There's a strong chance that everything Mark Lanegan touches turns to evil. In addition to his solo and Screaming Trees stuff, his collabs with Queens of the Stone Age and more recently, Isobel Campbell, are dark as aw'hell. Lately he's been working with The Twilight Singers who just announced a new tour. Their newest record, Powder Burns, is one of my faves of the year (and Denis Leary's), so I'm hoping to make that Orlando show. They're supported by Stars of Track and Field who sound like the kind of band I'd have liked maybe three years ago. There are a few songs you can get of theirs from Good Weather for Airstrikes. Check 'em.
But damn, on the Singers' Myspace they've just put up their cover of Live With Me by Massive Attack, and I can honestly say, it's pretty immense. The original, from the recent 'Collected' best-of, wasn't nearly this brooding or dark. Lanegan and Dulli singing together give it such an evil, sinister edge. Check it out now.
And here's a live video of them doing it. Heh, I said doing it.
Nothing's right if you ain't here
Good Weekend
The Spinto Band / Art Brut / We Are Scientists
Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
September 22nd, 2006
British bands don't come to Florida, and when they do, they certainly don't come to Tallahassee. In the last three years, I can remember Arab Strap, Four Tet, Mogwai, and Andy Rourke from the Smiths. Even Elton John cancelled a show at the Civic Center. So you can imagine my excitement about Art Brut making the trek over. Apparently, lots of other people had the same excitement, because when The Spinto Band took their twelve-legged rock and roll machine to the stage, the house was nicely packed. Their set was good fun, solid indie and well enjoyed. To be honest, I was kind of preoccupied catching up with friends whom I hadn't seen since the spring, so I didn't give them the attention that they deserved. So I missed their between-songs anecdote about some bad stuff that happened to them in North London, the memory of which was triggered by my NORF LONDON t-shirt that they'd seen earlier in the night. Heard the story later from their guitarist Jon, who forgave my t-shirt shaped indiscretion.
Next up were the band for whom I'd made the trip. Straight into 'Back in Black', a fine choice of intro, before morphing into 'Formed A Band'. Jasper and Ian were a mess of hair, Converse and Shakira. Eddie Argos, meanwhile, had just chipped a tooth the previous day, and the significant pain was offset by a lot of alcohol. They played almost all of 'Bang Bang Rock N Roll', plus a couple of new ones, and 'These Animal Menswe@r'. There were a lot of blank faces in the crowd, although a lot of people were digging it. 'Bad Weekend' was introduced as a blues song. 'Emily Kane' featured a whole status report vis a vis Emily's getting back in touch with Eddie. During 'Moving To L.A.', everyone pointed at L.A. Great energy and great songs. The live Brut is beefier than the recorded Brut and twice as fun. Go and see them, already.
The headliners, We Are Scientists, had been to Club Downunder before, but in the ensuing eleven months, they've become really quite popular. Especially in the UK. But their return to Tallahassee was a sellout, and the expectations were high for their show. It's a shame, then, that they weren't very good at all. Don't get me wrong, I like them a lot. But on Friday, WAS were dirgy, flat, lethargic and just plain unimpressive. The songs were played really slowly, it felt, and whilst you can't criticise them for playing new songs, there seemed like way too many of those. The crowd seemed to respond - by the time set-closer and highlight 'The Great Escape' was played, augmented by Art Brut, the floor was maybe 70% full, in what had been a packed house. And I think a lot of people were turned off by Keith and Chris' initially-funny-but-eventually-quite-grating stage patter. Here's a picture of when Chris went upstairs to check out the view. In the middle of a song.
Incidentally, about an hour after the end of the gig, I found myself in the back seat of a car, between Eddie Argos and Michael Tapper (drummer for WAS), going to a house party, talking about kegstands. Eddie said that he doesn't do them anymore, ever since his mum found this video on YouTube.
All in all - go for the science, stay for the art.
Academic Excellence
Florida State University To Phase Out Academic Operations By 2010
Go Seminoles! After Lost and The Simpsons, someone else makes fun of my alma mater.Rock.
Attention! Unbelievers!
Good Weather for Airstrikes has the elusive non-demo recording of The Marshals Are Dead by Bloc Party. The scratchy demo has been around for ages, as have various live recordings, but this is the version touched by ‘Silent Alarm’ producer Paul Epworth, aka Phones, aka Epic Man. Check it.
This weekend I’m going to see We Are Scientists and Art Brut at my favourite live music venue in the
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You already know that I quite love Guillemots. Well, their singer Fyfe Dangerfield recently covered 'Something Changed' by the much-missed Pulp (first gig I ever went to, fact fans!) and you can listen to it here. As if you needed me to tell you, it's ace.
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Saw The Last Kiss this past weekend. It wasn't bad, by any means, just had the really strong sense of unimportance. Zach Braff's character, like most of the men, seemed troubled and self-important but without really having any reason to, and his resulting problems all were entirely his own doing and so it was hard to be sympathetic. The female characters really didn't have much dimension, and throwing in jokes sort of lessened the impact of how serious the film could've been. Why would Rachel Bilson's character be so interested in Braff's? Is "she's just like a man" really the best compliment they can pay to his girlfriend? Does Braff really need to say "fuck" as much as he does? There were more questions floating around afterwards.
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Finally, some words about Arab Strap. Only saw them the once, in December 2003, when they came to aforementioned genius concert venue. I knew their cellist, Alan, because he toured with the Delgados as well, and so I was lucky enough to get in early, and catch them soundchecking. I've got a great picture of the whole band onstage with nobody in the audience, performing their song 'Fucking Little Bastards', one of my favourites.
Once the doors opened, the show was ace. There was a fire alarm halfway through, so everyone had to go outside, and then get back inside a few minutes later and straight back into 'New Birds'. It was a great gig, they're a great band, and I'll miss having them around. I'm glad, though, that it's completely amicable and like the Delgados, they'll still be working on their own solo stuff. If you're new to the Strap, I'd suggest checking out the record 'Monday At the Hug And Pint' - most people don't think it's their best, but I do. It's probably their most accessible. Here's me with Alan (middle) and Aidan. For a gruff beardy man, he has one hell of a voice.
Good Sunday
Here are the reasons why today was brilliant.
1. Arsenal beat Manchester United.
2. Arsenal beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
3. Arsenal beat Manchester United without our two main strikers.
4. Arsenal beat Manchester United after the latter had a 100% record to start the season.
5. Arsenal beat Manchester United after the latter hadn't lost at home for nearly thirty games.
6. Arsenal beat Manchester United after missing a penalty early on.
7. Arsenal beat Manchester United with a goal in the last five minutes.
8. Arsenal beat Manchester United and it was thanks to a mistake by Christiano Ronaldo.
9. Arsenal beat Manchester United and I watched the whole thing live.
10. Arsenal beat Manchester United.
It's best to go out with a bang
MEMO TO BANDS I LOVE...
STOP BREAKING UP.
I'll write more about them later, but bad news from the Arab Strap camp.
Yes, it’s the end for Arab Strap. After ten years, six studio albums, three live albums and all manner of everything else, we’ve decided the story should come to a close. There’s no animosity, no drama, we simply feel we’ve run our course and The Last Romance seems to us the most obvious and logical final act of the Arab Strap studio adventure. Everybody likes a happy ending!
Here's my favourite Arab Strap song. I'm gutted.
[download Arab Strap - Soaps]
Spaceships over Glasgow
Here's the thing. I fucking love Mogwai. I was a little late to catch on, not converting until 'Come On Die Young' came out in 1999, but since then I've been a fierce advocate of theirs. The latest two albums haven't done too much for me, I have to say, but they're one of the most incredible bands you can ever see live. I'll never forget seeing them in November of 2001 at the Brixton Academy, and they played two of their loudest songs (Xmas Steps and Like Herod) back to back, with the latter being accompanied by a really minimal but effective lighting display that just KILLED. And the second time I saw them, it was in Tallahassee. I wrote about it at the time, read here.
Theirs is music to absorb. Music to listen to in the dark. Their album 'Rock Action' is probably the only music I can comfortably read with. Criticising them for not having lyrics is pretty dumb - they pack more emotion into a song like 'You Don't Know Jesus' or 'Mogwai Fear Satan', than many bands can capture in words.
I bring Mogwai up today, because of this page, where you can download a whole CD's worth of session recordings they did for the BBC. Not to be confused with their official release 'Government Commissions', here there are a whole set MORE of songs. Highlights: an early version of 'Waltz for Aidan', before the lovely Mr. Moffatt was even involved with it; an early take of my beloved 'Xmas Steps', here called 'Procedure 4'; their legendary Guns N' Roses cover; and what better way to go out than a twenty minute version of an old Jewish hymn, their epic 'My Father My King'.
[download Mogwai - Government Commissions, Vol 2]
Now I can finally get hepatitis!
Steve Pink co-wrote the screenplays for High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank, so he's earned some points in his career already. He's also the director of Accepted, a film that's so banal and uninspired that even a soundtrack with the Pixies, Le Tigre and the Hives cannot breathe life into it.
Above all else, this film really lacks any sense of originality. The plot follows the age old 'make a lie out of desperation, watch it escalate uncontrollably, then have the "is it really that bad to lie?" speech at the end' routine. Like The School of Rock. Also, there's a stuffy academic who's trying to put the renegade heroes out of business. Like Old School. And they have to contend with preppy frat boys with a superiority complex. Ever seen Animal House? There's a scene towards the end of Accepted which is almost identical to the "Tell those assholes to shut up" scene.
Let's overlook this for some reason. The characters themselves are almost entirely unlikeable. Justin Long, an actor who I do not like, is the lead and has very little to offer other than a face that reminds me of a young David Schwimmer. Yes, handsome in an ugly sort of way. His is a dull character who initially is fast-talking and quick thinking, but quickly becomes actually quite boring. I'm no big punk purist, but if you are, you may want to avoid the film just for his assassination of Blitzkrieg Bop. His love interest makes a mid-movie switch from dating the jock nemesis, to dating our hero, who is painstakingly DIFFERENT to the jock. It's that easy. Other players kinda lack dimensions, too. There are the parents, who can only love their kid if he gets into college, the annoying younger sister, a kid with ADD whose name is also ADD, the weird hippie girl... Even Lewis Black phones in his performance. Jonah Hill gets a couple of laughs ("I hope you have hobo-stab insurance"), but they're lost in the averageness.
And another thing... according to this film, going to college (that's a real college, not, like, one that you and your buddies invented in an abandoned mental hospital using a website) is (a) sure to turn you into a zombie concerned only with grades, (b) sure to turn you into a haze-happy frat boy, (c) going to stifle your attempts at creativity, and (d) not nearly as good as going to a place where there's a class about Rocking Faces Off.
Rather than putting up a still from the movie, as I usually do, here's a picture of Feedback, the winner of Who Wants to be a Superhero?
From the illest part of the Western Hemisphere
Out this week, Game Theory by The Roots is getting shit-hot reviews. This may have something to do with how much of an improvement it is over the previous one, The Tipping Point, which, truth be told, wasn't too terrible. But now on a new home (Def Jam) and with the Jiggaman as a boss, they've made an album that doesn't get too self-indulgent and manages to stay focused. Only the closing tribute to J-Dilla clocks in at over five minutes, and sure enough, it's the weakest track on here. The return of former rapper Malik B on a few tracks provides a nice contrast to Black Thought's much-maligned monotone, and as ever the band cover a lots of bases. There's lady-friendly smooth jamz like Clock With No Hands and first single Don't Feel Right, the up-in-yo-face title track and In The Music, the Sly Stone aping Baby, and the short-but-ace flute workout Livin' In A New World.
Have a listen to Atonement, as chill as a good freezer, and boasting a sample from 'You and Whose Army?' by Radiohead. Really.
[download The Roots - Atonement]
Failure and Surrender
"As you have all heard hope of the states is no longer. " - Open letter from Sam Herlihy.
Here's another indispensable non-album track from the band.
They'll be sorely missed.
[download Hope of the States - The Last Picture Show]
These ain't the last days at all
Following the lukewarm reception to their newest record (not least from this site), comes the as-yet unconfirmed announcement that Hope of the States could be heading to splitsville following this weekend's Carling Weekender shows. Sure, it doesn't say "The band is breaking up", but for them to not play live anymore, it can't be a good sign, can it?
I would be really sad to see them go. I stand by the fact the newest record, 'Left', sounds unambitious and kind-of-like a better Embrace. Outside of some soaring choruses, I found little to fall in love with. And this is all the more frustrating because when they first came out, they had so much promise to them, which they delivered upon with 'The Lost Riots'. I can't articulate very well how much that record means to me, but this review from the NME puts it close. Suffice to say that 'Enemies/Friends' will always be one of my favourite songs.
If the rumour is indeed true, then shit, let's go out on a bang. Today's song is their usual set-closer 'Static in the Cities', a song so good that they never bothered to officially record it. This is the demo version of the track, and the band realised that they'd never be able to improve on it. This song kinda captures everything that I love about HOTS. From humble beginnings to the Apocalypse over about eight minutes, I always thought it'd make a better album finale than '1776', but maybe that's just me. Enjoy!
[download Hope of the States - Static in the Cities (demo)]
(go to thehalfwayhome for lots of bootlegs and rarities)
[UPDATE: Steve Lamacq wrote a guest entry at the nme.com blog saying:
"It is with a heavy heart that I sit here, having just witnessed the last Hope Of The States gig. Watching the as ever, charismatic Sam wandering off stage at the end was one of the most poignant sights I've seen this year. But then Reading, for the most part, hasn't been the place for massive pop landscapes, the like of which HOTS specialised in."
And he would know. Balls.]
They're novelettes!
I don't really have much to post about tonight. I begin law school in twelve hours' time, so I'm hoping to have an early night, maybe watch 'Akeelah and the Bee' til I fall asleep.
But, rather than leave you suckers hangin', here's a short clip from The Mighty Boosh. It's one of the funniest things I've seen in years. If you don't think it's hilarious, fair enough. But you should probably loosen your tie and chill.
Enjoy!
The pre-eminent Proust scholar in the U.S
To atone for the brain cells which may've died on Friday night during Snakes, I went today to watch Little Miss Sunshine with the girlfriend and a lot of Sunday afternoon old folks. Nice to see the Science of Sleep trailer on the big screen beforehand. That Gondry sure is mental.
Little Miss Sunshine is riding on a wave of really great reviews, is released by a trendy studio, and has Sufjan on the soundtrack. It has the potential to drown in some sort of hipster mudslide. Luckily, it's brilliant and you should all see it. There are a lot of laugh out loud moments, characters you can really warm to, some really uncomfortable parts, and it never has any of that "LOOK! WE'RE MAKING A STATEMENT!" gaudiness. The soundtrack, with a lot of Devotchka songs, is spot on, and although there are a couple of parts where it gets a little too slapstick/crazy (there's a corpse scene), the performances are so earnest that it's hard not to at least like the film.
Going down faster than a Thai hooker
Look, the title was Snakes on a Plane, and frankly, nobody has any reason to be disappointed. It delivered exactly what it promised. Definitely not a classic, nor even something I'd watch again, but dear lord, was it fun. From the guy in Gainesville who had printed out a picture of Sam from The Man and taped it onto his t-shirt to this dude from Tallahassee, people were excited, and the fact that the opening titles say SNAKES in huge letters and then ON A PLANE in much smaller letters got everyone cheering. The acting was pretty poor from the start, especially from Nathan Phillips, and there's a Chinese gangster, Eddie Kim, who beats a prosecutor to death with a bat and screams 'Whoo!' in the process.
Does anything else really matter about the film? Snakes, and indeed people, get killed in a variety of gruesome and hilarious ways. There was lots of hi-fiving in the crowd. Kenan is funny. The lines are corny. David Ellis said he wanted it to be taken seriously, and not just enjoyed on a "so bad it's good" level, but as long as people are enjoying it, what does it matter? I sure enjoyed it - perhaps not as much as the guy who saw it ten times in a row at my favourite cinema in America - and if there is a sequel, I'd see it.
As a footnote... the theme to Snakes on a Plane is by Cobra Starship, a supergroup comprising various blokes and, for clearly no reason other than to appeal to males, the singer from The Sounds. The song itself is pretty rubbish, of course, but Sounds lady looks really uncomfortable in it. Maybe that's what happens when there's a guest cameo from Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy. I guess I'd be uncomfortable too. Check the film, laugh at the music video.
Woke up with a shoe in my mouth
Today's post is about the album "Through the Windowpane" by Guillemots. It's nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and I sincerely hope it wins. Perhaps you've heard their "Made Up Lovesong #43" which is effortlessly sweet, daft and lovely. The album is really ambitious, and I like that it doesn't always work - there are a lot of open spaces, where it's just the singer's voice over very bare backing, and even though his voice is pretty special, at times it's not that great. But oh shit, when they get it right...
Especially check out the last track, Sao Paolo, which lasts for ages and is layer upon layer of awesomeness.
[download Guillemots - Les Black Sessions (full show)]
She has a real problem with promiscuity
I saw a handful of films in the past week. Mostly because, as the summer is winding down, I need to utilize all possible moments with mindless, unimportant crap, before law school crushes me and my gentle and adorable spirit.
First up, Water. Another Fox Searchlight winner, I was amazed that it was playing at our local dollar theater. Read this, about the making of the film. Death threats, secret location changes, and so on. The movie itself was very pretty, very sad and very good. The darker sides of religious fundamentalism come out to play, and it’s set against the rise of Gandhi in the late 1930s. Check it out if you can.
Pretty much as different from that as you can get, is John Tucker Must Die. Have you seen Mean Girls? Or How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days? Or Never Been Kissed? Or Down With Love? Or any other “pretend to like someone just to ultimately get revenge upon them, and whatever you do, DON’T actually fall in love with them – oh, crap” film? Well, then, you have the idea. This one could have been good, but where Mean Girls liked to be intelligent and catty, this just went for thong jokes, or volleyball-to-the-face jokes. And also the line “She likes early Elvis Costello, and listens to podcasts, and reads Dave Eggers. She’s deep.” And, sorry for the spoiler, but John Tucker doesn’t die, although it would’ve been great if the last scene was him getting hit by a bus.
After years of rubbish films, Woody Allen regained a lot of respect last year for Match Point, and his new film is called Scoop. He’s in it, again, and he’s the best part of it. He talks and talks and talks, and Scarlett Johansson does the same, less convincingly. It’s a fun film, there’s a “Boat of Death” and Hugh Jackman is very charming. The plot isn’t amazing, but it’s enjoyable, so check it if you can.
Finally, I caught last year’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was very day-glo, as you’d expect from Tim Burton. Depp was alright in it, he had a few good lines, but it was really unsatisfying. There was a lot of back story about Willy Wonka’s dad, which was really weird and didn’t fit very well. Overall, it was the equivalent of a fistful of fudge – cool for a little while, but ultimately thick and gross.
A song about myself
Tomorrow, August 15th, marks four years since my family and I moved to the United States. Now, I'm not going to post a sentimental "Oh my, how I've grown" kind of entry in here, but I did want to post this song. It came out a few months before the move, after I'd told my friends that I'd be goin' Transatlantic on their asses. We'd been into Idlewild since the Captain days, and this song was their most epic yet, and the lyrics, title, everything just had an incredible poignancy. So, I can't listen to it now without thinking of the summer of 2002, watching them play it at Glastonbury, the beautifully lit video, and my London peoples.
Sniff.
[download Idlewild - American English (live in Shetland)]
We can dance if you wanna
You should probably know this about me. I love to dance. Not seamless, fluid, confident dancing like the kind you can see in Step Up (in cinemas now!), but more akin to (a) a man getting an electric shock, or (b) Anthony Rapp from ‘Rent’. In the States, I don’t get to dance in clubs too much, because most of the ones I encounter tend to play either low-slung booty hip hop, or eighties classics. And whilst I’m not entirely adverse to shaking it like a rattlesnake, or doing the ‘Like a Prayer’ shuffle, I don’t go out dancing too much.
In
So last week I did. The place was not bad, filled with emo-haircuts, but quite cool. The music selection was very odd, though. Aside from ‘The Fallen’ and ‘Cheated Hearts’, there was nothing played that I really liked. There was some Sounds, Wolfmother, Darkness, and other bands who I don’t really like, and although there was someone wearing that Pipettes blue dress, there was nothing I could really go on a pointin’ extravaganza to. And weirdest of all, at one point, they played two Vines songs in a row. Two Vines songs?! ‘Get Free’ and ‘Highly Evolved’, you ask? No! Two songs off the newest Vines album. Can anyone even name the newest Vines album?
Don't forget that you're living
Q: What do you get when you combine
Best bit: Dave’s totally gay camera-point at the 3.08 mark.
Be a Winner! Not a Weiner!
Perhaps I should be ashamed to admit this, but lately I’ve been following, and getting quite into, a reality elimination show. In own defense, though, it’s Who Wants to be a Superhero? It’s executive produced by Stan Lee, and isn’t really very reality-based. So why is it so interesting? I can’t really explain it – Major Victory points at pigeons, there’s a character called Fat Momma, and one of the contestants shrieks like a monkey. I downloaded the first episode off iTunes because it was free, and both the girl and I were surprised at how enjoyable it is. It doesn’t have much in the way of “they’re living together in a house, let’s get some bitchy dirt on each other”, except that The Iron Enforcer, apparently, smells quite bad. Since Cell Phone Girl’s elimination last week, something I’m still quietly fuming over, by the way, my new tip for victory – and a Stan Lee-drawn comic and movie – is Major Victory. And whilst we’re here, screw Creature. God, she’s annoying.
Who Wants to be a Superhero is on the Sci-Fi Channel on Thursdays at
Drinking Hennessey with Morrissey
I've trained my girlfriend well. Now, every time I say "I'm considering a move to L.A." she knows to say "He's considering a move to L.A."
[download Art Brut - Moving to LA (live)]
Is that a catchphrase? Or epilepsy?
I saw a couple of newish comedies this weekend. Thanks to American Eagle's "try a pair of jeans, see a movie for free" promo, we went to see Talladega Nights last night. It's written by the guys who wrote Anchorman, directed by the guy that directed Anchorman, starring the guy that starred in Anchorman and was produced by the guy that produced Anchorman. That's a whole lot of uses of the same word. It should give you a pretty good idea of what the movie's like.
Now, I can understand why people hate this kind of film - the plot is thin, almost nonexistant, and essentially, it's just a series of one-liners and a few cameos. If you don't think it's funny to see an man saying "Shut up boy, or I'll put you in the microwave" to his grandchild, then fair enough. Unfortunately, I do still find that very funny, and so I enjoyed the film horrendously. There's a lot of joy in seeing John C. Reilly screaming "That's egrarious!" Also, the film has - count 'em! - one people who went to the same high school as me, a silly cameo from Mos Def and Elvis Costello, and the line "If you don't eat Big Red chewing gum, then fuck you." Dumb as three planks of wood, for sure, but at least six percent more fun. Only gripe is that (Academy Award nominee) Amy Adams was barely in it, and her character was pretty useless.
Also, as a footnote, they played a trailer for 'Employee of the Month', which, like the internet one, doesn't look very funny, but this one had 'Good Weekend' by Art Brut playing at the start, which I'm sure only I yelled out loud.
Also, lady and I watched 'Clerks 2' because, well, it's there. I think that being really hardcore into Kevin Smith's earlier films is more of an American thing. To me, they've always been good enough, but with the exception of 'Dogma', nothing has really stood out. 'Clerks 2' features liberal use of the word 'porch-monkey', rooftop dancing, Lord of the Rings, and the usual mix of lowbrow conversation, Randall Graves being Randall Graves, Jay and Silent Bob and Jason Lee being funny for one minute. I lasted longer than Joel Siegel with this film, but I don't think I'd ever see it again. If you like bestia inter-species erotica, check it out. Otherwise, Nascar it up with this guy.
An argument, an ambulance
The video for Hope of the States' new single, Left, just got put up on ye olde Interweb. Unlike their last two, which featured dancing lady Communists, and electro-shock therapy respectively, this one focuses almost entirely on singer Sam Herlihy's face. Now, I'm not one to judge people on their looks or anything, but all I'm saying is, Sam's looks are not exactly the band's strongest asset.
[watch Hope of the States - Left video]
Step Up! In theaters August 11th!
Anyone who knows me, and even many of the people who have served me at coffee houses, Chinese restaurants and, when I still lived in
The future is in your hands
I recently got a new laptop, and I’m in the process of copying my music onto it. Today I noticed that I have over 900MB of Super Furry Animals tunes. Now, some people might say that’s a little excessive. These people are hoodlums, plain and simple. Anyway, that was pretty much the entire reason why I thought I’d post some SFA here on Are You Gene Hackman? That and the fact that Bring Me The Heads just posted a gargantuan live recording of their profanity-tastic ‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’. Further, the whole world seems to be undergoing some sort of genetically engineered super-summer, so the song ‘Ysbeidiau Heulog,’ which means sunny intervals, sprang to mind. But that’s in Welsh, and this is an English language website.
So, here are two SFA songs for you. One is a b-side called ‘Foxy Music’, possibly based on a true story about a farmer who shot a fella. If you only take one moral from a song you download this week, make it “just because he’s got red hair, it doesn’t mean that he’s a fox”. Secondly, and even more obscurely, there’s ‘Charge (Theme from Das Koolies)’. It was the b-side to Ysbeidiau Heulog, and it features samples, fuzzed-up bass, and shouting, so you should love it. Also, there are chimps. It’s how I imagine a zoologists’ rave would sound. This is a very high endorsement.[download Super Furry Animals – Foxy Music]
The sound that machines make
I’ve been really enjoying the band Duels this week. They’re from
[download Duels – Potential Futures]
And now our roots grow deep
There was a band during the Britpop years called Brassy. They weren’t very good. One of their songs was their band name spelled out. I think their lead singer Muffin was related to Jon Spencer – the Blues Explosion one, not the Chelsea one.
Anyway, the new Cursive album Happy Hollow is out next month, and it, too, is Brassy. I really dug their previous record, The Ugly Organ, because it had cellos and sounded mournful but still heavy as aw’hell. When I heard that the cello player had left, I was a little trepid. I think that’s the word. When you display trepidation? Instead of strings, there’s a lot of brass on Happy Hollow, and consequently, it’s a really uptempo album which I’m pleased to say, is fantastic.
Tim Kasher’s lyrical themes are always very strong, and this album seems to center around Red State/Blue State values and politics. ‘Flag and Family’ is about a soldier sent off to war as a last resort, ‘Big Bang’ is brilliant and about evolution (“They said there was a big bang once, but that don’t jive with Adam and Eve”), and “Retreat!” almost comes across as an open letter to Mr. Christ - “since you’ve been away on holiday, we’ve hosted a few wars over you” - and probably won’t win the band too many new Bible-Belt fans, although there’s some gospel crooning over the end of it. The first and last tracks have the same tune, and I'll even forgive the way the opener comes to almost a complete stop a minute in, after building some heavy momentum.
Saddle Creek have put up a couple of tracks, showing off the album’s different styles. ‘Dorothy at Forty’ is hard and heavy and features Kasher’s bellow; whilst ‘Bad Sects’ is much more gentle, perhaps more in line with old Cursive. I’m putting up another song, ‘Bad Science’, which really highlights the new trumpets, but still rocks like a hurricane.
So, it’s a healthy departure, not entirely a complete reinvention, and the only disappointing thing is that album cover – what’s going on there?
[download Cursive – Bad Science]
So I'm guilty of violating Section 34 Double-D?
Watched the latest Spike Lee joint, Inside Man, today. I realise that this is hardly topical, but you know. She Hate Me, his previous film, was universally shat upon, and not without good reason. It was pretty horrendous.
Inside Man is brilliant, though. Clive Owen and Denzel Washington are as solid as ever in the lead roles. Jodie Foster and Willem Dafoe back them up well. Spike films New York City the way a dad might film a newborn baby, with love, pride and tremendous care. Not, like, in a silly hat with its eyes closed. The real star is the story, though. Tense, with twists but not too many twists, and a nice ending, it really works. Of course, there's some social commentary about racism thrown in for good measure, but it works. There's incongruous Hindi film music at the start and end, not sure why. Waris Ahluwalia, who was in The Life Aquatic, plays a character also called Vikram. There were a lot of iPods, and a nice Vice-City style video game cutaway. "Like my man Fifty says, you gotta get rich or die tryin'."
Catch it when you can.
A Change in the Weather
Oh man...
Victoria Bergsman leaves The Concretes
Maybe, like me, she thought the newest album, In Colour, was a bit lame. Good luck to her, and indeed the rest of the band. Let's all get out of mid-tempo limbo now, shall we?
[download the concretes - you can't hurry love*]
(*my favourite pop song of the last five years... FACT)
All my life, watching America
I thought Razorlight's first album, Up All Night, was a bit rubbish. It was TOO debut album-y (song titles like Rip It Up, Vice, In The City, etc) had didn't really have any substance. And their singer Johnny Borrell always comes across as a bit of a knob - he once said "If Dylan's making the chips then I'm drinking the champagne." My impression has always been that they're a sub-Libertines band doing a Strokes impression.
(Edit: To affirm his "being a knob" status, listen to Johnny talk about the album on XFM here. Apparently the music scene in London is now totally different from three years ago, there's no creativity any more, and every new band owes him a fiver)
Anyway, they've got a new record out, called Razorlight. The first single is kind of lame, but the rest of it is pretty good. It's mature, confident and has a really strong Springsteen/U2 vibe. It's an album that moves out of the narrow confines of East London where Up All Night was rooted, and it's much better for it. It's still not a great record - his voice still rubs me the wrong way, and 'Back to the Start' and 'Fall to Pieces' belong on the last album. But 'Los Angeles Waltz' is easily the best song they've ever written, not just because it namechecks Turnpike Lane (five stops on the Tube from me). There's nothing on this album with the instant radio-appeal of 'Golden Touch', but who cares? Kudos for making me change my opinion.
[download razorlight - los angeles waltz]
