MOG - davis64's Posts

Since When Has "Disbanded" Meant "Took A Year Off"?

davis64 — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:25:35 GMT

I know its probably down to wishful thinking, but the amount of forum posts/blog updates/other internet shizzle about the Red Hot Chili Peppers disbanding based on Anthony Kiedis saying they're not working on anything for the year is staggering. C'mon guys, if they were disbanding, they would call it an "indefinite hiatus", Kiedis would preform a bond tune, Flea and Frusciante would join up for a few 90s Grunge no-names to form a "super-group" and the drummer would just fuck off like they tend to to.

Oh, and NME is on the act, which is a bit werid considering they're supposed to be a news site. Oh wait, lol.

Mystery Jets Make Best Video of the Year

davis64 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:10:52 GMT

Of course, that year isn't 2008 but sometime from the mid 1980s. I've not seen a lot about this (although I've not been looking) but this video for the poptastic Two Doors Down is really something special.

Noal Gallagher Thinks Hip-Hop “Wrong” For Glastonbury, I Think Noal Gallagher Wrong For Continued Living

davis64 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:59:03 GMT

Noal Gallagher – guitarist/song-writing for once great band Oasis – is shooting his mouth off again, this time claiming that this year’s Glastonbury hasn’t sold out due to the presence of Jay-Z on the line up. Let’s start with Gallagher himself - Instead of being relevant like he was for around 15 minutes back sometimes in the early 1990s, at this point in time he’s just a worthless sack of shit who makes “controversial” comments about whatever the majority of people like, seemingly just to remind people he’s not dead. This causes people like me to write stuff like this to point out what a retard he is, only for Oasis defenders to come in and tell me how I should “respect” him for making Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story?) Morning Glory a billizion years ago. And, to be fair, those albums are pretty unfuckable with. However, everything after that has been a continued sludge of unlistenable MOR guitar rock, with the occasional theft of a Beatles line or melody to try and add some sort of artist aura around a string of albums which are at best unlistenable and at worst make me want to kill the human race for encouraging such rubbish. For the most part, Gallagher and Oasis have managed to starve off a mainstream backlash and keep Wonderwall on the radio by the cycle I described before – controversial remark, angry nerd retort, retarded wankers defend by bringing up past great work. This has lead Noal Gallagher to come out with some truly stupid remarks in recent years, such as describing Bloc Party as “indie shit” and that he was better than Thom Yorke because he “never went to fucking university. I (Gallagher) don't know what a paint brush is”. In such lights, his remarks about this year’s Glastonbury don’t come as any real surprise, especially since he once claimed all hip-hop was shit. However, what is surprising is that only hours after this remark has become widely known, the cycle isn’t being fulfilled. It seems that there’s a large presence of people who’d usually tear the dickhead apart who are staying quiet because, well, they agree with him. This brings me onto what I actually want to talk about – the reaction Jay-Z headlining Glastonbury has received. To say it has been mixed is an understatement. Quite a lot of people, both online and who I’ve come across in reality, seem to share Gallagher’s feelings and wider belief that Glastonbury should remain a quote/unquote rock festival. Gallagher’s line about “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is scarily common. The wider issues isn’t that people don’t want Jay-Z at Glastonbury – they don’t want change at Glastonbury. A major problem with this is the how the concept of Glastonbury has become imbedded in the general British consciousness. By the majority of people, it is regarded as some sort of mythic place of fairies and mud and white guys playing vaguely Brit-popish type music on the mainstage. But, as any hippy will point out, such continuity isn’t the Glastonbury Spirit. It was started as a reaction against the festivals of the time (at the first Glastonbury festival in the 60s, you got free milk with admission) and the changes organisers are attempting this year reflect this tradition. So, whilst the Glastonbury traditionalists who usually spend their time wandering the fields looking for the obscure stages and cheap acid are looking forward to Jay-Z because it is something different, those who go for the booze and the sing-along anthems and the big name acts aren’t looking forward to Jay-Z because it isn’t familiar. There are other reasons for the disinterest in Glastonbury 2008, of course – I personally am not going because it comes at an awkward time of the year, its expensive, the application system is far too troublesome and the horror stories of last year’s mud really don’t sell it to me. I think such reasons play into other people’s decision to skip Glasto this year, as well as the large amount of other festival around - many of which don’t have the fucking Verve on the bill. But for those who oppose Jay-Z, as I can see it, it goes beyond genre, as at least when Glastonbury tried putting pop acts like Kylie Minogue or Rod Stewart on, it was well-known pop music that people had been exposed to a million times before through radio and television. No, it’s a battle between change and continuity, new and old. And, much like the crap he’s been peddling for the past decade and a half, that cock Noal Gallagher is firmly in the camp of continuity and the old.

Because I'm bored, here's every band i've ever seen

davis64 — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:45:38 GMT

Because I'm bored, here's a list of every band I've ever seen. Actually, its not, cause I went to shitty Give It A Name a few years back and I can't be bothered going through my memory to remember all the shitty emo bands I saw.

Arcade Fire x2 (Once with Patrick Wolf, once with Clinic and Wild Light) Kanye West x2 (Once with some shitty DJ, once with a parade of shitty rappers and Common) Young Knives x2 (Once with Foals and Parka, once with no-one because Vampire Weekend dropped out so I just sat outside the venue waiting for YK) Arctic Monkeys (with The Horrors and The Rascals) Bloc Party (with The Cribs and Foals) Brand New (with MeWithoutYou) The Cribs (with Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, Does It Offen You, Yeah? and The Ting Tings) Editors (with The Kissaway Trial and Ra Ra Riot) The Fratellis (with those cunts The Enemy) Klaxons (with no-one, cuz Shy Child didn't turn up) LCD Soundsystem (with Prinzhorn Dance School) Manchester Orchestra (with Anathallo) The Mars Volta

Review: Superabundance by The Young Knives

davis64 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:41:18 GMT

The Young Knives occupy a very peculiar spot in current British indie. They’re certainly not some sort of underground cult act, as their Mercury Prize nomination will testify. They get print space in most of the UK’s major music magazines and there was even a “buzz” around them prior to the release of their 2006 debut LP “Voices of Animals and Men”. However, they still lack far behind most of their indie post-punk revival contemporises, with their singles never getting any higher than the low end of the Top 40 and an alarming number of journalists still harping on about the fact they wear tweed and look kinda geeky.

This week saw the UK release of their second album, Superabundance. Like most the UK’S 05 post-punk revival bands that returned last year with beefed up follow ups (e.g. Bloc Party, Editors, Maximo Park) Superabundance sees the expected inclusion of strings, horns and higher class production. However, whilst bands like Bloc Party turned to Jacknife Lee to sprinkle pop-radio dust on their sound, the Young Knives have turned to Mogwai and Belle & Sebastian (and I’m sure a whole load of bands who aren’t Scottish) producer Tony Doogan to create a far darker, slightly more complex, somewhat experimental sound than the likes of A Weekend In The City or An End Has A Start. As a result, it is probably the most rewarding – and just generally well crafted – sophomore album from a British band in a very long time indeed.

The Young Knives still work with the base disco-beat drumming, prominent bass and spiky guitars of pretty much every song they’ve done, but it definitely sounds bigger on this album. The strings are used quite sparingly, and definitely not in what could be called the “Bitter Sweet Symphony” way - and no, I don’t mean “nicking it off The Rolling Stones”, I mean the “just using strings to make a shit song sound good” way. Instead, the strings on tracks like Turn Tail are used to add a sense of majesty to the hellish rumblings around them (key line in the song: “We’re all slaves on this ship/This ship is sinking”) whilst on the slightly disturbing Flies, which is seemingly about being eaten by the annoying little insects, the strings add an unnerving edge that slowly creeps up higher and higher into the mix.

Elsewhere, the band don’t rely on orchestral flourishes to switch their sound up – no, they just rely on good ole’ rocking out. Counters and Light Switch both rip it up with fast and furious riffs which are underpinned by House of Lords’ (fabulous name, ain’t it?) nervous bass lines. The experimentalism with their base sound leads them to the early Blur-like head rush of Rue the Days, which can be described as “baggy”, as well as the soft psychedelic touches on tracks like I Can Barely See Them and the closing duo of Mummy Light The Fire and Current Of The River. It’s a shame that these two don’t have as immediate effect as other tracks on the album and even I as an ardent Young Knives fan have to admit I wasn’t blown away by the album’s final tracks (partly because there’s a fucking hidden track).

However, what is interesting about these final tracks is that their moody atmospherics perfectly match the lyrical concept of the album. Whilst there’s still plenty of catchy chorus’, they usually come in the form of lines like “Sitting in the front/Turning on the motor/Sucking on a hosepipe” (Counters), “What’s the point?/ What’s the point?/ What’s the point?” (Up All Night) and, probably more bizarre than depressing, “Fake rabbit!/Real Snake!/Terra Firma!” (Terra Firma, the strange choice of lead single). The Young Knives are defiantly pissed off at modern life, from lifetime occupations to night clubs to the weights of days past, its not exactly innovative ground. However, lead singer Henry Dartnell approaches the topics with a degree of dark humour, leading to the memorable rhyming of “headlock” and “wedlock” in Dyed In The Wool.

Superabundance probably isn’t going to turn The Young Knives into chart stars who get reviewed next to Mark Ronson in those vapid glossy mags, but I’m willing to bet that isn’t the career path they have in mind. Instead, Superabundance builds on the strengths of their debut and various prior EPs and singles to create a strong set of rewarding songs that already stand out as some of best of the year (and considering this year has see amazing releases from British Sea Power, Lightspeed Champion and loads of others, that is saying something). Whilst they’ve still got plenty of work to do, they’ve managed to take a few risks in tip-toeing out of their comfort sound whilst still ending up with an engaging and enjoyable album.

Jimmy Eat World Promote Unhealthy Museum Activities

davis64 — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:34:42 GMT

The above, totally generic video for Jimmy Eat World’s (aka JEW - oh how we lol’d) song Always Be seemed absolutely hilarious to me at 7am this morning, probably because of the dude’s CP30-like match at around the 1 minute mark.

On second viewing, however, I take a small amount of comfort in the video’s bog-standard tale of American High School Stereotypes in Love and the gentle, no surprises emo of JEW (oh, how we lol’d).

Almost makes me yearn for the times when the latest Jimmy East World video would be an event…

MTV2 Lists Always Make Me Angry

davis64 — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:33:11 GMT

This post was going to be about how shit the Brits were, but I forgot to watch them and can't be bothered to trawl through YouTube for footage. I could just rant about them anyway (MIKA? WTF?) but then I'd feel bad.

No, what I am going to have a half-hearted rant about is MTV2's retarded lists.

MTV2 put a lot of them on and for about two months every sunday was nothing but lists of "TOP 5 SKINNY LADS" (The Horrors) or "TOP 5 PEOPLE WHO GOT FAT" (Frank Black....er....Black Francis.....er....whatever he was called when he was in the Pixies).

They're quite addictive, which means I tend to watch them despite hating the fact that the bloody Arctic Monkeys seemingly always come up number #1.

To celebrate the Brit Awards, MTV2's lists this week have been "BEST BRITISH...". This afternoon was "50 AWESOME BRITISH ALBUMS", and I watch the majority of it.

Now, I know I probably wasn't going to agree with it, but I thought it might at least be something that warrented it or has been highly praised for a while - something like OK Computer, What's The Story Morning Glory or even The Queen is Dead.

But guess what was number 1?

Only pissing Arctic Monkeys.

Now, although I'm not a massive fan of Arctic Monkeys, I'm not going to completely write them off. They are one of the better post-Strokes guitar bands to come out of my dear shitty nation in recent years and Alex Turner's lyrical skill cannot be denighed.

But the Most Awesome British Album?

How?

I understand that MTV2 probably wants to appeal to their core audience of NME reading student types (like,er, myself) but even the biggest Arctic Monkeys fan would have to admit there's been far better albums made by British bands.

In years to come, Whatever I Say I Am I Can't Be Bothered Looking Up The Rest of The Needlessly Long Title may be looked upon as one of the best British albums - indeed, I'm sure some would say now it ranks up there.

But number 1?

Better than any other British album ever?

No fuckin' way.

Also, Brits sucked. Mika WTF?

Reviews: That Bloody Juno Soundtrack

davis64 — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:58:20 GMT

And so in an effort to bring you my thoughts on the hottest and unknown music, here's a review of a soundtrack that’s number #1 in the US for a film that has made around $100 million already and is currently being advertised very, very, very heavily here in the UK. Yep, it’s the effing Juno soundtrack! Now, I've not actually seen the film (it isn't released here until the end of the week and I don't have the internet connection to download it) but that can only be a good thing (n terms of objective reviewing as it means I'm judging this album as a collection of songs, without tying it to my opinion of the film itself - although I did decide it was the Greatest Thing Ever when I heard Ellen Page was in it. So, as an album and collection of songs, how does the Juno Soundtrack CD/Illegal Download sound? Well….meh. For one thing, this thing is quite confusingly ordered, to the extent they seem haphazardly organised, ending up with both versions of “Anyone Else But You” divided only by one track (and it’s a short track at that). There is not any real difference between these two versions to stop you thinking “Wait, didn’t I just hear this?”, at least on the first listen. Similar things happen as well, with tracks that don’t really work together being put next to each other and the odd Kimya Dawson skits just being thrown in where-ever. There doesn’t actually seem to be any real reason why the songs are in the order they are, unless it’s the order to which they appear in the film, which is a crappy reason. Maybe it seems like a minor complaint, but it really just feels so random and harms your (or at least my) enjoyment of the soundtrack as an album. So, leaving aside the random order they’re arranged in, just how are the songs on here? Well, they’re all quite sweet and well-natured slices of fey chamber folk. It even includes The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Sticking With You” which, with its simple piano chords and harmony vocals, is the most un-Velvet Underground-y song you can imagine. It’s all very slow, very patient, very sugary and slight off-base. This can be a little grating, as you start to wish for a bit of aggression to turn up and spice things up a little. The closest to this desired aggression the album delivers is on “Loose Lips” by Kimya Dawson, where the line “Fuck Bush and fuck this war” would stand out immediately, if not delivered in that dreamily, focussing-on-something-out-of-eye-corner common to most anti-folk. I’m not a big fan of this type of music, but there’s enough difference between the different artists on here to make sure I don’t go running out to buy some incredibly noise rock to play at immersive volumes. As I’ve said, the general quirkiness of most of the tracks gets a little grating but they’ve squeezed just enough songs that buck that trend - The Kink’s “Well Respected Man” and Cat Power’s “Sea of Love” stand out as examples. So, as an over-all listening experience, the Juno Soundtrack album doesn’t stand up too impressively, mainly because none of the tracks really sound too different to any of the others. Also, it is far too twee overall, to the point where some listeners will probably find it irritating (I know I was near that point upon first listen), but at least the album maintains a relatively consistent tone. But, it isn’t really supposed to be looked on as a cohesive album, now is it? Instead it is more like a mixtape made by a very sensitive person who is on five different types of allergy medication and still wears a scarf in July. And on that ground, I can do nothing but recommend the Juno soundtrack – unless you really, really, really hate Bell and Sebastian.

(Any mistakes in content, spelling or HTML will not be fixed because I simply do not care. Failure to send nice replies will result in me tearing up more than your average American Idol audtionee)

Me and Headphones Were Never Meant To Be

davis64 — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:38:18 GMT

This week, both my iPod headphones (which I bought back last November for like £10 at HMV) and my PC headset (a really cheap pair from PC world, which I got around the same time) broke.

The iPod headphones had an audio malfunction, with the left channel just cutting out. I'd like to think that the awesomeness of the new British Sea Power album was too much for them to handle, but its more likely that they were just a stupid cheap pair that was never going to last long. The PC headset still sounds find, its just fell apart, and I had to hold the microphone on by tape.

The thing is, I go through lots of headphones and headsets. I mean a lot. Over the last 18 months I must have go through at least 9 pairs of headphones for my iPod, and around 3 headsets for the computer.

That isn't normal, right?

Because I go through so many, I don't even try to buy expensive ones any more. I did once, and got a really expensive pair of iPod headphones for like over £30. They sounded amazing but last around the same 4 months every other pair do.

I really have no idea why they don't survive. I treat them fine, make sure they don't get tangled up and crushed and everything, yet they're always doomed to die on me, usually out of the blue.

I've yet to replace my iPod headphones - my dad is lending me his, although not for too long or else they're probably break - and I'm breaking in a new headset. On first impressions, they seem absolutely crap, and are completely sucking the life out of the new Mars Volta album, but whatever.

It's odd - the oldest pair of headphones I have in the house it an old pair for a Sony Walkman (as in the cassette player). I tried them on my iPod recently. They sound crap and kept falling out, but they must have last more than half a decade or more (I bought the Walkman for a school trip to Spain and the only tape I had/have for it is a mixtape of all my sister's favourite Pop Punk. I've actually been meaning to write about that tape for the longest time, but I keep forgetting. But I digress).

Maybe I should just get speakers, although I can't turn them up loud without feeling like some sort of generic angry teenager.

Do You Remember....?

davis64 — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:28:25 GMT

For some reason, last night my Dad revealed that a few years ago he had been visited, in his job, by some outside “technical architect” or something as stupid-sounding who in his past had been in some minor Scottish New Wave band who had had a minor hit sometime the in late 1970s.
    My Dad swore that this band – whose name he couldn’t remember – were too trivial to warrant even a Google search, but after he remembered the man’s name, I did a quick Wikipedia search that revealed that his band were called Scars and they had, it seemed, been a little more than trivial in their day.

    Above is a photo from Smash Hits, where they featured at least twice. I’m told by my Dad that being in Smash Hits was a very big deal in those days, something I can’t quite understand. A big deal that I can understand is that they even had a John Peel session recorded!
    After me and my father’s initial shock at finding something my Dad had assumed was just lost to the ages, we did a bit more hunting and found there is an official Scars myspace and that their début – and only – album, Author! Author!, was re-released a while back and it has top reviews on Amazon UK where lots of people reminisce about seeing the Scars with Siouxsie & The Banshees a very, very, very long time ago.
    This got me thinking. Whilst lots has been written and said about the internet has done for newer bands, with Myspace and MP3 Blogs and what not helping people to discover fresh bands from around the world, I haven’t really seen much about how the internet has helped salvage these older bands (although, to be fair, I haven’t been looking).
    There’s a few tracks littered around the place, and I’ve uploaded one with this post too, and the most remarkable thing is that is actually sounds quite good. Maybe not good enough for me to go and spend £15+ on Amazing for the re-release, but Scars don’t sound like some band that deserved to be forgotten.
    So go ahead; try and remember some band you had thought lost and forgotten and see if they’ve got a Myspace or a GeoCities or whatever. I’m a little too young, so I’ll just day dream about ending up working in an office with Klaxons…

Top 27 Albums of 2007 – Final (Expected) Four!

davis64 — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:54:15 GMT

Here it goes – the last four of my 27 picks for the best albums of the year. Judging by the rest of the list, you can probably guess what my general tastes are, so by that you’d probably be able to guess what the rest are. Like I said last time, this list is pretty similar TO EVERY OTHER BEST OF OUT THERE, but heck, I’m not going to quit now – there’s still lots of crappy pretentious descriptions I want to steal off AMG.

Oh, no more best tracks – the rest of these albums are just too fucking good to try and slim down.

27) Manipulator by The Fall of Troy

26) Icky Thump by The White Stripes

25) American Gangster by Jay-Z

24) Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons

23) Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever by The Cribs

22) Person Pitch by Panda Bear

21) The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf

20) Wincing the Night Away by The Shins

19) The Reminder by Feist

18) Riot! by Paramore

17) Cassadaga by Bright Eyes

16) Spirit If… by Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew

15) The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes

14) Our Love to Admire by Interpol

13) None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock

12) The Flying Club Cup by Beirut

11) Mirrored by Battles

10) We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse

9) Graduation by Kanye West

8) I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead by El-P

7) Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective

6) Boxer by The National

5) Cryptograms by Deerhunter

4) The Con by Tegan and Sara

Another album I did not expect to like as much as I did, Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin were an unknown entity to me until about October, when I gave in to all the blog/forum/just general internet hype and gave this album a listen. My first thought was that it was good. My second thought was that it was really good. By now I think this is really, really, really great.

Propelled by a strong sense of melody backed up by hooks a plenty and close harmonies between the two sisters, the album flirts with electro pop, pop-punk, emo and indie singer-songwriter fare without actually belonging to any of those genres. Lyrically, the two sisters differ greatly, with Sara’s lyrics (and compositions too) usually coming off as far deeper than Tegan’s. However, that is not to say that Tegan’s are immature – if anything, it takes a lot of courage IMO to say something as simple as “Nobody likes to but I really like to cry”.

An engaging album that came out of nowhere and really impressed me.

3) Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem

When you first starting listen to Sound of Silver¸ you probably won’t be that impressed. Sure, openers Get Innocuous! and Time to Get Away are darn good dance floor fillers, but there probably won’t strike you as third best album of the year material. Punchy single North American Scum begins the albums transformation to awesome, featuring some of the best nonsense lyrics Mr. James Murphy has ever produced (“Where the buildings are old/And you might have lots of mimes”). Next track Someone Great begins the albums mind-blowingly good middle section, ditching the nonsense and dance feeling for something far more moving and emotional. “I wish that we could talk about it/But there, that’s the problem” begins Murphy, who’s voice suddenly starts to resemble David Bowie’s, electronic beeps and blips form a compelling background to the increasing morbid lyrics.

Sandwiched between Someone Great and Us vs Them (the best pure dance track on the album) is probably the best song of the year – All My Friends. Steadily building up from a repeating piano riff that starts annoying but soon becomes the backbone of the song, instruments and interesting sounds are piled on top in an almost coldly precise manner, whilst Murphy’s lyrics based upon aging bring the song’s emotional edge, before the song explodes into full blown anthem with the raise-your-hands-in-the-air “If I could see all my friends tonight!”.

The rest of the album is easily as good, with the almost show-tune New York , I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down closing proceedings. Sound of Silver breaks out of the dance-punk scene LCD Soundsystem have been heading for since Daft Punk Is Playing At My House and, if there’s any look, they’ll be plenty of bands following.

2) In Rainbows by Radiohead

Ignoring its release (shit – mentioned it), what was really shocking about this album was how…well, happy it sounds. OK, Nude’s lyrics warning not to get any big ideas because “they’re not going to happen” and Weird Fishes/Apreggi’s mentioning of various creepy crawlies aren’t that sunny smiley, but there’s plenty of life on the album that fits into the warm, almost inviting title. Opener 15 Step’s electronic beats give way into some real soul from Thom Yorke, who asks (the fans?) “You used to be alright/What happened?”. Humour can be found even paranoid rocker Bodysnatchers, where Yorke maintains that “Your mouth only moves with someone’s hand up your ass”.

Most songs, though, are powered by pure emotion, such as the cathartic All I Need which starts off sombre and subtle before igniting into an explosion of blissful music. Faust Arp’s figure flicking acoustic guitar, the fast flying lyrics on Jigsaw Falling Into Place and the laid back House of Cards turn their back entirely on Radiohead’s early noughties experimentalism, each of them wrapped with lush orchestral strings that bring a natural touch to the album overall. They make the band sound like a grown up version of the group that made The Bends over a decade ago.

That simile could probably be extended to the entire album over all, but I don’t think that that the Radiohead of any era but their current could create such a beautiful piece of music such as finale Videotape. Instead of going for a big send off, the album ends with a solemn piano track which sounds far sparser than anything else on the album. Odd fitting drum machines lie low in the mix whilst Yorke’s other wordly vocals float above everything else. But whilst the music may sound dark, it is again the lyrics which bring the light; “Today has been the most perfect day I’ve ever seen”.

For all that will be written about its release of In Rainbows, ten fold more can be written about the beauty and quality of the music it contains.

1) Neon Bible by Arcade Fire

Yeah, you probably would guess this would be here, seeing as how my first listen to it was a spiritual experience. But even if I were not a complete and utter Arcade Fire cultist – although to be fair, I’ve not yet reached the levels of some forum dwellers who can tell you everything Win Butler has ever shit out – I’m willing to best this album would still be up here. Like many sophomore releases, Neon Bible replaces the smaller, more intimate emotions of the first album with big sounds and Important issues. So here you get church organs, string quartets, marching bands and even a choir chiming in to create a massive, propelling sound that rises up from the murky depths of opener Black Mirror to the eruptive No Cars Go, which I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe in words.

Above all this, Win Butler rages on like a Springsteen influence street corner preacher, asking directly “World War Three when are you coming for me?”, on the amazing Windowsill. “They know my name ‘cuz I told it to them/But they don’t where and they don’t know when” he shouts on Keep The Car Running, the pulsing rhythm wrestling beneath him. Nearly every song on here is filled with an incredible tension that bursts in to a jaw dropping crescendo that goes beyond your initial expectations; witness Intervention, which tugs right at your soul and shakes it about.

But there are also slower songs on the album, such as the title track. In a great contradiction, it is the quietest and “smallest” song, with the melancholy chant-like “Not much chance for survival/If the neon bible is right” running through it. Ocean of Noise is probably Arcade Fire’s most emotional track, Butler ’s voice almost slipping entirely in to the haunting music. “Time to work it out” he repeats, before giving way to the song’s powerful brass.

Lyrically, there is less poetry than on Funeral, but when dealing with such big issues as the album obviously is, sometimes it pays to be oblique and simple®. The one track that spells everything out is also the most haunting and disturbing on the album – (Antichrist Television Blues) rushes in with an almost livid “Don’t wanna’ work in a building down town” and gets far more distressing as the narrator pleads to God for a child they can “put up a TV screen”. The madness and uncertainty grows until the final scream of “So tell me Lord/Am I the antichrist?” and an almost Strokes-like cut off.

I’m finding it hard to come up with a big final description of Neon Bible. Maybe I should leave it with the simple declaration the it is my favourite album of the past year, and will probably be a firm favourite for a long while to come.

Many thanks to any and all who have read this list.

Top 27 Albums of 2007 – 10 to 5! The BS is nearly over!

davis64 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:51:55 GMT

We’re nearly there! Although by this point I’m fairly sure you’ll be able to guess what the rest of the list is made up of and I’ve have read, like, 50 professional lists which seemed identical to this one. I was planning to make this the final ten, but I’m too lazy to finish it off now…

27) Manipulator by The Fall of Troy

26) Icky Thump by The White Stripes

25) American Gangster by Jay-Z

24) Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons

23) Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever by The Cribs

22) Person Pitch by Panda Bear

21) The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf

20) Wincing the Night Away by The Shins

19) The Reminder by Feist

18) Riot! by Paramore

17) Cassadaga by Bright Eyes

16) Spirit If… by Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew

15) The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes

14) Our Love to Admire by Interpol

13) None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock

12) The Flying Club Cup by Beirut

11) Mirrored by Battles

10) We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse

What was stranger? Smiths guitar legend Johnny Marr joining up with the ole’ Mouse or that this album actually got to number one in America ? That will have to be left to the historians to answer, but I’m willing to bet it was the addition of Marr’s Godzilla-sized guitars that finally tuned Isaac Brock pop’s sensibilities to create such standouts like Dashboard and Florida . And whilst Brock’s usual “life is shit” lyrical outlook (yeah, yeah – a simplification) remained, there was also an addition of optimism, hope and even beauty on tracks like Little Motel. And the 8-minute long Spitting Venom also wins the award for Best Odd Track I Heard In HMV for 2007. Best Tracks? Florida , Parting of the Sensory, Spitting Venom

9) Graduation by Kanye West

This album both fixes the mistakes of West’s previous album and also creates new ones. Stripped off needless guest spots and pointless skits, Graduation is Kanye’s most concise and focussed album-as-a-whole yet. However, it lacks the sparkle and sheer joy that powered his previous two albums, and Kanye’s weaknesses as a lyricist came to the forefront (see his assertion on Everything I’m Am that “Killing is some wack shit”). However, West is one of hip-hop’s best producers and this is probably his finest album musically. I Wonder has a dreamlike quality, Flashing Lights shimmers wonderfully and Good Life is pure fun. Even the ponderous Drunk and Hot Girls is interesting, due to it’s sampling of old-school weirdos Can. And Stronger may just be the best single of the year… Best Tracks? Stronger, I Wonder, Flashing Lights

8) I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead by El-P

El-P (aka El-Producto, aka Jaime Meline) is one scary motherfucker- and considering he’s an alt-rapper, that’s saying something. It’s hard not to take the title of his second solo album seriously, with the furious anger of tracks like Up All Night, Run The Numbers and Poisenville Kids No Wins tipping on the edge of suspense. El-P has no problem with adding the odd - as in weird - guest star, roping in personal faves The Mars Volta on epic opener Tasmanian Pain Coster along with Cat Power and Trent Reznor on other tracks. Not only that, but subject matter goes from the political to the futuristic, often combining together in spectacular fashion. Best Tracks? Tasmanian Pain Coster, Run the Numbers, Poisenville Kids No Wins

7) Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective

It’s hard for me to describe this album; it is such a kaleidoscope of different genres and emotions. Although made (I assume) using electronics, it isn’t an electronica record, sounding very earthy and natural. In addition, although it is full of memorable lines and melodies, there is no way on earth you could call this a “pop” album. It can be noisy, yet it also can be soft, pleasant, listening. Whatever labels you may give it, I believe it is an engrossing album that sucks you in and forces you to give it time, space and attention whilst at the same time avoiding being an overly aggressive album. You may not like it quite as much as I did, and chances are you’ll call it messy and unfocussed (or just plain odd), but it is surely one of the most manic, alienating and interesting albums of the year, with a sense of odd humour and hope remaining underneath it at all times – even if I can’t describe just what it sounds like. Best Tracks? Peacebone, For Reverend Green, Fireworks

6) Boxer by The National

This was not an album I thought I would be putting on here. Although I saw it get lots of buzz from all the usual places, none of the few tracks I heard off it really impressed me. However, after getting the album and listening to it in order it really struck a chord. Sounding something like Interpol turning into a good ole’ American bar band, it is a very dark record, but not hopeless. Instead, vocalist Matt Berninger fills his lyrics with touches of humour and humanity, his low voice sounding almost apologetic. Meanwhile, the soft piano lines and string/brass flourishes mix with the standard rock instrumentation to create a drifting, even haunting sound. And oh my! - The powerful and massive drums, which are pounded away to create most tracks’ backbone. A splendid surprise. Best Tracks? Mistaken for Strangers, Squalor Victoria, Racing Like a Pro

5) Cryptograms by Deerhunter

I was not quite sure what to think of this band. They describe themselves as “ambient-punk” and have shot to fame (well, visibility) on the back of hipster bloggers, weird website posts, fake-blood drenched live shows and Pitchfork. However, whilst all that should mean they end up as just another flavour of the week act who’ll have their mp3s swapped for a few months before being ditched in favour of someone else entirely, their second album Cryptograms shows that they really can back their shit up. This is a truly great album comprised off two distinctive but ultimately complementary halves – one experimental with shoe-glaze/noise rock overtones and one much more in the standard indie mould, although it retains a Liars-like layered approach. Theses two halves don’t play off each other as much as build on each other, with each track giving a different emotional feel, with even Strange Lights – the happiest and most hopeful song – sounding somewhat disturbed and disjointed. Never an easy listen, but undoubtedly a rewarding one. Best Tracks? Cryptograms, Lake Somerset , Strange Lights

Bloc Party Manchester Central 13/12/2007 "Review"

davis64 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:27:20 GMT

Well, that was much better. Back at the Manchester Central, which Bloc Party front-man Kele Okereke accurately described as both “an old train station” and “an empty air craft hanger”, the crowd were much better last night, with only a few flying cups of piss in the air, none of which (thankfully) got me. Support came from Foals – a type of math rock, dance punk and funk hybrid – who were a lot tighter and just plain better than when I saw them earlier in the year. Next up were The Cribs, who it seemed most of the teenage NME subscribers in the audience had turned out for. They quickly whipped the already enthusiastic crowd into a real frenzy, so much saw I had to remove myself to the sidelines afterwards, the strain of being crushed to pieces on Wednesday night at Arctic Monkeys finally catching up to me. I have no idea how good Bloc Party are supposed to be live, but believe me, last night they simply killed. They picked a great setlist made up of a surprising balance of both older and newer material, instead of simply ignoring the first album’s highlights to play the boring and bland Snow Patrol-lite stuff of the sophomore. The only noticeable exceptions were I Still Remember and The Pioneers. The tight post-punk of tracks like Positive Tension, Banquet and This Modern Love were transformed into full blown hand-clap and sing along anthems, crucially retaining the personal lyrics of emotion of the recorded version. Meanwhile, recent slower tracks like Waiting for the 7.18 and Sunday proved a nice break, whilst the rockier ones like Uniform got everyone moving again. Bloc Party’s current transformation into some sort of proper dance/rock hybrid was also present, with a laser projection backed performance of new single Flux and Kele’s demand that everyone “dance like you’re in a swanky club at 1am” for She’s Hearing Voices (although this was kinda undermined as Kele ditched his guitar to do the good ole’ rock “run to the barrier and meet the fans”). I’m not entirely convinced that Bloc Party are really suited to full on partying, when the best moments of the night came from sentimental tracks like So Here We Are and the full on rockers like Luno and Helicopter. But, if they do decide to keep the keyboard and strobe lights out, there was plenty of proof on offer last night that they’ll remain an energetic and fully entertaining live act.

Setlist (this may not be correct. I haven’t found a setlist online yet, but I’m fairly confident in it):

Song For Clay (Disappear Here) Positive Tension Blue Light Hunting For Witches Waiting For the 7.18 Banquet This Modern Love The Prayer Uniform So Here We Are Like Eating Glass Flux Sunday She's Hearing Voices Helicopter

Arctic Monkeys Manchester Central 12/12/2007 "Review"

davis64 — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:19:30 GMT

Well, that was shit.

Can't blame the band - more the dickheads (too weak a word really) who seemed less interested in fine British indie and more interested in making everyone's life a misery.

Maybe we should have away with this whole live music thing - people ruin it.

Ah well, Bloc Party in a few hours...

Top 27 Albums of 2007 - Part Two!!

davis64 — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:06:23 GMT

OK, time for the second update where I list some of my favourite albums of 2007 and pair them up with a vaguely descriptive paragraph that steals words and terms stolen off clever sounding reviews for each album. Also, BEST TRACKS!

If you want to play a drinking game, take a shot for every Canadian band/artist on here and whenever I just use the term “emotive”. There is also a very geeky comic book reference in there which I’m still laughing at.

Anyhow, I’ll recap what I picked last time and do albums 21-11!

27) Manipulator by The Fall of Troy

26) Icky Thump by The White Stripes

25) American Gangster by Jay-Z

24) Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons

23) Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever by The Cribs

22) Person Pitch by Panda Bear

21) The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf

Ditching the monochrome electro-folk of his previous two albums, Patrick Wolf makes what can probably best described as a “pop” album. However, this is not pop in the sugary sweet “everything is perfect” mode; it is the revelling in dramatics type. Wolfie – as I’m sure at least one person calls him – makes sure every emotion is OTT, whether it is declarations of loneliness or proclamations of love. Best Tracks? Overture, The Magic Position, Magpie

20) Wincing the Night Away by The Shins

Yeah – I was sure it did not come out this year either. But what Wikipedia says, Wikipedia has got right. The most experimental album by The Shins adds to the balanced mix of folk, pop and alternative rock that made their past albums so adorable with a more electronic approach. The result is most noticeable on Sea Legs, a song backed by what I can only call hip-hop beats. If you didn’t like this at first, give it another go – it’s a grower. Best Tracks? Australia , Turn on Me, Girl Sailor

19) The Reminder by Feist

…And so starts the deluge of Canadian bands/artists on this list. Known many for that song on that advert, I’ve seen The Reminder pop up regularly on a lot of end of year lists. The reason why is that it is such an easy, sometimes emotive, listen that also happens to be packed with some great tracks that’ll get stuck in your head for weeks. Best Tracks? My Moon, My Man, The Limit To Your Love, 1234,

18) Riot! by Paramore

Ah, Paramore. A band I should by all rights hate with every part of my being. Jesus loving pop-punk whose success seems to rest almost entirely on the quite attractive female singer? But, even with the feeling I should hate this album, I still find myself giving it a spin and even mouthing the words. Why? Because it is truly catchy, fun and, overall, good. It may not be subtle or developed, but its got energy and spark. Plus, y’know, they’ve got a quite attractive female singer. Best Tracks? That’s What You Get, Misery Business, Born For This

17) Cassadaga by Bright Eyes

Conor Oberst has come a long way since being a depressed teenager sitting in his basement screaming over simple acoustic chords. In 2007 he revealed to the world he was now a long haired nu-hippie who had communicated with the dead. He also released this rather wonderful album, propelled by lush strings, tighter song writing and an almost alt. country style of music. Best Tracks? Four Winds, If The Breakman Turns My Way, No One Would Riot For Less

16) Spirit If… by Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew

Broken Social Scene are a totally awesome band from Canada who have been known to fill stages up with up to, like, 100 (read: 14) of Canada’s best musicians. Spirit If… is a solo album from the de facto leader of BSS – Kevin Drew. In reality, most people on it have been also been featured on BBS’ albums and it sounds quite similar to BBS’ albums. However, it doesn’t have the massive, group directed, three-songs-playing-at-once feel of “proper” BBS albums, instead sounding much more personal and relaxed. In other words – a “proper” solo album. Best Tracks? TBTF, Lucky Ones, Back Out On The…

15) The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes

Another Canadian band – take a shot. Quite a lot of the reasons why I love so many Canadian indie bands are encapsulated by this album; it’s different and experimental without being just plain inaccessible and seems to have been made off pure love and vigour, without any regard for if anyone will like it. What you end up with is albums as great as this, which are not afraid to mix sorrowful strings with heavy rock power chords, go a little bit shoe-glazely and have their male singer sing in a higher voice than the female. Awesome. Best Tracks? Disaster, Devastation, Ride the Rails

14) Our Love to Admire by Interpol

Interpol’s third LP is their “rock” album but shows far more restraint that that tag implies. The Heinrich Maneuver and Mammoth both has an irresistible rush that survives Paul Bank’s trade-mark ambiguous lyrics. No I in Threesome is far more series and emotive than you’d guess and the double-back of Wrecking Ball and The Lighthouse end the album on a fairly experimental and tense point. Best Tracks? The Heinrich Maneuver, Mammoth, Wrecking Ball

13) None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock

Def Jux rapper Aesop Rock doesn’t write lyrics – he writes confusing, twisting, almost stream-of-consciousness lines that flow one after another with out any indication of a breath or pause. They are often extremely surreal and usually devoid of anything you could class as a real hook (except maybe the “How alive?/Too alive!” call-and-response of opener Keep Off The Lawn). Whilst previous AR albums have been overwhelmingly dark, None Shall Pass sees a keen injection of quite offbeat humour, for example Bring Back Pluto, which dells with the ludicrous removal of our ninth planet. Best Tracks? None Shall Pass, Catacomb Kids, Pigs

12) The Flying Club Cup by Beirut

I don’t particularly like Beirut ’s début album. It sounds cramped, small and quite meaningless. The Flying Club Cup fixes all these problems and shows Zach Condon’s European-ish little troupe starting to live up to their promise. A lot has been made out of the French influence on this album, but it adds up to little more than extra accordion and some French song titles. What is far more noticeable about this album is how big, emotive and polished it sounds. Front man Zach Condon is emotive and uses his vocals to enrich each song with a sense of character and place, which along with the backing of a full band, gives real weight to his compositions. Best Tracks? Nantes , A Sunday Smile, Cliquot

11) Mirrored by Battles

A friend asked me to descried Battles. I told him they played “robotic dance pop from the future”. I probably stole that off a blog, but I think it is a pretty accurate description. Using ten ton of computers, keyboards and wires, Battles’ music sounds both extremely tightly planned and organised but also quite free, giving it a type of energy not usually associated with “math rock” bands. I have to, of course, mention drummer John Stanier, who I’m pretty sure is not actually human but instead a Mental Organism Designed Only For Drumming. Best Tracks? Atlas, Rainbow, Tij

Kanye West 2/12/2007 M.E.N Arena “Review”

davis64 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:25:40 GMT

I wake up this morning having a new favourite show ever. I will always remember Kanye West’s show at the old aircraft hanger that is the M.E.N arena for several reasons, including the amazing light show he put on the severely high girl who spent 12 minutes grabbing, ahem, parts of me. However, overall I’ll remember it for when Jay-Z came out. Yeah. Jay. Mother-fucking. Z. I’ll let that sink in. After a blinding hour and bit, Kanye West preformed his ode to Mr. Shawn Carter “Big Brother”. As soon as he finished, the opening bars of “Public Service Announcement” were heard and Kanye was joined by Mr. Jay-Z himself for both that and one of my personal favourites “Encore”. I commented to my friend that it’s kinda like when Batman and Superman team up. Only real and, y’know, 50 times more amazing. Not that Kanye West needed Jay-Z’ help to make this a bloody brilliant show. He has enough skill, charisma, and let’s face it, sheer arrogance to be a great showman. Even whilst being illuminated by flashing lights and having a arena of tens of thousands of people screaming his name, he acted like it was nothing. Fuck, I don’t think he even said “thank you”. But the amazing show was thanks enough for it. It didn’t start off that well, of course. The place was absolutely packed so me and my friend did not manage to get to the front. To get the crowd warmed up, five or so artists off Kanye’s GOOD Music label preformed, but most of them lost the battle with short set times and a horrible sound system. It was only the main support act, Common, who made any impression, but that have been because he was the first act that night who wasn’t drowned out by bass. The night changed completely when Kanye came on - natch’- and from the very get go with huge, blockbuster style letters on the back screen introducing all the players I just knew it was going to big, bright and loud. Which it was. I really can’t describe in words just how much of a spectacle it really was, although Kanye’s continual reference to it being a spaceship did get kinda annoying – as did the 18 minute jam version of his song Spaceship, which involved each and every player he had on stage getting their own little solo. Whilst I can understand a drum or guitar solo, I cannot see a point in a talk box solo – although that guy did rock. The only part of this fabulous night which may rival Jay-Z’s appearance, though, is Kanye’s performance of “Hey Mama”, a song I always thought a bit too sweet but after recent events is truly emotion. Standing under a spot light with the image of an angel projected behind him, I don’t think there was a dry eye anyway, especially as he repeated the final new lines of “Saw you in a dream last night/Now I can’t wait to go to sleep”. It may not have started off too well, but I really do think that was one of the best quote/unquote gigs of my life, and depending on what comes next, one of the best moments of my life. I mean, Kanye West and Jay-Z together, c’mon.

Usually I’d put a set-list here, but I can’t remember and can’t one on online, so…er…yeah

Let's Get It Over With - TOP 27 ALBUMS OF 2007 (pt.1)

davis64 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:02:03 GMT

It is December, which means that all over the internet, music snobs fans like me producing these types of lists, running from either Top 50s to Top 10s. This is my lists, listing the 27 best albums of the year.

OK, that isn't actually true – It is the 27 best albums of the 40 or so albums I bought/listened to this year. It was produced in a very scientific manner, with me listing all the albums I'd bought and then giving them numbers out of ten. The more they got, the higher they went up on the list. Simple really.

We start off with 27 to 22, as well as listing some of the albums that just missed out on this all important list. If you agree, go and tell me. If you disagree, go and tell me. If you think I'm a fucking loser who needs to find something far better to do with his spare time, don't tell me cuz I know already.

Honourable Mentions
The Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Lose All Time
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
Kaiser Chiefs – Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
The New Pornographers – Challengers
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare

27) Manipulator by The Fall of Troy

The Fall of Troy have never really sat nicely in one genre, mixing metal with post-hardcore and even a little progressive rock, but yet have never really come across as being something truly different and unique. They get a little closer to that with their third album, which sees the introduction of more pop structures and even the odd hook filed alongside the normal dramatic screams and burning solos. Best Tracks? The Dark Trail, Shhh!!! If You're Quiet, I'll Show You A Dinosaur, A Man. A Plan. A Canal. Panama .

26) Icky Thump by The White Stripes

Whilst not as just plain weird as previous White Stripes offerings, Icky Thump still manages to be plain bonkers in parts, for example Rag & Bone where Jack and Meg ask "Anybody got a Christmas tree?/Can you part with a toilet seat?" . Elsewhere, Jack thrashes his guitar like a metal album and the duo lock horns with the traditional blues ballad and even include a bag pipe on one track. Best Tracks? Icky Thump, Conquest, Little Cream Soda

25) American Gangster by Jay-Z

Not quite on the level of either his earlier work or the perfection that is The Blueprint, Jay-Z second post retirement album is a throw to his early street hustler days, loaded with old soul samples, less pop-based production and only the bare minimum of guest stars. There is also a loose concept album in there somewhere, for those who like to spend hours reading lyrics. Best Tracks? Pray, Rock Boys (And The Winner Is…), Success

24) Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons

Anybody who actually thought this stood a chance of winning the Mercury Prize is a bare faced liar. And anybody who thought the Klaxons wouldn't produce one 2007's best débuts is also a lair. Mixing guitar-pop with dance rhythms and synth flashes, it may not be as original as NME and the like say it is, but it is one of the better British records of the year. Best Tracks? Atlantis to Interzone, Gravity's Rainbow, Magick

23) Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever by The Cribs

The Cribs are probably the most indifferent band, like, ever and you get a sense they didn't set out to really make much of a point with this record. In fact, they don't make a point at all. What they do make is a good silences of indie-pop-punk, with a strong influence from 1990's US college rock that sets them far apart from their peers. Best Tracks? Our Bovine Public, Men's Needs, Be Safe

22) Person Pitch by Panda Bear
The Animal Collective member's second solo outing sounds like musique-concréte album with ghostly vocals floating over it all carving out some delicious melodies. Experimental without being obtuse, Person Pitch is a very inviting and even warm album that deserves a far bigger audience that it'll undoubtedly get. Best Tracks? Comfy in Nautica, Take Pills, Search for Delicious

So join me later in the week/month were I count down 21 to 10!

Kaiser Chiefs 30/11/2007 M.E.N Arena “Review”

davis64 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:19:16 GMT

In numerical terms, Friday night’s Kaiser Chiefs gig on the first night of the Manchester leg of their UK tour can be described as thus:

Number of times my foot got stood on by this one woman in a row – 6 Number of songs in We Are Scientists’ support set before I got soaked in Beer – 2 ¼ Number of girls under age of consent I saw dressed provocatively – At least 30 Number of 30-something year olds who were donned in glow sticks – Too many

Those numbers only talk about the crowd, who are always the worst part of a show. The Kaiser Chiefs themselves are a phenomenal live act and fit into the arena setting with far more ease than many of their contemporaries do. Their “Ohs”, “Ahs”, “Na”s and “Ruby! Ruby! Ruby!”s are just built for mass crowd shouting, and front man Ricky Wilson really had no need to tell the crowd to make some noise (although, in full rock star mode, he did).

Wilson himself is great. Pretty much the centre of the band, he has more energy and charisma than you would think possibly for one slightly podgy bloke from Leeds with a cowbell and tambourine. A master crowd’s man, he would bounce around the stage to face any area of the crowd that wasn’t giving them 100% and pretty much order them to do so, whether they were in the cheap seating tickets or front and centre. This dedication to getting everybody dancing lead to him somehow making it off the stage to the sound booth in the middle of the arena so he could address the crowd from the very heart of the venue. Quite impressive given the size of the M.E.N.

As for the songs, well, it is the Kaiser Chiefs. If you can not stomach their Britpop throw back, well even an impressive live show isn’t going to change your mind. The set list, which seems to be the same very night, was mostly made up of tracks from second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob and début Employment. They also played two new tracks – Never Miss A Beat and You Want History. Reaction to them was, well, shit basically. Whilst testing out new material on the road is admirable, with a crowd the size they had, chances are it is best to keep the energy up with tracks people know. The songs themselves were not that impressive either, with neither of them standing out too much. When drummer Nick Hodgson said “These are the hits of 2008”, it sounded like a plea.

But overall, the Kaiser Chiefs put on pretty much what you would expect from an arena show - big songs, flashing lights and the type of atmosphere that just puts a smile on your face. I don’t think there was anyone not smiling by the end of the night, and in a particularly uplifting moment which replenished my faith in the human race, one woman picked up one of those provocatively dressed 12 year old girls and lifted her on to her shoulder so she could see Ricky when he was on top of the mixing desk. Just brings a tear to the eye, y’know.

Set-List

Everything is Average Nowadays Everyday I Love You Less and Less Heat Dies Down Born To Be A Dancer Ruby Never Miss A Beat I Can Do It Without You Modern Way Saturday Night Highroyds Retirement Na Na Na Na Naa You Want History I Predict A Riot Take My Temperature The Angry Mob

Love’s Not A Competition (But I’m Winning) Thank You Very Much Oh My God

So People Actually Like Hadouken!?

davis64 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:22:47 GMT

BE WARNED THERE IS HORRIBLE HTML ERRORS IN THIS THAT I AM TOO DUMB TO FIX

Yes, I know – here I am making anything barely understandable rant about some band that is popular with normal people my age in which I go off in wild tangents and make vaguely smug remarks that paint me as a total music snob despite the fact I have no knowledge of music AT ALL!!! but hey, my Mog, fuck off. Hadouken! are a nu-rave-grindie band from Leeds. Leeds is a very important of England – they all have stupid accents and only eat pasties. If you don’t understand what exactly a nu-rave-grindie band sounds like, well it doesn’t really matter. It basically describes this type of horrid noise made up of second-grade hip-hop beats, random synth sounds, a few odd Gameboy samples and some shitty rapping over the top. Hadouken!’s first two singles http://hypem.com/track/411247”>That Boy That Girl and http://hypem.com/track/405549” >Liquid Lives were perfectly passable examples of the “genre” and have a nice lo-fi appeal I can understand people liking and there was the potential to be the next Test Icicles (who I still miss) . OK, the lyrics are absolute shit – some hipsters moaning about hipster without the hint of irony – but all in all I could leave or take. New single http://hypem.com/track/399136”>Leap of Faith is just utter crap that makes me fear for the future of humanity. I’m sorry, but people actually like this crap? It sounds like LostProphets bought a synth and decide to write a song based on an episode of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Kyle_Show”>Jeremy Kyle Show. This is the sound of Hadouken! Version 2.0 – harder, better, faster, shitter. Lots of people I know absolutely love this band, and most of them have actual taste, so I was really surprise to see the video for this horrid mess and really being struck by just how bad it is. If for some reason – Brain damage? Emotional devastation? – you actually like this rubbish, they have an album out next year, but really. You’re a smart, educated, beautiful person. You can do so much better.

The Arcade Fire @ M.E.N Arena "Review"

davis64 — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:39:41 GMT

(Shamelessly copied from my MySpace blog like most things I post on here.)

Some bands can just transport you to someplace else. With a mix of music, stage presence and atmosphere, they can make you forget that you're stood in what effectively is a massive warehouse getting your hearing destroyed.

The Arcade Fire (the "The" makes it sound like a historical event, which is suitable) go beyond that. Live, The Arcade Fire can make every little care you have just disappear. All the every day bullshit of relationships, the past, the future and horrible neighbours is just forgotten as the 10-strong army take to the stage.

They're so good, the made me forget I was wearing a girl's t-shirt. (The story behind this is that when I saw them previously in March, it was either a tight fitting small tee, or a super large one. I went with the small one and soon realised that the extra chest space was to carter for females. Sigh.)

The Arcade Fire were playing at the M.E.N area, which is around 21,000 capacity and usually the only "rock" bands you get there are the big guns e.g. U2, Foo Fighters and, er, Tenacious D. It was commented several times during the set that it was the biggest in-door audience they played to, which is really quite weird no matter how you cut it.

Seeing them in such a venue really was a surreal experience, from entering to find a group of 50 or so hardcore Fire-heads (shut up) sitting on the floor, back on barrier, suspiciously eyeing up every new entrant to see just how much of a fan they were (surely my dedication showed by the fact I was cross dressing, but who knows?) to the support bands. One of which,Clinic , scared the two people I was with because they wear surgical masks, top hats and KGB coats. Musically, they were an odd mix of classic rock guitar riffs, distorted bass, murderous drumming and altered vocals. It all just added to the surrealism of the whole night.

(The other support band, by the by, were Boston's Wild Light who'd never even played in Europe before, so playing in such a large venue was a visible shock, but they still pulled it off pretty convincingly.)

The show started off quite slow and the lack of energy came both from the audience's inactivity and the fact the band were obviously stuck by the size of the venue. For an alternative rock band that has two albums and hasn't even existed for more than half a decade, playing such a size really must have been a shock. I know I keep going on about the size, but believe me, it's fucking huge.

I'm reluctant to be all snobby and say that the zombie like crowd was due to them all being old folks who'd heard about AF when they were on Radio 2, so instead I'll be all creepy and put forward that every heterosexual male (which there seemed to be many) was distracted by violinist Sarah Neufeld wearing hot pants.

But the band got passed any nerves soon enough and the crowd managed to get quite active – although the middle section of slow songs Haiti, I'm Sleeping In A Submarine, In The Backseat, Windowsill, Ocean Of Noise probably didn't do much to get the seating sections off their arses. Anyone who wasn't getting completely destroyed during Power Out was missing out in a lot of fun and the final sing along off Wake Up was exactly what you want from a gig – an arm-in-arm link up with lots of "AH"s and "OH"s or however you actually spell the sound that makes up 50% of that song. Hell, they even chucked in a Smiths cover (Still Ill) for good measure.

But still, something was up. Maybe the most telling part of the whole evening is when reluctant front man Win Butler thought it was Friday night, not Saturday. Whilst seeing The Arcade Fire in an arena was certainly a great experience, it was also a profoundly confusing one.

Set list:

Black Mirror Keep The Car Running (Antichrist Television Blues) No Cars Go Haiti I'm Sleeping In A Submarine In The Backseat Windowsill Ocean Of Noise Tunnels The Well & The Lighthouse Still Ill (The Smiths Cover) Power Out Rebellion (Lies)

Intervention Wake Up

So I Guess I Should Make a Customary In Rainbows Post

davis64 — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:53:17 GMT

I’m not in a good mood at all, for reasons I’m not going to get into, but I’ll try to take my mind of all the pressures of life by writing something up the most expected album IN HISTORY! It’s good. OK, it’s better than good. But, c’mon, it is fucking Radiohead. The got all their shit music out in the war crime that is Pablo Honey and since then have just been creating some of the greatest music pretty much EVER. That’s a fact. If you class their electronica and experimental “period” as pretentious, you have to admit that The Bends is one of the best British guitar albums ever made and that OK Computer is the type of classic that defines a generation. And even if you do find Kid A pretentious – you’re wrong, by the way -, you gotta give the freaks props for releasing a fucking experimental electronic album not even a decade after fucking “Creep”. But yeah, that is the history and you all know that. And you all know about the “unique” way this new album has been released. And you all have the album and know just how fucking good it is. And it’ll come as no surprise to you if I praise the magnificent strings, killer bass, master song writing and miraculous singing; because you of course have all listened to this gem of an album and noticed all those things. And since you have all listened to it and understand that no-one with a soul can hate this, it goes without saying that I believe it to be a brilliant piece of music and one of the best albums released this year. So, yeah, I have nothing new to add, but then again, no a single site or blog or news report has either. Radiohead have released an album and it is killer. The bastards are probably laughing their arses off right now. Good on them.

Ungodly Long Post About Mercury Prize

davis64 — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:52:52 GMT

So, last night Amy Winehouse got up last night for the first time in a few weeks and sung. Well, that’s seems to be the story most news papers are running about the Mercury Music Prize ceremony. In fact, the coverage of who actually won has been so sparse that unless you a) watched it, b) visit several music sites regularly or c) had me scream the winner at you at break time, you probably don’t know who won. It was the Klaxons, and in this sure to be way too long post I’ll tell how I feel about their victory, and also some notes about the show in general. But first, let’s look at how NME decided to cover the story, in their typical, understated style: “Our Music”? For fuck’s sake…

Anyhow, am I happy that Klaxons won? Yes, even though I don’t understand why the fuck they did. To be honest, the list of albums wasn’t all that great to begin with, so it was obviously going to be another year where they plump for the obvious choice based on popularity. Ms.Winehouse’s recent troubles probably did play a part in her losing, since I don’t think Nationwide (who sponsor the award) would have wanted to be seen as awarding such a high profile drunk/drug addict. But than again, I’m just a cynic. The Klaxons made some comments about how they were the only band that were pushing music forward. That’s pretty much bullshit. I’m not even going to discuss “New Rave”, but of all the wonderful things Klaxons are, pushing music forward isn’t on the list. Sure, they’re a fresh sound, but so was half the list. The only band there who is pushing music forward in any way was probably Maps, mainly because we’re still at the point where using more than one laptop is seen as revolutionary. Klaxons probably made the best album overall, discounting personal taste. I would have liked to see The Young Knives win, mainly because their album was the most “English” on this year’s list, which is supposed to be one of the things the judges mark on. But then again, I’m a massive Young Knives fan. So, whilst watching it on BBC 4 (how cultural of me!), I made some notes, here are my findings – • Jools Holland can’t read an autocue to save his laugh. He pronounced half of the names wrong and said “albrum” at least twice. He also called Arctic Monkeys “Arctic Mongrels” • Any show that begins with The View performing will send me out of the room. They’re so bad, the person I was talking to over MSN didn’t realise what song they were singing to it was nearly over – and he refers to himself as a fan! • Supposedly, New Young Pony Club’s “The Bomb” was a hit single? Er, where? On some planet where they actually give a fuck about New Young Pony Club? • A short interview with the judge fails to explain why Bloc Party weren’t nominated. • The Young Knives gave second best performance of the night. The best performance was probably Amy Winehouse, although that reaction is probably because she even turned up (although she did look like a zombie). • Maps sound good, although the Windows Media Visualizer they had for a backdrop was distracting. • The Irish guy was a nut job. • At least 40% of all Dizzee Rascal songs are the words “Dizzee Rascal”. • Bat for Lashes sound like a watered down Bjork. And no, that isn’t a complement. • Despite impeccable sound for the most part, the Klaxon’s performance was butchered with some of the most horrible mixing I’ve heard off the BBC in a long time. And their sound problems continued so that we couldn’t hear their drunken acceptance speech. Shame.

Well, another year, another “controversial” winner. Hopefully, next year they’ll be a Radiohead album up and they can get the award, even if it is as “Sorry for not giving it you for all the wonderful albums you’ve mad and the simple fact you’re the best British band ever”. If not, I guess we’ll all have to wait to see!

And The Mercury Music Prize Goes To...

davis64 — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:32:25 GMT

KLAXONS!

I agree with this, to be honest, although I just know this weeks NME will have a cover claiming that "nu-rave" has taken over.

I made loads of notes about the ceremony, which I type up in to some mess of words, swears and refereces you won't get up and uploaded it tomorrow.

iTunes Mislabel #46

davis64 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:44:57 GMT

According to iTunes (or whatever gets the names - do I care?) Interpol's amazing first album Turn on the Bright Lights is actually Arcade Fire's slightly more amazing first album Funeral.

In other news, the new The New Pornographer's album isn't that amazing :(

A Promise I Will Break

davis64 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:59:12 GMT

I'll sort out my Mog-O-Matic soon.

The Enemy - Quite Possibly The Worst Band I've Heard This Year

davis64 — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:37:34 GMT

Since my Mog page is pretty much dead now and not updating all The Smashing Pumpkins and Nas I've been listening to (they go suprising well together) I decided that I'd use the blog function to warn you about a band you need to avoid at all costs. That band? The Enemy.

I'm probably not the target audience for this band; they're a quote/unquote lads' rock in the grand tradition of Oasis and other mid-90s British bands who are all dead by now. Their songs seem to be about drinking larger and council estates, and not much else.

Now, I've got nothing against such music and lyrical content - I'm a firm believer that you can take any subject in the word and write at least some interesting lyrics around it.

But this band (from Coventry, where young children tell others to fuck off to) are so generic its borderline offensive. There's nothing new or even underused; every melody The Jam used two decades ago and every chorus is an attempt to be"anthemic" (most over used reviewer word? Yes).

I thought maybe it was just a case of some bad singles, so decided to listen to their album via NME.com. Dear god its bad. There is nothing good I can say about it. Except that parts of it sound like Oasis, but thats like saying comparing serial killers' techniques.

However, they can't even muster up the "fuck it all" attitude of Oasis - its all gloomly tales of shithole Britain, without any suggestions on how to make it better. Then there's "This Song", which like Kasabian woke up one day and decided to be ever shitter.

Now, I wouldn't usually be bothered by bands like this - and theres lots of them at the moment - but I just read that The Enemy managed to score a number one album in the UK with We'll Live And Die In These Towns. Now whilst its good to see a young band reach such levels of sucess, I wish it was bands with something fresh and interesting to say. Also, this was over Interpol's amazing third album Our Love To Admire. I guess I'm that much of a music-snob-in-the-making that I felt real anger that so called music like The Enemy gets it out of the basements and best mates bedrooms where it deserves to stay, until it dies a painful death.

I was going to link to The Enemy's myspace page, but I don't hate humanity that much.

So It Seems That My Mog Page Isn't Actually Listing What I'm Listening To...

davis64 — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:14:19 GMT

And I kinda don't care. Chances are everyone else is quote/unquote suffering as well, I'm just too damn lazy to look at anyone else's Mog pages (although thats only because I know they're all wonderful).

Also, if I start any other update with "So It Seems..." I want you people to kick me off.

So It Looks Like I Won't Be Seeing Muse @ Wembley...

davis64 — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:03:33 GMT

Yes, thanks to bastards who take your money via eBay and fuck off, seems like I'm going to miss out on the one thing I was looking forward to this summer - this Saturday's "Mega-Gig" at the new Wembley by Muse, who are a band I really like and would kill to see live. I've never liked buying stuff of eBay, but my friend who bought the tickets had never had any problems before, so I was feeling good about it. Now I'm just angry, and to be honest a little upset.

Plus, if we do somehow get the tickets (not likely) we've left it too late in the day to make arrangements to get down to London and back, which is a mixed blessing since if it all does fall through (which is 99.99% likely) at least we haven't commited with trains and hotels etc.

But I'm still so angry even this news can't cheer me.

Also, its my birthday. Happy birthday me!

Thing I've Decided Annoys Me - Hidden Tracks

davis64 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:37:30 GMT

This is something I've been meaning to write about for a while, but haven't due to a combination of boredom and...er...boredom.

We've all been there. You're listening to Nevermind and Something in the Way has finished. But it hasn't! The song has finished but there's still silence. They must be building up to something cool right? A song they left of the album. A live favourite. An unexpected cover. So after waiting 17 bloody hours there's finally some sound. What it is you ask? It's fucking noise! That's right, detuned guitars, random drum hits and non-sensical screams. I'd be alright by this if I hadn't just waited ages to see what was left. A recent example which annoyed me is on Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons. You don't even get some well made noise. It's just random distortion. It was probably made by the mixer on his lunch break. There's no point to it. At all. Maybe its a nice in joke for the band - "Hey, I bet our fans love our album, lets tease them by pretending its not over by leaving 45 minutes of silence before some shitty noise that souns like my cat is trying to play the guitar whilst having a fit".

Sometimes, the silence is followed by a full, proper song! I like that. Cold War Kid's album does this. Sure, it may not be worth waiting 12 minutes for, but its a nice surprise if you've left the CD on.

Also a nice surprise is when the hidden track is a full tracks tagged on to the end as a seperate track. Ok, its not quite a surprise on CD plays which show how many tracks are on the disk, but the point remains. See Hot Chip's The Warning for a nice use of this trick, and (to a lesser extent) The Black Parade, although that loses marks because a) it's pointless (though not noise) and b) there's silence before hand.

Another technique that was thought up by someone who needs shooting is to place 90 billion tracks of 7 seconds of silence between the real last track and the hidden track. In this digital, hi-tech, iTunes age we can skip all these, but they're still annoying. I know they were probably created by some vinyl who wanted to recreate those wasted afternoons messing around with a needle to get the last few seconds of Abbey Road.

Another pointless use of hidden tracks that is probably the result of someone who loves their mixing desk more than any human is 0 tracks. Hidden in the pregap of a CD (I don't know what that means either - I'm just getting all this of Wiki) these tracks are hidden before the CD has even begun! How do you access these? Well, you either have a CD player which you can manually rewind, which I've never seen, or...er, well most computers can't detect them so you're a bit screwed. A lot of bands use this technique, Blur and Bloc Party to name but two. Of course, I've not heard of these, but I'm guess its just noise.

So after wasted the past hour on this, have my views on hidden tracks changed? No, they're still (mostly) useless IMO and I still can't understand why bands feel the need to hide tracks, whether they actually be songs or just crap. I dunno, maybe I'm just becoming cynical in my old age (I turn 17 next week!).

When Exactly Did Editors Turn Into Coldplay?

davis64 — Tue, 22 May 2007 15:30:10 GMT

Video for Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors taken from An End Has A Start out I don't know.

When I first heard the song I was a little "meh". Now I'm fully "myeh", possibly due to the fact the song is really, really bad and the video just makes it worse. And although I'm not looking forward to the album that much, I still want see the band live, as I've heard that's where they really take off.

Using YouTube To Spread Brand New Love

davis64 — Sun, 06 May 2007 17:24:14 GMT

Below is a fantastic video of the fantastic band Brand New playing their fantastic instrumental Welcome to Bangkok (yes, it's a Bjork reference) off their fantastic album The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

It's That Time Of The Week...

davis64 — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:00:25 GMT

That's right - I just got my top music recommendations! I actually have no idea how any of this works, but I do know that every week I get this little e-mail filled with recommendations for songs which I already have and if I don't have 'em, I go hit up Hype Machine for a listen. This week I only have two songs recommended, which I think is some sort of record! Anyhow, with my tongue pretty much in my cheek, here's what I think:

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs by Fall Out Boy - I actually have this song (and the whole CD) but wasn't impressed enough to load it on here. However, the video is great, as it has monkeys in it. Monkeys, as you know make anything better. I bet that if Razorlight added a monkey on keyboards, I'd like it - that's how awesome monkeys are.

Here By Me by 3 Doors Down - Eww, 3 Doors Down. I have a friend who likes them. He's the type of guy who knows 3 chords so assumes he's a rock god and really likes Guns N Roses. Anyhow, this song isn't bad, just not, well, good. But hey, each to their own.

Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids - Have this. Love this. Cold War Kids are amazing. I remember listening to them about a year ago The Young Knives posted on their website all the bands from SXSW 06 they really liked, so I can through the "I liked them before you did" in most people's faces! Side note: This songs has two videos, niether have monkeys.

Inaudible Melodies by Jack Johnson - Couldn't find this on HM. I'm not familiar with Jack Johnson, although I assume he writes all cool laid back singer/songwriter songs which are played endlessly on beer adverts and the like. Which I think would really suit the nice hot summer nights we're heading into. Also, monkeys.

On And On And On by Wilco - I've just remembered that my monkeys joke would be funny if there was some Arctic Monkeys songs in here. Again, couldn't find this song anywhere online (read anywhere as Hype Machine), so couldn't listen to it. I'm pretty sure Wilco are a type of band my dad would like, but I'd try not to hold that against them.

Keep The Car Running by The Arcade Fire - Got this. Really fucking love this! Question - is it Arcade Fire or The Arcade Fire. I always take it without the The, mainly cause I think I know too many bands with The beforehand. This song might have been released as a single, but I've not seen a video. If it was, I'm betting that they wouldn't have had a monkey in it. (The) Arcade Fire aren't the type of band to have monkeys in there videos. Maybe it's a Canadian thing? Question, dear moggers, is there any Canadian band with monkeys in their videos? Get in touch.

The Evolution/History Of My Musical Tastes

davis64 — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:04:16 GMT

This may not make much sense, but I'm bored and I've spent a lot of time lately trying to figure out exactly why I like the music I like, how I got into and stuff like that. It's of no importance to you, of course, but hey, maybe you can reply telling me all charming stories of how The Smiths saved your life and what not.

Being OK with whatever was on the radio

Listening to whatever my sister had on, either via MTV2, CDs she had on in her room or when we went on a long drives and she'd get to pick the CDs

First CD - Does This Look Infected by Sum 41, bought as X-Mas gift by sister

First concert - Either Sum 41 or Alien Ant Farm

Started to steal away my sister's CDs. Key albums: Your Favourite Weapon and Deja Entendu by Brand New and Franz Ferdinand's S/T

Started to steal odd songs off internet. Key artists: Rage Against the Machine, The Shins, The Decemberists

Start to steal whole albums off internet. Key artists/albums: Funeral by Arcade Fire, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, Death Cab For Cuite, Death From Above 1979, The Libertines and lots of others

Good friend lends me my first hip-hops albums - Kanye West's two. Move onto Jay-Z.

Start a two month obcession with J-Rock (really just Asian Kung Fu Generation and HIGH AND MIGHTY Color)

Stop downloading and start buying CDs. Key artists- Modest Mouse, Muse, Bright Eyes, Radiohead and about 80 others

And the future? Mean to get into post-rock, mean to get into alternative hip-hop (that exists, right?),mean to get into Sonic Youth, mean to get into the god-damn Pixies, mean to get into bloody Sonic Youth, mean to buy first Interpol album, mean to listen to that damn Magazine album my dad goes on about, mean to listen to my weekly Mog recommendations....

Cajun Dance Party

davis64 — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 19:37:09 GMT

Cajun Dance Party are part of the next big UK craze I'm just stealing off NME and MTV2 then pretending to be all hip on - the so called "underage" scene.

Because I'm stuck in the North of England (coals mines, flapcaps, pints and all) I'm not too sure what exactly this whole underage craze is about, but I understand it's basically all posh and privilidge under-18s in London who have decided to form bands and venues because not even all of Daddy's money will get them into Koko on a friday night.

Cajun Dance Party are one of these bands catering for this mass of 13 year olds hopped up on nothing but sugar and sweetness (yeah, right). They have an average age of about 9 and their myspace page manages to list both the usual influences (The Beatles, Bob Dylon and Radiohead) along with the more hip (The Mars Volta, Arcade Fire, The Strokes).

They also have an awesome single, called The Next Untouchable. It's a catchy little indie-pop number with some really great lyrics that manage to be witty without losing any heart, as well as some guitar playing which puts to death the stuff the 17 year olds at my college's battle of the bands did on tuesday.

There's lots of potential here, so hopefully they won't spoil it by screaming a lot and brandishing glow sticks