myspace.com/richiejape</span></a></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-K0im8nYqetkRG-Msp1g0dTcNPG9tWU2uh6IWT9lHgEs8FW0Fj-ybpQWh8U4UiCuRAXWiTW8lwSbgdEHrh7L1xGrEqhXXNFAnTFTr97bx_1KSqOmXvc-u1ZChMW2SToqFeHhPkD-XlQ/s1600-h/36+cut.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310206900777290834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 391px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-K0im8nYqetkRG-Msp1g0dTcNPG9tWU2uh6IWT9lHgEs8FW0Fj-ybpQWh8U4UiCuRAXWiTW8lwSbgdEHrh7L1xGrEqhXXNFAnTFTr97bx_1KSqOmXvc-u1ZChMW2SToqFeHhPkD-XlQ/s400/36+cut.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Cut%20Your%20Heart%20Off....mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Redneck Manifesto - 'Cut Your Heart Off...'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Richie Egan, aka Jape, also being the bass player for this fantastic Irish instrumental rock band. This is the double cd version of their first two albums, <i>Thirtysixsongs</i> (2001) and <i>Cut Your Heart Off From Your Head</i> (2002); a new release with new artwork (the above picture is the old version) is now on sale </span><a href="http://www.roadrecs.com/stock/shopping.php3?start=1&action=4&artist=REDNECK%20MANIFESTO"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">from Road Records</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> for €9.99. If you liked </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2009/01/boxes-animal.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Boxes</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, you'll probably like this (most of the songs are considerably heavier versions of the track above), and vice versa.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Normal posting to resume soon(ish).</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-36636457433753429202009-02-27T12:30:00.006+00:002009-02-27T13:36:37.989+00:00Friday Videos: AD/BC - A Rock Opera<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nu-KK6FfjA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8nu-KK6FfjA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q37UomRayr0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q37UomRayr0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p7DWq6GfP0Y&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p7DWq6GfP0Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"An outstanding accomplishment in late '70s British religious rock opera, this lavishly produced adaptation of Tim Wynde and Solomon Homerton's 'fringe stage sensation' celebrates the life-affirming story of Christ's nativity as told through the eyes of the Innkeeper (played by Wynde)..."</span></p></blockquote><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I was hipped to this in the comments section of the AV Club's </span><a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/gateways-to-geekery-contemporary-british-sitcoms,24247/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Gateways to Geekery: Contemporary British Sitcoms</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (they suggest starting with <i>Peep Show</i>). I'd never even heard of it before, likely because it only ever aired once, on BBC3 (which is one more BBCs than I have), in 2004, although it was released on DVD in November 2007. Essentially, this is a combination of <i>Garth Marenghi's Darkplace</i> and <i>The Mighty Boosh</i>, starring as it does Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade of the former, and Julian Barrett (Howard Moon) of the latter, with Noel Fielding (Vince Noir) in a smaller role too. And Matt Lucas (<em>Little Britain</em>) as God.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Sometimes the music is better than the comedy, but that's not too much of a bad thing in such a brilliant pastiche of 70s rock musicals. There are the metafictional conceits of <i>Darkplace</i> along with the bizarre theatrics of the <i>Boosh</i> (though not quite as bizarre) as well as the musical skill obvious in both shows. Plus large parts of the performance remind me of <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/09/grails-videos.html">Grails videos</a>, that strange irony/reverence for 70s psychedelia, and cowbell, just with a more obvious(ly) comedic target.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/AD-BC-Rock-Opera-DVD/dp/B000X6R9VY"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Amazon.co.uk DVD</span></a></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-46937283068554007252009-02-25T20:44:00.006+00:002009-06-27T13:19:33.250+01:00Shooting at Unarmed Men - Yes! Tinnitus!<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7a8R1_Yg-dH5I1-iIAiYe5nP3xj3Hd3iNcIHDhyphenhyphenAPwZvVi2HPdbgowpi3jOJLoEGIGrTQwbPPhBtdQWWBsF-850VjBGfvUcjgzIc62rTbdnp1CgmYZ0Sg0erKQ-jsNjl9RO4dGbsD1A/s1600-h/yes+tinnitus.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305671302571701058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7a8R1_Yg-dH5I1-iIAiYe5nP3xj3Hd3iNcIHDhyphenhyphenAPwZvVi2HPdbgowpi3jOJLoEGIGrTQwbPPhBtdQWWBsF-850VjBGfvUcjgzIc62rTbdnp1CgmYZ0Sg0erKQ-jsNjl9RO4dGbsD1A/s400/yes+tinnitus.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Pathos%20Ate%20Bathos.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Shooting at Unarmed Men - 'Pathos Ate Bathos'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Shooting at Unarmed Men's second album <i>Yes! Tinnitus!</i> is not really as good as last year's third effort, <i>Triptych</i>, but it's a testament to the strength of that album (my favourite of 2008) that <i>Yes! Tinnitus!</i> is still pretty great. In parts it benefits from being able to go back from <i>Triptych</i> in order to appreciate it better; in others it has a certain charm of its own.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The standout first song 'Pathos ate Bathos' starts off with Shooting at Unarmed Men's typical rhythm-heavy songwriting, post-hardcore guitar with a few spaghetti-western flourishes and a frantic but relatively simple beat. Four minutes of rocking out in this vein make for a badass introduction to the album, plus a little bit of start-stop dynamism tacked on at the end as well.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Writing about <i>Triptych</i> on Geek Down's </span><a href="http://josephlovesit.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-of-2008-rock-albums.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Best of 2008: Rock Albums</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, <i>josephlovesit</i> referenced the Jesus Lizard and this band's "confident assholism"; likewise, the next couple songs here feature a misogynistic God and a capitalist-acquisitive cowboy. It's a snarling, intense bridge to the next really great song on the album, the single 'Girls Music' (post of the promo 7" </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/03/shooting-at-unarmed-men-girls-music.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Rather like (the ever-unavoidable comparison) a Mclusky b-side put into overdrive, or "a great twisted pop song" as I described it before, 'Girls Music' is the fun, inventive side of Shooting at Unarmed Men which condenses down post-hardcore creativity. The following songs stretch things out a bit more, from the shoutalong "D-I-S-M-O-U-N-T" of 'I Am United Nations' to the slow, ratcheting melodicism of 'Pat Yourself On The Proverbial ("In the summer... she blisters... and her skin peels"). At this point, despite the garage-y immediacy of 'I Cry For No Man' and 'Get On Out And Come Right In', the album begins to drag somewhat; indeed slowed down almost unnaturally for the closer, 'In Flight Instructions Are A Joke, Say I' with its rousing chorus "she drank the whole bottle down".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Still, this is definitely a Shooting at Unarmed Men album as you would recognise from <i>Triptych</i>, if not quite of the same quality. Jon Chapple's voice, both literally and figuratively - i.e. musically - speaking, in this latter-day post-punk, ex-Welsh post-hardcore band deserves to be heard a lot more.</span></p><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Shooting at Unarmed Men </span><a href="http://www.emusic.com/artist/Shooting-At-Unarmed-Men-MP3-Download/11644144.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">on eMusic</span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.myspace.com/shootingatunarmedmen"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Myspace</span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">a rather brilliant and suitably disturbing 'Girls Music' video:</span></p><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pjg1xvFNGMk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pjg1xvFNGMk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-63248337923569225172009-02-18T21:10:00.011+00:002009-06-06T13:56:24.662+01:00slowcore/shoegaze/springtime post: Si Schroeder - Coping Mechanisms<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54Qu5t2A_sLCHHRzA6AtemasgAgSB_wjMLBRFUrl6bIKIOUZJBcgR0D2lM4oqIAwaSkw2Z0bT6f_ZcGrrjI4sfNomdyqDMK80YUh5u9eXrfHL2T7_m_IaGH26U2SXCYhSkkrG1bDDIA/s1600-h/coping_mechanisms.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303899710101403570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 398px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54Qu5t2A_sLCHHRzA6AtemasgAgSB_wjMLBRFUrl6bIKIOUZJBcgR0D2lM4oqIAwaSkw2Z0bT6f_ZcGrrjI4sfNomdyqDMK80YUh5u9eXrfHL2T7_m_IaGH26U2SXCYhSkkrG1bDDIA/s400/coping_mechanisms.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/Si%20Schroeder_07_Duck%21.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Si Schroeder - Duck!</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is a conglomeration of different things, but mainly <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Si%20Schroeder">yet another</a> post on this truly great Irish album. For me, <i>Coping Mechanisms</i> is Ireland's <i>Spiderland</i>, though in general it sounds quite different. This week is </span><a href="http://drownedinsound.com/news/4136195"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Slowcore Week</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> on Drowned in Sound, as highlighted on </span><a href="http://doyoucompute.tumblr.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">do you compute</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Watching the video on his blog of Codeine's </span><a href="http://doyoucompute.tumblr.com/post/79099833/codeine-loss-leader-from-the-white-birch-1994"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Loss Leader'</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> from the excellent <i>The White Birch</i> album, the particular way in which Steve Immerwahr sings "water" (and, I think, "watch her" as well) reminded me of that same word in Si Schroeder's 'Duck!' ("water/off a duck's back").</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So, a flimsy enough connection. Si Schroeder doesn't really play slowcore (but then neither does David Grubbs, quite, anymore) or even shoegaze, both genres largely fixed in time as early-to-mid 1990s and probably deserving the prefix post- in their current configurations. <i>Coping Mechanisms</i> is an album of, at first, exceeding quietness and then consequently layered and shimmering loudness, all threaded together with a rich diversity of sounds - most of them electronic of some kind. Post-rock is the obvious but relatively uninformative classification for this beautiful, atmospheric - yet substantial - album.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Diverse electro sounds make their way through current indie rockers, post-rockers and shoegazers. Best example is </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2009/02/asobi-seksu-strawberries-2x7-live-at.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Asobi Seksu</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'s new album <i>Hush</i> which blends shoegaze, pop and electro to a hardcore punk back-beat (somewhat softened) to impressive effect. The latest Fight Like Apes b-side </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2009/02/fight-like-apes-tie-me-up-with-jackets.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Telephone the Real Ham Jackson'</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> spends some time in a tasty electro-shoegaze jam after its thick, bassy and synthy pop experimentation. King of the latter, Dan Deacon's upcoming album <i>Bromst</i> is a dense, familiar affair (read a first impression </span><a href="http://thrillpier.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-impressions-dan-deacon-bromst.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and an unlikely negative review </span><a href="http://nickthinks.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/dan-deacon-bromst-carpark-2009.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">) underpinned by modern big-band percussion. With lunchtime like a mid-summer's evening here in north-western Europe, spring has arrived with a shoegazing, electrifying soundtrack.</span></p><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.roadrecs.com/stock/shopping.php3?start=1&action=4&artist=SI%20SCHROEDER"><i>Coping Mechanisms</i> vinyl</a> from Road Records</span><p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/sischroeder">Myspace - Si Schroeder</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.trustmeimathief.com/artists/schroeders.html">Trust Me I'm A Thief record label</a></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and three of Ireland's best post-rock type acts, Jape, The Jimmy Cake and Si Schroeder, are playing a benefit + <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2009/01/boxes-animal.html">celebration</a> gig for the aforementioned <a href="http://www.roadrecs.com/">Road Records</a>:</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdY00Qa-e1GE1CffHZ-YMfNFY0rDSv6rHGHTLCmcPynAJzNo1hJGPxLSqIeuhGIlmyJgY6WQ_G01szRG3qsdgOInwFAjMDSwbssqXbQoMtjmevXBJIOsP-KedYwJkTIFX9ZNbx7TVkQ/s1600-h/one-for-the-road-small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304243585243158274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 283px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdY00Qa-e1GE1CffHZ-YMfNFY0rDSv6rHGHTLCmcPynAJzNo1hJGPxLSqIeuhGIlmyJgY6WQ_G01szRG3qsdgOInwFAjMDSwbssqXbQoMtjmevXBJIOsP-KedYwJkTIFX9ZNbx7TVkQ/s400/one-for-the-road-small.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-44922645380389803842009-02-16T22:40:00.006+00:002009-02-17T09:50:51.706+00:00Fight Like Apes - Tie Me Up With Jackets, 7"/video<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwH0GFWxvGPDeF9jxpX1gHpkTDr6zFwot8AwypgFaDejVaMkRUQFiwiSaKQBI7cZCYQIKDG3ab5hWrZNoQTXL3TNwDu1xw2PCdn1iEXWIH-Ig_gidcqUZpMKAuFfPaKetnbkuZdjxKQ/s1600-h/tmeuwj1.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303513676265307346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 398px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwH0GFWxvGPDeF9jxpX1gHpkTDr6zFwot8AwypgFaDejVaMkRUQFiwiSaKQBI7cZCYQIKDG3ab5hWrZNoQTXL3TNwDu1xw2PCdn1iEXWIH-Ig_gidcqUZpMKAuFfPaKetnbkuZdjxKQ/s400/tmeuwj1.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Tie%20Me%20Up%20With%20Jackets.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Side A - 'Tie Me Up With Jackets' (2:36)</span></p><br /><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2966126&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1&group_id=" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2966126&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1&group_id=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Go <a href="http://vimeo.com/groups/1025/videos/2966126">here</a> for the high-definition version)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOqHCRCzve2pOEs9lPhAhInQmI3I1g_6SDL78T8Co_w1_lcKL3Ak3hFd_v5DMDFMxDQrRC2jrdHINflxuGzUMDAlJxdWA7w395tRhfhu5L_gGaeuAyTKfEWXrrG1X0yFwXjMZ94eybA/s1600-h/tmuwj2.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303513674159526802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 396px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOqHCRCzve2pOEs9lPhAhInQmI3I1g_6SDL78T8Co_w1_lcKL3Ak3hFd_v5DMDFMxDQrRC2jrdHINflxuGzUMDAlJxdWA7w395tRhfhu5L_gGaeuAyTKfEWXrrG1X0yFwXjMZ94eybA/s400/tmuwj2.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20Telephone%20the%20Real%20Ham%20Jackson.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Side B [fixed] - 'Telephone the Real Ham Jackson' (6:10)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">previous post - </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/10/fight-like-apes-jake-summers-and-lend.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Jake Summers' and 'Lend Me Your Face' 7"s</span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Tie Me Up With Jackets' is the first fresh song from <i>Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion</i> to be released as a single, excepting 'Something Global' which was released as an EP before the album... to show people what they sounded like with producer John Goodmanson. While I still don't think any of the songs quite surpass those of the original EPs, 'Tie Me Up With Jackets' was a definite grower from the full-length. I like the sweet guitar (bass) intro, with its carefully placed synthy squawks, and the agreeably daft/weird/poignant(/scary) lyrics -</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"</span><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Same goes for you, I like my meatballs in a dish</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and I like other people too</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">as the saying goes, I'm pretty nift</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">but I'd love to see you in the nude with overcoats tied around your head</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and Japanese children in your bed</span></i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">From its quiet, low twee-dark beginnings, the song shifts several gears into the "lovely noise" chorus, which was what grabbed my attention listening to the album at first. And the "cha cha cha" part is crucial in a live setting too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The video outdoes the song, really, however, with its arty conception of Fight Like Apes, the cartoon pop band, and the band of technicolour sonic experimentation. Combining synched-up ink blots with rotoscope-like overpainting of film footage (a brief flash of the underlying image at about 0:25) along with the gratuitous, clichéd shots of an Irish-band-on-a-windswept-beach (North Strand/Dollymount?) it's an impressive work for the Irish scene. Just like Fight Like Apes themselves, then.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The b-side, 'Telephone the Real Ham Jackson' - possibly their most inpenetrably bizarre title yet - is at once a bit of an oddity and a natural progression from the style of the a-side. Starting off again with some great bass, it then develops into a weird, chanting Indian-like melody and briefly a Suicide lo-fi moment, before kicking back in with the stomping, poppy bass rhythm and ultimately tailing off into shoegazey-electronic noise.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today I listened to this and the leak of <a href="http://www.sordomusic.com/db/search.php?q=bromst"><i>Bromst</i></a> for the first time, and the two - b-side and sophomore album - seem to go well together. At just over six minutes it's unusual for a Fight Like Apes song, and probably too much of a digression to get much play live, but it's in a similar vein to 'Lumpy Dough' which I found similarly engrossing on hearing it first. Maybe not as immediate or as catchy as the rest of their work, but certainly an interesting direction for them to go in as a powerful - more in artistic than commercial terms yet - pop band.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(if anyone wants a mediafire file of these rips, just ask I guess)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.normanrecords.com/records/104344">Get the 7" from Norman Records</a></span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-86040789764565104102009-02-15T18:05:00.002+00:002009-02-15T18:18:42.830+00:00The Boom: parts 2 + 3<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKv-aQmS8_Ia6FpsryAAYcm4S2GmGY_wHtRv7PY7qrIWNCnAppuZaoNKtxz3MZMn2Hz7KQn-4kb28-uxnLuPlHP5txh43wPs8ykRzNK_vV_y2Ap9tGn1reSqmBTaN-Ix7y5OM0TCO-w/s1600-h/the+boom.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302705442741705842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 306px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKv-aQmS8_Ia6FpsryAAYcm4S2GmGY_wHtRv7PY7qrIWNCnAppuZaoNKtxz3MZMn2Hz7KQn-4kb28-uxnLuPlHP5txh43wPs8ykRzNK_vV_y2Ap9tGn1reSqmBTaN-Ix7y5OM0TCO-w/s400/the+boom.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(inset from the cover of the first Boom album, </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/01/boom-movin-out.html"><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Movin' Out</span></i></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</span></p><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9Lqs_QPLb-PCEM6aOQuftv2ztmzD4l05Rpf8Gb4Z8FzQl0y6SqWvzmG4yAhkqg_KNo1xJEgk3QOfZFqx-xo2yAAzo1dhGgaQgMNeR4v5IVWCnD4WR0BDw9wYcItIWtejXataXdSDAQ/s1600-h/anydayofthenight_cover250.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302705180178425330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 250px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9Lqs_QPLb-PCEM6aOQuftv2ztmzD4l05Rpf8Gb4Z8FzQl0y6SqWvzmG4yAhkqg_KNo1xJEgk3QOfZFqx-xo2yAAzo1dhGgaQgMNeR4v5IVWCnD4WR0BDw9wYcItIWtejXataXdSDAQ/s400/anydayofthenight_cover250.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/04%20Sacrifices.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Sacrifice' from <i>Any Day of the Night</i> (1999)</span></p><br /><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/06%20Track%206.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">untitled sixth track from <i>The Death of A Star</i> (unreleased, third album)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As a big fan of <i>Movin' Out</i>, a jazz-flavoured but still very rock-y album, it's a little strange to hear these two later, instrumental albums which sound, if anything, more jazz than rock. Except that there's also dub and ska (Chris Farrall of the Sorts and Hoover plays percussion on <i>Any Day of the Night</i>) and definite funky overtones - the review on Insound for the same album says "one might mistakenly address The Boom as a funk revivalist band. Not so. Though the brass section shows reverence to the seventies, their swerving and strutting are more Miles Davis than P-Funk, more blue than red".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The unreleased follow-up, on which Joseph P. McRedmond of the Crownhate Ruin and Hoover plays guitar, seems to steer even deeper into jazz territory, like it actually could <i>be</i> a Miles Davis album. Obviously the switch to the instrumental style on both albums allows Fred Erskine more time to concentrate on playing on trumpet, alongside Carlo Cennamo on all three albums with his alto sax. Other line-up changes, for this third album include the substitution of Lincoln drummer Justin Wierbonski for J. Carrier, and John Wall, previously of Kerosene 454 and co-owner of the Slowdime label, for bass player Booker T. Sessoms III.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's that last change that seems to me to make a marked difference between the second and third albums. Whereas <i>Movin' Out</i> and <i>Any Day of the Night</i> have that excellent and stylish jangly, funky jazz bass sound, the third album shifts more to the softer dub and ska <i>wnah-wnah</i> (like 'wah-wah', but with more 'n') of the Sorts and Sea Tiger. The lengthy track I posted from the third LP for streaming above (apologies to people with sub-optimal internet connections) focuses on the guitars and sax in a remarkable jazz fusion opus. At half the length, the six-minute 'Sacrifice' from <i>Any Day of the Night</i> runs like an earlier version, with its dubby electronics and frantic horn phrasing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Although both these albums are great, in my opinion at least <i>The Death of a Star</i> is probably the more accomplished jazz record, so it's a pity that it was never released, due to John Wall's departure for better things from the band and label. However, thanks to Joe McRedmond, we have at least the untitled tracks:</span></p><br /><p><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8GUXZNKG"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Boom - <i>The Death of A Star</i></span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and for comparison (this is a reader's link):</span></p><p><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=0HKWH5DI"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Boom - <i>Any Day of the Night</i></span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Buy:</span></p><p><a href="http://www.insound.com/The_Boom/artistmain/artist/INS26779/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Insound - <i>Any Day of the Night</i> LP/CD, <i>Movin' Out</i> CD</span></a></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-65234401606472584872009-02-13T13:00:00.016+00:002009-03-01T15:06:27.065+00:00Asobi Seksu - Strawberries 2x7" (+ live at Crawdaddy, Dublin 11/02/09)<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBHKg0lIN9-k2jiDQWzYnPFNUj7owNEFBwQJ-zO2-xkKYrgJGdlv1ZEPxRfZ4GuZE4Gy0BtMB6khP6uXD0zvc-4MRUh7bmAjxk_K7iOz3Pb74jaVxRh2phjZhewU8ENdPgITKQzLuGg/s1600-h/File0001.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302268002315210866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 394px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBHKg0lIN9-k2jiDQWzYnPFNUj7owNEFBwQJ-zO2-xkKYrgJGdlv1ZEPxRfZ4GuZE4Gy0BtMB6khP6uXD0zvc-4MRUh7bmAjxk_K7iOz3Pb74jaVxRh2phjZhewU8ENdPgITKQzLuGg/s400/File0001.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKwUQ86zq9Lx8RFo35nkjzxMrjRi_y0uE5JoYg0N7Vs1qf-XELIUm58L5z7QlV6L5BrF9gPUbSjMKDiE4A9WcGLbkJDTKkL7xe2dzEkSnZYCKyxdMhVCaAnARINiil9eR2q_0QdDLTQ/s1600-h/File0002.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302267995222639090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 391px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKwUQ86zq9Lx8RFo35nkjzxMrjRi_y0uE5JoYg0N7Vs1qf-XELIUm58L5z7QlV6L5BrF9gPUbSjMKDiE4A9WcGLbkJDTKkL7xe2dzEkSnZYCKyxdMhVCaAnARINiil9eR2q_0QdDLTQ/s400/File0002.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDOViyVNETylzwZaP0sfCYcKZUaatB5JWaPD7YobPINYkRcVnM7YV4PBz5-WhGFQqPpg6ZVICJLxFqMrjo6hsDNPz_qmgqwpEtrv7oI02Bb_54krjy3R5OsdTlSjp8mvi8g3wH86XTw/s1600-h/File0003.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302267996624702674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 255px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDOViyVNETylzwZaP0sfCYcKZUaatB5JWaPD7YobPINYkRcVnM7YV4PBz5-WhGFQqPpg6ZVICJLxFqMrjo6hsDNPz_qmgqwpEtrv7oI02Bb_54krjy3R5OsdTlSjp8mvi8g3wH86XTw/s400/File0003.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(inside of the gatefold. All artwork by <a href="http://www.wider-than-pictures.com/">Sean McCabe</a>)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZniQS2eyr7hjp_RSKl13v9FfHiQv1RW4nQEeHA6IpJ9_MhntijBAxQjtXBrYcPohNkQxObEalJunSan5mOPeuPO7gcVZmliXJqp1OUSXruVS-lsHXs7r7rtCQFoH6Xym9BWoNxsrSg/s1600-h/file0004.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302267561611834754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 111px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZniQS2eyr7hjp_RSKl13v9FfHiQv1RW4nQEeHA6IpJ9_MhntijBAxQjtXBrYcPohNkQxObEalJunSan5mOPeuPO7gcVZmliXJqp1OUSXruVS-lsHXs7r7rtCQFoH6Xym9BWoNxsrSg/s400/file0004.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdbZsTTMtJh7nHIDTMw-XG8MmOaPQTI_eiLwtgmhk9B5c_EJlTgvxKLIWowbcd6fq2LNgQ2Nx_7e-EtqeuazYHw1hz-zcdOwk3uqp0eVDvKl3XcdhDCfBVhqDTgaRkIoO5kxKs5ziJQ/s1600-h/file0004a.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302267559857467378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 146px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdbZsTTMtJh7nHIDTMw-XG8MmOaPQTI_eiLwtgmhk9B5c_EJlTgvxKLIWowbcd6fq2LNgQ2Nx_7e-EtqeuazYHw1hz-zcdOwk3uqp0eVDvKl3XcdhDCfBVhqDTgaRkIoO5kxKs5ziJQ/s400/file0004a.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">("Limited Edition Red Vinyl With Strawberry Scented Sleeves" - yes, really. Subtle enough, but in a sugary-sweet flavouring sort of way. As one might expect.)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskZvVI8WMoQDEb-dimwvxJivkudWggr8jpRcGjRc6brtiIp0iWN0Tj0llNoUGGhGs_SGrzoLGAF-WN5HGl52KF8Sl15Gg6n6BcD7Bs61lHek_UlKNctlhpUXHGhqSa9o40G2eJdTuBA/s1600-h/File0005.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302268195052348274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 317px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskZvVI8WMoQDEb-dimwvxJivkudWggr8jpRcGjRc6brtiIp0iWN0Tj0llNoUGGhGs_SGrzoLGAF-WN5HGl52KF8Sl15Gg6n6BcD7Bs61lHek_UlKNctlhpUXHGhqSa9o40G2eJdTuBA/s320/File0005.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Strawberries%20-%20Edit.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Strawberries' - Edit (3:29)</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZi44E5FuZCgVHDwdpxMiuXHCwfA5cnBkxXMpJbAi59H_YXg_MISeH3GJy41hC2RalHAMVclbqPs4VMFfc8qiy7g1F_btljifeeqM9amEjUQf0u0X8tNduhTePJ6otEj2q6GLm12HBg/s1600-h/File0006.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302268189112189618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZi44E5FuZCgVHDwdpxMiuXHCwfA5cnBkxXMpJbAi59H_YXg_MISeH3GJy41hC2RalHAMVclbqPs4VMFfc8qiy7g1F_btljifeeqM9amEjUQf0u0X8tNduhTePJ6otEj2q6GLm12HBg/s320/File0006.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/04%20Strawberries%20-%20CSS%20remix.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Strawberries' - CSS Remix (3:19)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This double 7" came out in November 2007, a month before the </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/12/asobi-seksu-merry-christmas-i-dont-want.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> single, both in support of their second album, <i>Citrus</i>. Currently they're touring their third, <i>Hush</i>, which officially comes out on February 17th, on <a href="http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/store/index.php?id=606">Polyvinyl Records</a>. Obviously I'm more familiar with the songs from <i>Citrus</i>, of which there were a few played at the gig - notably 'Strawberries', 'Pink Clouds Tracing Paper' and 'Thursday'. The songs from <i>Hush</i> sound very strong though.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">First thing that hit me about the band was the sound of the drums - absolutely pummelling, a piercing bass drum - which makes a lot of sense given the drummer's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Gorman"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">previous work</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Actually it reminded me, in a live setting, of a favourite Irish band of mine, <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/search/label/Ham%20Sandwich">Ham Sandwich</a> (though I would make the comparison more generally anyway), who have a heavy rhythm section, shoegazy guitar <i>and</i> a female vocalist as well. Though there can be few modern comparisons with the vocals of Yuki Chikudate, which are simply stunning (and surprisingly audible in the context).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The show drew to a close with the My Bloody Valentine-clone of 'Pink Clouds Tracing Paper', and for an encore, a transcendentally distorted version of 'Red Sea'. Thankfully it didn't reach the sound levels or duration of MBV's recent "holocausts", but it's always a good thing when, in a gig, the visual and auditory inputs from the stage cease to appear to be 100% experientially, in-the-same-room <i>real</i>. Now that's shoegaze.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Other reviews </span><a href="http://noordinaryfool.com/2009/02/12/asobiseksu/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a href="http://tenacioustimothy.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/asobi-seksu-crawdaddy-feb-09/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. It also was Gig of the Week in the <em>Irish Times </em>too, with a nice photograph, but only it seems available in the print edition.</span></p></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-77564036203550687672009-02-01T21:35:00.004+00:002009-02-01T21:55:26.595+00:00Reasons to be Emo #200 / Hoover - The Lurid Traversal of Route 7<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHifyB8i1OIS76U64JRPm_jfjbsgzjWafZGPLIXCZGJdWi9__ZuFicS3dq6_dtL6a05Q6-uclG79LvFkGZT0Y5ASg8z4B_IGxunty-8RDBp5Q5f_p0PumaxAP9Vkg5KNLKpFxAhdIesw/s1600-h/lt01.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297942886306644242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 393px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHifyB8i1OIS76U64JRPm_jfjbsgzjWafZGPLIXCZGJdWi9__ZuFicS3dq6_dtL6a05Q6-uclG79LvFkGZT0Y5ASg8z4B_IGxunty-8RDBp5Q5f_p0PumaxAP9Vkg5KNLKpFxAhdIesw/s400/lt01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>200th post/reason -</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Previous Reasons to be Emo*:</i></span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">#150 / </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/09/reasons-to-be-emocore-150-hot-water.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Hot Water Music - Moonpies for Misfits</span></a></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">#140 / </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/08/swing-kids-discography-reasons-to-be.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Swing Kids - Discography</span></a></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">#100 / </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/05/reasons-to-be-emo-100-jawbreaker-dear.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Jawbreaker - Dear You</span></a></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">#50 / </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/12/reasons-to-be-emo-50-shotmaker.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Shotmaker/Maximillian Colby - Split</span></a></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">#1 ? / </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/08/han-shan-st-7.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Han Shan - s/t 7"</span></a></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">* if you think about shit like that, that is. Excellent analysis of <i>that</i> question </span><a href="http://prisonship.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/a-high-point-for-our-counter-public/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here on the Prisonship</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. The half-dozen featured examples here aren't meant to be canonical, and definitely are not intended to be definitive; instead, they are choices of what that genre means to me, an ongoing selection of diverse highpoints.</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Distant.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Distant'</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The core of the genealogy, <i>The Lurid Traversal of Route 7 </i>was Hoover's only full-length recording. Originally recorded in 1993, in the first year of the Clinton administration, released on Dischord Records in 1994, and remastered in 2004/5. The last three songs on the CD version, 'Return', 'Private' and 'Dries' were from a separate vinyl release from the LP of <i>Lurid Traversal</i>, and together make up thirteen tracks on the album.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Distant' opens up with atmospheric noise, harsh and mechanical, and a little bit of percussion, then rhythm, and then the heavy guitars kick in. It's taut, it's tense - barely controlled rage and stop-start dynamics over low, slinking basslines. "3000 mile view/ through a telescope" with the last word screamed out with an unexpected, yet not incongruent, intensity. 'Pretender' operates on the same kind of taut rhythms, locked into a driving groove with propelling guitar and vocals. The song moves forward and upwards with every riff, until disintegrating momentarily at the end.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Electrolux' builds the sound up again slowly, with deliberate beats and ominous, humming guitar. Clearer guitar balances the equation, lulling the dubb-y, intense atmposhere of the song along. 'Electrolux' erupts, first in guitars, in shouts and screams, and then in vibrant trumpet, a soaring cacophony of sound that swells and collapses back into the rhythm below, which has grown in intensity. Minimalism conflicts with outward expression, emotion with weighty, deliberate pace.</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/03%20Electrolux.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Electrolux'</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Every song on <i>Lurid Traversal</i> drips with intensity and emotion, balancing explosive hardcore and post-hardcore with near-empty, Slinty post-rock, shifting between states with every verse (though, of course, there are no verses to the lyrics). Thus a song like 'Shut' winds it way between quiet and loud in a very Fugazi-ish way, focusing its emotional punch on the crescendo of guitars, yet also expressing itself in the transitional spaces between sounds. The tone created is extremely dark but with carefully crafted, melodic moments of beauty - like the cricket-filled instrumental passage of 'Route 7' - entwined with deep and sonorous rhythms. It's accessible at the same time - the opening to 'Regulator Watts' trips lightly and gently underneath whispered, distant vocals.</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAw3kwMWXAjm5Ctbyw9KpaGtMCW0XioePeqHpNeoWl0lUEM1rs9sOApeNKDKg8zRRaVB-6c8ymlBR9tOiO7SlHc0cmzgcRYnAFTlaH5syDfJRYbIdscu0uBXqnK6Svvm7mpKQK5dgEg/s1600-h/lt02.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297942892388788386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAw3kwMWXAjm5Ctbyw9KpaGtMCW0XioePeqHpNeoWl0lUEM1rs9sOApeNKDKg8zRRaVB-6c8ymlBR9tOiO7SlHc0cmzgcRYnAFTlaH5syDfJRYbIdscu0uBXqnK6Svvm7mpKQK5dgEg/s400/lt02.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Again, the emphasis on rhythm propels the album on through each song, carrying the momentum of post-hardcore heaviness onwards each time, ripping it up and building it up again. 'Father' combines the stop-start dynamic with a near-continuous, insistent beat, rapidly advancing towards its chaotic explosion, and disintegrating like 'Pretender' into annihilating noise. Similar but more immediate and direct than 'Electrolux', 'Cable' shouts out its rhythms with brassy, brash anxiety, and climbs into the heights with distorted reggae and blues riffs.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/09%20Letter.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Letter'</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The dynamics and contrasts of typical 'emo' guitar bands, like the tender yet destructive passions of Indian Summer, course through <i>The Lurid Traversal</i>, but are combined with the equally typical complexities of Dischord post-hardcore groups, resulting in epic and intense creations of late-model punk rock. The first part is evident on the arpeggiated, whispered intro to 'Letter' and its linear progress to ear-crushing, violent catharsis; the second in the equally quiet, almost abstract opening to 'Cuts Like Drugs' and, then, its expressionistic guitar jabs combined with enveloping sound and tense rhythm. In fact, the catharsis of the latter eventually emerges as the most intense of the Hoover sound.</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/Cuts%20Like%20Drugs%20WFMU.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object><br /></span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Cuts Like Drugs' (<a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/09/live-on-wfmu-hoover-lincoln-and.html">Live on WFMU</a> - thanks to <a href="http://matthoustion.blogspot.com/">Matt</a> for splitting it up)</span></p><br /><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Some people say this sounds like Fugazi,and they miss the point. It sounds like classic DC twin-guitar midtempo style, as do Fugazi and a hundred other bands. The important part was the way the evil slithering basslines made it seem so dark and serious, and the way the singer worked up from whispering to a tortured animal howl at the end. 'Cuts Like Drugs' has it all."</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Andy Radin (<a href="http://www.fourfa.com/topten/emo.htm">fourfa.com</a>)</span></p></blockquote><br /><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"The epic "Cuts Like Drugs" plays out like the bastard child of Lungfish and Fugazi, a slow plodding drone with the guitars feedback chiming in and out wrapping itself in and around the package fully developing the experience. But it is the song "Cable" that in my eyes stand out on its own. A hymn of dissatisfaction, the brooding demons that swim through all our minds. When they cry out, "I was programed to kill you." it's almost heartbreaking in how at its most earnest these words speak out in the most succinct fashion of modern day society."</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em>sweetbabyjaysus</em> (</span><a href="http://burningdowndreams.blogspot.com/2007/12/hoover-lurid-transversal-of-route-7.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Burning Down the Dreams of Forever</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</span></p></blockquote><br /><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Hoover were one of the greatest DC bands to come from the Dischord label. Their full length, The Lurid Traversal of Route 7 was and is one of my favorite records. Fred Erskines bass (later of Crownhate Ruin and June of 44) is a driving force and the twin monotone guitars of Dunham and McRedmond cut and scathe and slither while Christopher Farrall keeps everything in time. Or out of time, in a very Hooverish way."</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>blend77</i> (</span><a href="http://zen-face-punch.blogspot.com/2007/05/hoover-lincoln.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Zen and the Art of Face Punching</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)</span></p></blockquote><br /><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"hoover is probably the most influential dischord band never to feature ian mackaye. They arrived in them halcyon early 90s days when DC was starting to register the profound effects of dubby, downbeat-y rhythms and of touch and go records heavies like slint, the jesus lizard, rapeman et. al. Their the lurid transversal of route 7 is for me a high point in american hard/punk/core/rock…</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">despite so many of our friends getting engaged one way or another with corporate rocking for best and worst, dischord - and hoover - always spoke to a kind of freedom (to rock, to angst-i-fy, to experiment) that only the outlands of indie rock could abide, at least back then."</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>lexdexter</i> (<a href="http://prisonship.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/red-red-red-alert/">The Prisonship</a>)</span></p></blockquote><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'll leave you to appreciate 'Return', 'Private' and 'Dries' yourselves:</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.dischord.com/release/089/lurid-traversal-of-rte-7"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>The Lurid Traversal of Route 7</i> on Dischord Records</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (CD/digital)</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?wmtzvozgdnj"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Download link</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (from Burning Down the Dreams of Forever)</span></p><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2007/12/hoover-st-reunion-ep.html">Slowdime (reunion) EP</a> and <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/11/hoover-side-car-freddiecable.html">Side Car Freddie/Cable 7"</a></span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAOxZXZKRKnsH-YwtHmjUzDNFlnD2pX0QG-dywphpTDixPSDM7b7Wez8RjOYSLVxCThnhMwqCGuPvSCwmMwxMrhbHmVWT3VRSYyXQSXg4wouOjl7MncvxdDZippRJrFOT5yhqOV9tHQ/s1600-h/lt03.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297942893563986738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAOxZXZKRKnsH-YwtHmjUzDNFlnD2pX0QG-dywphpTDixPSDM7b7Wez8RjOYSLVxCThnhMwqCGuPvSCwmMwxMrhbHmVWT3VRSYyXQSXg4wouOjl7MncvxdDZippRJrFOT5yhqOV9tHQ/s400/lt03.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-12450570717857325252009-01-31T18:07:00.003+00:002009-01-31T18:15:42.517+00:00Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance 7"<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRmLU-1ogI1im4oGqewEUbTBlgMe_MjXzYTs57TGn5l9SDg0rk23ZJ259l_TnRIhTC4jMcIKy6XtEazF3XkCRk6DjHi9f_DmE2HjQ_WOhRUuZR9hihJ-6Cd0Br-dusvkuIxwD-JBElw/s1600-h/kidsf.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297137511728109122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRmLU-1ogI1im4oGqewEUbTBlgMe_MjXzYTs57TGn5l9SDg0rk23ZJ259l_TnRIhTC4jMcIKy6XtEazF3XkCRk6DjHi9f_DmE2HjQ_WOhRUuZR9hihJ-6Cd0Br-dusvkuIxwD-JBElw/s400/kidsf.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYmdTnQW1I5xzvPwZvERJlvqqEP7HU1r4DOkEaF_95rlrhcXQqDZit1vvqgwjmcgGUDc4AdaKN9Ey0EPk2tncaH3mT-GCeZkgfsFrVRYp8ZoaU2OM7o0D9L-4YqWlE7rvM2E1hsEhrQ/s1600-h/kidsideA.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297137510358523442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 391px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYmdTnQW1I5xzvPwZvERJlvqqEP7HU1r4DOkEaF_95rlrhcXQqDZit1vvqgwjmcgGUDc4AdaKN9Ey0EPk2tncaH3mT-GCeZkgfsFrVRYp8ZoaU2OM7o0D9L-4YqWlE7rvM2E1hsEhrQ/s400/kidsideA.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrip3Tbyiz3iu4gdFqy-GP_hgLOarEUZAws43SqrgqPh2u0lvlhZPTa5uA5rbeOQHYY_bNPasU5lQ3zU2NOsZL7Be2txK7-l6vHiAqG-jL0LKUo0U-ybqT6ime1929WxzrLWgrJgY0Q/s1600-h/kidsr.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297137507618083874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 399px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrip3Tbyiz3iu4gdFqy-GP_hgLOarEUZAws43SqrgqPh2u0lvlhZPTa5uA5rbeOQHYY_bNPasU5lQ3zU2NOsZL7Be2txK7-l6vHiAqG-jL0LKUo0U-ybqT6ime1929WxzrLWgrJgY0Q/s400/kidsr.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20The%20Kids%20Dont%20Stand%20A%20Chance.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Side A: 'The Kids Don't Stand A Chance'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is one of the simplest, most effective songs on the Vampire Weekend self-titled album, which is in itself quite a simple and effective pop record. Sure, this song's got strings on it (like the other best tracks, such as 'M79' and 'Walcott') but they don't come in for a while, and when they do arrive, they're restrained. Originally I thought this song, coming at the end of the record, stood out more from the rest of the album - like a pop-punky Clash track - but now I see it's more of a perfectly pitched, langurous finale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'm never really sure what people object to about Vampire Weekend, or what they find irritating about one of 2008's deserved best debuts. Too cloying perhaps, too quirky - for me it's just great indie pop songwriting. 'The Kids Don't Stand A Chance' has more than a good melody and hook; it's the absorbing sense of atmosphere that weaves the sound of Vampire Weekend into my soul - vocal affectations, slow beats and lush Afro-Caribbean guitars with a swirl of faux-Baroque decoration. It works for me, if evidently not for others:</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Baroque-ska!? Like a hellish mix of UB40 and The Left Banke."</span></p><p><a href="http://markprindle.com/hip.htm"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mark Prindle's Micro-Reviews: Hip New Bands That The Kids Dig</span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'The Kids Don't Stand A Chance' was the Vampire Weekend song I used for my end-of-year mixtape:</span></p><p><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/12/very-best-of-2008-pt-1.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The (very) Best of 2008 Pt. 1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20The%20Kids%20Dont%20Stand%20A%20Chance%20%20-%20Chromeo%20Remix.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Side B: 'The Kids Don't Stand A Chance' (Chromeo Remix)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Ever wondered what Vampire Weekend would sound like in 1983? Despite what Mark Prindle might say, it's not exactly the same; it's this. Blocky, upfront synthesiser beats and New Romantic keyboard side-swipes. That is, until the quietitude and following euphoric ascent, as the entrancing beats give way to more natural snippets of the songs - and then back to - horns?</span></p><p><a href="http://stereogum.com/archives/video/chromeo-remix-vampire-weekend_036341.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Stereogum</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> says "It's a fun listen -- syncopation and synths run rampant, the signature guitar line gets a keyboard makeover with some new chord movement in the mix. Sounds like Ezra gave 'em a new vocal melody to work with, too".<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's remarkable how Vampire Weekend have managed to fold some twenty-five years of pop music (twenty-five, or twenty-eight, decades if you want to include Vivaldi) in on itself, making chronology irrelevant. Like the cover picture for the record, a sodium-lit tableau of <i>Risky Businness</i>-esque privilege, or a Janus-faced, empty winter scene. They're a sort of end-of-history pop band, with no groundings in these modern times except for <i>being</i> them. They don't represent a point in time in pop music, but a sweeping together and away of all those points. I'll take this over any indie trend-setters, thanks.</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-29929443471661458742009-01-30T18:11:00.008+00:002009-03-06T22:46:09.353+00:00Boxes - Animal; Road Records<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqJzQ7RTXnjTSw2rrHbAzQEWGQLRBxHfBUtfpX8tuD4R5qmhoLTB04EvBlWZklbl7FswByqDNyedsSSYY3ROljMBKixYJFuHmGkniYgwXGRTz7emY8AMl8jtpeRJsDJy9QNPSIR-kTg/s1600-h/boxes-animal.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296466722653151186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 395px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqJzQ7RTXnjTSw2rrHbAzQEWGQLRBxHfBUtfpX8tuD4R5qmhoLTB04EvBlWZklbl7FswByqDNyedsSSYY3ROljMBKixYJFuHmGkniYgwXGRTz7emY8AMl8jtpeRJsDJy9QNPSIR-kTg/s400/boxes-animal.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/01%20Animal.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Boxes - 'Animal'</span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6BRZiFLd4XHdD3CQ8LKxuBvIh-J4fpxiMlRSUAH1ZyHSU8RiLoV6mxNAV4gpLaEZhOHbmAuW8-v0HovIK8ja12Az5N02OafktytTzIwYSHP-yMrjUd2aeJCq9Nu_iMz82-Bd0_2tFQ/s1600-h/road-recs.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296467527139273506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6BRZiFLd4XHdD3CQ8LKxuBvIh-J4fpxiMlRSUAH1ZyHSU8RiLoV6mxNAV4gpLaEZhOHbmAuW8-v0HovIK8ja12Az5N02OafktytTzIwYSHP-yMrjUd2aeJCq9Nu_iMz82-Bd0_2tFQ/s400/road-recs.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">There's been a lot written in the Irish blogosphere (blogo'sphere?) about the decision of </span><a href="http://www.roadrecs.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Road Records</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> to close down. The causes and consequences of Dublin's premier independent record shop disappearing have been discussed at length </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/01/20/the-end-of-the-road/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, and the best tribute to the store is written </span><a href="http://musicalrooms.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/remembering-road-records/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I think the most I can add is to highlight a recent purchase from the shop, an independent band from the same city, just by way of showing what was important about Road Records to the alternative music scene in Ireland and Dublin.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Personally, I had only been going to Road on a regular basis since about <a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/01/video-friday-editors-smokers-outside.html#road">this time last year</a>, when I got a USB turntable and, separately, got into Irish indie music. Prior to that, the shop was too esoteric and, well, indie for my tastes; and besides, there's a perfectly good Tower nearby for more ordinary-alternative sorts of purchases - a fact which must have sidelined Road for most music fans of my generation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The combination of vinyl and Irish, however made, Road a real necessity for my listening experiences. The excellent Human Bell LP was album of the week or month; Shooting at Unarmed Men's superb <i>Triptych</i> album was displayed in the window for some time (possibly because it looks awesome); and favourite Irish albums from last year like So Cow's <i>I'm Siding With My Captors</i> and Chequerboard's <i>Penny Black</i> came from there as well. Of the Irish releases sourced in Road, I invariably got the crucial listen from the </span><a href="http://indiehour.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Indie Hour</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> radio show/podcast - which has also unfortunately come to an end at the same time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I heard the track above from </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/boxes2piece"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Boxes</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> in passing on that show, and was going to buy the album but put the purchase off (and should have gone to the album launch in the Lower Deck, too) and never did. Until I was looking for some last purchases to make from the shop -it doesn't even seem like there's a sale on, but people just seem willing to help clear their stock and buffer some of the losses. So Boxes - <i>Animal</i> it was (plus the new Cap Pas Cap 12" and Fucked Up - <i>Year of the Pig</i>, which is about as underwhelming as <i>The Chemistry of Common Life</i>). As it turned out, I should have been listening to this album a long time ago.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Here's the description from the store - that was one of best things about Road, the little mini-reviews of practically every album or single - as displayed on the </span><a href="http://www.boxesmusic.com/audio.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Boxes website</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">:</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"album number three from this irish based two piece featuring mark hayes on drums and gavin cowley on bass and vocals. the album is another superb slice of post punk, math rock, post rock and old style sludge rock. its full of hard hitting but also quite intricate sounds with hints of no means no, shellac, don caballero, jesus lizard, fugazi and all things amphetamine reptile related." </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Road Records july 2008)</span></p></blockquote><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i>Animal</i> is Boxes' third album - their second was recorded with Steve Albini, so you can tell there's a track record there - and was recorded in Experimental Audio studio in Dublin. Sonically, they're like a heavier version of current Irish favourite multi-instrumentalist <a href="http://www.myspace.com/rarelyseenaboveground">R.S.A.G</a>, or a funkier Young Widows (or, equally, a more AmRep-py Fugazi). It's metallic without being too metallic, which is what I like, and it's got the intense mathy sound of their influences down well, while still sounding sufficiently original to be interesting. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I've chosen the title track because it's, predictably, a good introduction to their sound (though far from the sum of it), but also an extra track from the album, 'Picture', because in part it exhibits, in a way that 'Animal' doesn't quite, the Irish nature of the band - 'Picture' has the typical post-rock/post-hardcore vocals in a quite noticeable Dublin accent. Which may not be particularly important, but I still like the song even more for it:</span></p><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/05%20Picture.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Boxes - 'Picture'</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">You probably won't be able to buy <i>Animal</i> online from Road anymore (though try your luck if you're actually in Dublin), but you can get their second album <i>Bad Blood</i> on <a href="http://www.cargorecords.co.uk/release_zoom.php?item=3286">Cargo Records</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">[Update: Road Records have <a href="http://www.roadrecs.com/stock/shopping.php3?start=1&action=4&artist=BOXES">Boxes - <i>Bad Blood</i></a> for sale]</span></p><br /><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-57823780515047159072009-01-26T21:49:00.007+00:002009-01-28T17:58:57.403+00:00FLApes album review in NME<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_qoZY2UOrt-WdQD831lhgsjbZEdVpL5vPUB6B8Lh06OxiSpEbUv35awGc0AaZhHUMROkD8FVIqKF4goMgkmREkkdFFVktLbNMP_Wbbwe5u6Fjd9WkaR5hYzXXEyBCHuMY7GXzI44kg/s1600-h/NME%2520MAST07%2520FINAL_bl.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295724600383601138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_qoZY2UOrt-WdQD831lhgsjbZEdVpL5vPUB6B8Lh06OxiSpEbUv35awGc0AaZhHUMROkD8FVIqKF4goMgkmREkkdFFVktLbNMP_Wbbwe5u6Fjd9WkaR5hYzXXEyBCHuMY7GXzI44kg/s400/NME%2520MAST07%2520FINAL_bl.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURG1656XPt7OVB-9uGcfBiv78JLDyL1YfYlgFdYp5c_F7ym0JzudiHiVho-SououRiyVl5pwDwp_gGPYy9kEoSEzGzwhFCMz0C9ldwOF_blJ7eEpoMWJUw9cPgi1oScQQjYTYLz0CnA/s1600-h/apesmedallioncover.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295724593923863794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 363px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURG1656XPt7OVB-9uGcfBiv78JLDyL1YfYlgFdYp5c_F7ym0JzudiHiVho-SououRiyVl5pwDwp_gGPYy9kEoSEzGzwhFCMz0C9ldwOF_blJ7eEpoMWJUw9cPgi1oScQQjYTYLz0CnA/s400/apesmedallioncover.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">via </span><a href="http://unarocks.blogspot.com/2009/01/flapes-get-some-very-nice-words-in-nme.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Unarocks</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, the New Musical Express review of <i>Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion:</i></span></p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nme.com/reviews/fight-like-apes/10060"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">NME.com - Fight Like Apes</span></a></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"<em>post-hardcore synthery</em>" Wtf?</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"<em>built a nest from shards of Enter Shikari, Test Icicles and Le Tigre and then thrashed the shiny fuck out of it</em>" Engaging metaphor, but Test Icicles? Enter Shikari? Two/three bands I vaguely remember hearing about, and not in a positive way, in 2007? (2006?)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"<em>Dananananaykroyd gone new wave</em>" Ditto. I dunno, Dananananaykroyd sounds pretty new wave in the first place to me. Like Kajagoogoo.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"<em>comic-book geek-joy of early Ash</em>" Okay, I like that one. Bonus points for mentioning an Irish band.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"<em>FLA are the anti-emo...</em>" If you say so, Emily Mackay (How ironic.) </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"<em>...a funny, clever slap of fun. Turn the other cheek, eh?</em>" Quoting scripture is always a good conclusion.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Actually, apart from those quotes, the review's not too bad - if a little vacuous. The album itself is awesome, of course.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.fightlikeapesmusic.com/">Fight Like Apes UK album release & tour - details</a></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.nialler9.com/2009/01/28/fight-like-apes-tie-me-up-in-jackets/">Arty new video for 'Tie Me Up With Jackets'</a></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.state.ie/blog/live-review-fight-like-apes-koko-london/">State.ie review of Fight Like Apes live at Koko, London</a></span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-77669494577113748012009-01-26T20:29:00.001+00:002009-01-28T21:47:56.626+00:00David Grubbs, Live @ Whelan's 24/01/09<div align="justify"><style type="text/css"> p { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } </style><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLytUFflCc8XSFgTaUvEO4927D6Mcv8tKme1pSLuVsfZioOmCK-I-bKLwO_tlSrXaQd5Ul9H6sNfUP7dyLr_8d-ivWlj4iHMRHen8aGO4v3qNZajhbXbO0xJDYjjYFGiJ1IAbxPaqwXA/s1600-h/dg+ticket.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295277672658127282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 222px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLytUFflCc8XSFgTaUvEO4927D6Mcv8tKme1pSLuVsfZioOmCK-I-bKLwO_tlSrXaQd5Ul9H6sNfUP7dyLr_8d-ivWlj4iHMRHen8aGO4v3qNZajhbXbO0xJDYjjYFGiJ1IAbxPaqwXA/s400/dg+ticket.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4eW-IRb6f4NJF-YuOayvUGGgSeFArBQwiAwzbcI5EPEPB5P326r-Q8RXaGVeJ2_3mKd594LPOV4cMa1GOlBIEoWvm2oOiEuBH_lkARJbZI1KHKnbVw6EYhgGN6U-f5uejoqliJmchA/s1600-h/optimist-notes.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295277676714143538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 393px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4eW-IRb6f4NJF-YuOayvUGGgSeFArBQwiAwzbcI5EPEPB5P326r-Q8RXaGVeJ2_3mKd594LPOV4cMa1GOlBIEoWvm2oOiEuBH_lkARJbZI1KHKnbVw6EYhgGN6U-f5uejoqliJmchA/s400/optimist-notes.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><p><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://channels.ourmedia.org/players/1pixelout/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/9/5/2082552/02%20An%20Optimist%20Declines.mp3 "><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object></p></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">David Grubbs, 'An Optimist Declines' from <i>An Optimist Notes the Dusk</i> (2008)</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This show is the first time I've been sitting down in Whelan's, with candles in little glass jars, jazz-club style, and beermats on the table. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/davidgrubbsbluechopsticks">David Grubbs</a> was listed in The Ticket as 'Rock-pop experimentalist. Recommended'; I knew him before from appearances on Codeine's <a href="http://matthouston.blogspot.com/2009/01/codeine-white-birch.html"><i>The White Birch</i></a>, from (pre-Slint) band </span><a href="http://onebaseonanoverthrow.blogspot.com/search/label/Squirrel%20Bait"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Squirrel Bait</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, as well as </span><a href="http://onebaseonanoverthrow.blogspot.com/2008/05/pretty-smart-on-my-part.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Bastro</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">; and his latest solo album garnered considerable praise in the </span><a href="http://prisonship.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/bestuv-2008-pt-3-the-bestuv/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Prisonship's best-of</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Armed with those recommendations and connections - though Gastr Del Sol passed me by, insofar as bands from past decades can be said to have done so - I still wasn't sure what the show would sound like, apart from that track from his album above.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The set-up was sparse: an amp on top of a case with a mic in front of it, and another mic in front for vocals. Support was from </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/musicbydebutant"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Debutant</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> from Aberdeen, an impressive singer-songwriter with a penchant for heavily-delayed post-rock guitar, building up from quiet chords to full-on looping ear damage. The show was promoted by Forever Presents, who brought Dan Deacon and Matmos to Dublin last year, and gave respective support slots to Jape and </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/06/si-schroeder-matmos-live-andrews-lane.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Si Schroeder</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, the latter my favourite Irish proponent of the shoegaze-y post-rock guitar style. Here, though it was a bit one-man-band Mogwai at the very end, on the whole his set was varied and interesting, and very enjoyable to listen to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It didn't prepare you much for Grubbs, and it's hard to know what would. Obviously the context was the same - one man + electric guitar; but the content of the performance was quite different. In fact, if you were doubting the versatility of the guitar as an instrument, this would have been the show to go to. Personally I don't know much, if anything, about the technique of guitar-playing, but as with all art, I know what I like. And I liked David Grubbs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">That's not to say that the show was all rapt adoration of his axemanship. He could have played a full set of slowcore guitar, all spaces and reverbating chords, and it would have been amazing. However, he didn't, and the performance gained from being challenging. Combining stoner rock (echoes of Earth and Grails) and slowcore (especially Codeine) with bluesy riffing, the set built up through a diverse range of songs including 'An Optimist Declines', with its affecting vocal cadence and heavy guitar; through more pop-oriented folk and Americana, but still imbued with the slowcore ambience, such as 'Eyeglasses of Kentucky'; and concluding with a lengthy instrumental which seemed to blend the sounds of stoner rock guitar with those of a banjo and an ambulance siren.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I picked up the album from him at the edge of stage after the show, too. It doesn't disappoint either, but it's still quite challenging. Reading the </span><a href="http://www.dragcity.com/press/pimages/pdf/dc373.pdf"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">press one-sheet</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (pdf), there's an interesting paragraph which says</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Much continues to be written about the end of the album and its splintering into the MP3dom of individual songs. <i>An Optimist Notes the Dusk</i> is at one and the same time an album and a collection of splinters. There is no contradiction. Do we dare suggest it sounds very 'playlist'?"</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The album is just six tracks, which can be either described as varied or incoherent (if you wanted to be negative), without getting into Zen-like oppositions. Opener, and easy stand-out, 'Gethsemani Nights' is very reminiscent of the earlier For Carnation, though here the guitar, while still as (largely) clean and sparse, is more insistent, heavier in its tread, like a fastidious bluesman; and behind it a trumpet - by Nate Wooley - somewhere between Abilene and Human Bell. It's slowcore with an extra weight, an initially challenging further dimension.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://musicalrooms.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/musical-rooms-part-52-david-grubbs/">Musical Rooms Part 52: David Grubbs</a></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Just trying out posting in Trebuchet. Let me know if you'd prefer reading in a serif font)</span></p><br /></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305962566578166600.post-26316331462563038562009-01-23T18:08:00.012+00:002009-01-29T18:50:47.422+00:00Friday Video: Grails - Acid Rain DVD Trailer<div align="justify"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><object height="292" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2911605&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2911605&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="292"></embed></object></span><p></p><br /><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I got an email today from someone at Temporary Residence Limited about a new video from Grails promoting their new DVD, due out in April. I had been planning on posting the new-ish live videos of Dan Deacon - w/ ensemble - from </span><a href="http://pitchfork.tv/pitchfork-live/dan-deacon-w/-ensemble-part-1"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Pitchfork</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, but this is probably more useful for me to post. Grails have the whole visual and sonic art combination down quite well (see </span><a href="http://hardcorefornerds.blogspot.com/2008/09/grails-videos.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">this post</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">), so their videos are usually a joy to watch. The </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/1676009"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'commercial'</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> for <i>Doomsdayer's Holiday</i> was a great idea - though I'd love to see the television channel that interrupted its programming for a Grails video - and this is the same concept, except for a DVD rather than an album:</span></p><br /><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"Grails - Acid Rain DVD [due out April 7th]</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Following up their widely acclaimed and most successful album, <i>Doomsdayer’s Holiday</i>, Grails unleash their first-ever DVD, the career-spanning <i>Acid Rain</i>. Centered around a half dozen mind-altering music videos from their last few albums, <i>Acid Rain</i> also features nearly two hours of live shows from the past several years. Packed full of bonus material and special treats, <i>Acid Rain</i> is as bizarre, eclectic and otherworldly as their albums, with the added spectacle of debaucherous activities, vicarious cult obsessions, and street preachers on rollerskates."</span></p></blockquote><br /><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'Acid Rain' happens to be my favourite track from <i>Doomsdayer's Holiday</i>, the epic, surf-drenched and slow-moving finale. It's a good title for a "career-spanning" DVD; as it is a culmination of the varied and progressive post-rock styles of Grails, and also distinctly different from most of the rest of the album. It's impossible to predict where Grails will take their sound next, which is great for a band in an otherwise often repetitive genre.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Since another TRL band, also broadly in the post-rock genre, Envy, produced an excellent DVD - </span><a href="http://www.temporaryresidence.com/descriptions/trr133.php"><i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Transfovista</span></i></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> - not too long ago, I'm assuming this release will live up to a similarly high standard.</span></p></div>gabbagabbaheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.com3