In preperation for his new album release, I thought I'd dig up a short old Interview from Christmas 2007 where I interviewed Malcolm about 'A Brighter Beat', Arab Strap, the dreaded Xmas number 1 spot he was going for, and what was still to come... This interview was also for cowandfield.co.uk, but like the LOW interview (below), you can't get it on there at the moment, so here it is.
The new single “We're All Going To Die” is now one of the top contenders for the Christmas number 1. How much of that was down to you or was it just a bit of a laugh?
Some asked if I wanted to hold it back for the Christmas stuff and I just said 'aye, let's do it for a laugh'. It kinda just snowballed from there and William Hill started putting odds on it. It would be funny to get it, but it'd not be funny too. I don't really mind.
A Brighter Beat is considerably more upbeat than your first two solo efforts, was this a conscious decision or was it more of a natural progression?
It was both. The first one was so bleak and depressing that it makes me cringe a bit, the second album was a bit like me wearing a mask. I was covering the same themes but through more upbeat tunes so it was a bit less painful for people to listen to. Brighter Beat continued that but I just wanted better production, it's not really about having a brighter beat, it's about not having a brighter beat and not having a good mentality. I think I've done that now so I can;t really go any further with it.
Looking back at your first album, what do you think?
I'm glad people like it because it's honest... but like I said, it tends to make me cringe a bit these days.
Is there any plans for an Arab Strap DVD from the farewell tour or something similar?
We didn't really think about it until it came to the last night of the tour and we thought 'we should've filmed this'. We did record a lot of the concerts so maybe you'll hear some of that some day, we're not really a DVD band I don't think.
I remember setting off to the last Arab Strap gig in Manchester before (stupidly) changing my mind, as a result I never got to catch you guys live
I've done that before too. I had a ticket for Nirvana but went to some shit house party in Falkirk instead. That's what happens, you should always go to the concert, you'll regret it.
Any chance of a reformation?
It's a bit early for that. Never say never. If we went back to it it'd have to be because we enjoyed it, at the moment we're both doing our solo stuff so we're kept pretty busy.
Your new album Sleight of Heart is out in February, are there plans to tour that?
That's the plan yeah but it'll just be an acoustic tour with maybe 2 or 3 others to help out.
Has it been hard to adjust to touring as a full band doing electric shows after your last 2 albums which were pretty stripped down and acoustic?
It's hard because I hate doing it when things are missing like the strings and stuff. You've just gotta make sense of it as it is.
You've had to travel up from London this morning from a Radio session, what was that like for you?
Just a bit shit yunno, 6 hours in a van. We didn't get here til about 6:30
What's the tour been like in comparison to the tour earlier in the year?
It's been good. I was expecting all this Christmas shit to of brought a lot of people here to hear one song but it's been alright, a lot of people seem to know the songs and stuff. I've enjoyed it.
How do you go about sorting the setlists for the shows? Do you vary them a lot or do you tend to stick to the same songs?
We tend to play the stuff we're most comfortable with, we've had to rehearse stuff a bit differently for this tour like Cold Winter and King of Bring but we left them out anyway tonight. I've done King of Bring pretty much every gig since it was released so I decided it needed a rest.
How does the writing process differ from when you were in Arab Strap? Is it easier for you to do it alone or harder?
Well the main difference is that in Arab Strap I wrote the music and Aidan wrote the lyrics, whereas now I have to do both. Doing my own stuff is more natural for me because I have my own influences. Arab Strap was sometimes hard work because I'd write a song I liked and Aidan would just say 'that's shit'. But that's why Arab Strap worked, just that chemistry between us, a bit of compromise and fighting in the studio. With my own stuff I get total freedom. Some of my own stuff was originally for Arab Strap, the song Devil and The Angel was originally for Philophobia and fight like the night I've had knocking around for about10 years.
Have you taken your solo stuff more seriously since the split from Arab Strap?
I've always taken it seriously. I never wanted it to be a side project because to me that was all of me rather than with Arab Strap it was just half of me because Aidan was there. So, I've always taken it seriously. Sometimes too seriously which is why I miss Arab Strap.
Thursday 30 April 2009
10: Interview: LOW
2 years ago, prior to the release of their latest album 'Drums & Guns', I had the pleasure of interviewing slowcore/low-fi legends Low. Since the interview they HAVE released Destroyer (via Retribution Gospel Choir's self-titled debut) and played Union Chapel once again. You'll see what I mean later... This interview was originally for cowandfield.co.uk but the site is down at the moment so I've decided to post it here! Enjoy...
The new album 'drums & guns' was originally planned to be called 'the violent path'. Was there any reason for the sudden change of heart after already announcing that it would be titled 'the violent path'?
Alan: Drums and Guns was actually the first title we came up with for the new record, we thought about it as we were doing the record and started to come with other ideas...
Mimi: I don't think you're right, the violent path was the first name we came up with
Alan: Oh yeah yeah, that was the potential name for the album then we heard this old Irish folk song “johnny a' hardly new yeee” (In full irish meets pirate accent) and the chorus was like “drums and guns and drums and guns”
Mimi: Yeah, then we though 'well that's a cool name'. We didn't know if the music would be appropriate at first for the name.
Alan: We gave it some thought and decided it was more fitting to what the record was like that 'the violent path'. Errr, We'll use that for something else I think.
[matt joins]
It's the second album you've recorded with Dave Fridman (Alan corrects by saying 'grammy award winning producer dave fridman'), did the process differ the that of when you recorded the great destroyer?
Alan: We approached it very different for sure. Usually in the past we'd record the songs like an extension of how we play them live, with the drums, bass and guitar, so we tried to use some different methods and do different things to what we usually did, whilst still being Low. We approached the great destroyer in a more traditional fashion, but this time having worked with him already we knew we could go in and he could help us with what we were trying to do.
Zak left the band in 2005, was it hard for you (Matt) to come in and learn the older material to play live as well as writing new material with the band?
Matt: Learning the old stuff came pretty easy as I was already familiar with most of the catalogue, and the new stuff kind of similarly went well as I'd played with Alan in the past, so rehearsals went smoothly.
Mimi: Then we just beat him [group laughter]
Alan: It's always a struggle, we're not always on the same page but we tackle things at the same pace and with similar vision. I enjoyed the process of revisiting the old stuff, I think that in itself might of influenced the new record. We weren't necessarily running away from the old style but we looked at things and thought 'yeah, maybe we do do this, but lets see what chances we can take and what changes we can make'
You did a radio 6 session and interview yesterday, the presenter more or less openly admitted he didn't know an awful lot about you and what sort of thing you did, what did you make of that?
Alan: I think he handled that pretty well. There's nothing worse than when you have an interview with a presenter who knows nothing about you, but even worse when they pretend to know stuff they don't. He was honest about it and we had a talk with him before and after it so it wasn't so bad. You could tell he had listened to the new record and paid attention.
Mimi: It's so hard in that profession, you have so much music to get through and stuff to organise, so yeah, he didn't do badly.
Alan: I don't think we've ever been offended by a presenter not knowing much about us, it's to be assumed generally.
Am I right in saying this is the first show of the tour?
Mimi: Yeah I guess, it's a pretty short trip and this is the first show.
Alan: Yeah this is the first one on this record, it's not out yet but I guess the point of this short trip is to present the new material and to talk with people like you.
So will there be a good mix of new and old material at these shows? Are you planning on mainly previewing the new album or playing a mix of the older stuff and just dropping a few new tracks in there?
Alan: We're pretty much on the new record.
Mimi: Yeah, we play a lot of the new record.
Alan: We'll probably play most of the new one, but we'll have to do about half of the set older material too.
Will you be playing the new or old version of Murderer on this tour?
Alan: I know a lot of people who like the ay we've always done it live so i think we'll probably just keep doing doing it that way
I was wondering if there's any particular reason that the 2nd tracks of the last 4 records (including the new one) have been the names of places. Whitetail, Canada, California, and Belarus.
Alan: We should of had Missouri 2nd on Secret Name too, could've got a run going.
Mimi: Yeah
Alan: That's actually the first we've heard of it... actually... wait wait wait...Completely deliberate. Yes, yes, if you were to take out a globe and plot those places on it, they would create a 3 dimensional algorithm that we believe is the key to cold fusion... Yeah, that's a good one, very observant.
Makes a change from the Mormon questions?
Mimi: Yeah, we need more questions like that one.
Alan: Now you're putting pressure on us.
On the making of Trust dvd, there's a list of tracks being worked on and Belarus was listed. Was it recorded, unused and then reworked for use on the new record?
Alan: Yeah it's a track we've had kicking around for a while, it was a possible song for trust.
Was it more low-fi back then?
Mimi: Well there was no drum machines
Alan: Yeah and there was a lot more guitar. It's a very very basic song, there's just a couple of things happening, it's almost a 'no-song'. Very simple but a nice track.
Any plans to record the track destroyer?
Alan: It was a track we were working on the great destroyer, we still kick it around a bit. It's one of those songs that's really great live, at the right moment, but if it's not the right moment and especially if you're trying to record it, it just seem doesn't work.
Are the venues on the tour handpicked? Or do the promoters tend to pick where you play?
Alan: We try and get the booking agent to ask the promoter to find somewhere interesting sometimes you're left to what's on offer, we really loved playing union chapel, but they don't do gigs there anymore?
Left a bad impression?
Alan: Oh yeah yeah, all those rowdy Low fans causing a riot, spitting on the floor and stuff. No, that was a really nice venue, I'd love to play there again one day.
Does it frustrate you when the crowd speak through the music when you're playing? I know it annoys me.
Alan: It's kinda a crap-shoot but you realise that some shows are noisy and some aren't.
Mimi: You can't let it get to you, we realised pretty early on that it happened.
Alan: Yeah, if you let it get to you it can destroy you for no reason. Some of the stuff we do it has to be silent for you to hear though, I tend to play louder and with less dynamics if people are speaking loud. They can please themselves really, it's their money.
Are there any plans to reissue the older albums like I could live in hope and long division? They're pretty hard to get hold of this side of the pond.
Alan: Well, the label that owns them aren't traditionally very helpful with allowing people to reissue old records. It's good you mentioned that though cause I forgot we really have to speak to someone about that, they weren't very well distributed outside of the US. We really have to speak to someone about it.
You've covered artists like Pink Floyd and Neil Young? Are these major influences on the music you're still making?
Alan: We've been listening to a lot of Jamaican music over the last couple of years, it's really interesting just to hear the way they make music.
Well I've started to go over the amount of time I was told I had and I've just about got through the questions so I'll let you go and set up and stuff, thanks for the interview
Matt: Thank you very much
Mimi: You're welcome
Alan: Ermm, Cheeerio
The new album 'drums & guns' was originally planned to be called 'the violent path'. Was there any reason for the sudden change of heart after already announcing that it would be titled 'the violent path'?
Alan: Drums and Guns was actually the first title we came up with for the new record, we thought about it as we were doing the record and started to come with other ideas...
Mimi: I don't think you're right, the violent path was the first name we came up with
Alan: Oh yeah yeah, that was the potential name for the album then we heard this old Irish folk song “johnny a' hardly new yeee” (In full irish meets pirate accent) and the chorus was like “drums and guns and drums and guns”
Mimi: Yeah, then we though 'well that's a cool name'. We didn't know if the music would be appropriate at first for the name.
Alan: We gave it some thought and decided it was more fitting to what the record was like that 'the violent path'. Errr, We'll use that for something else I think.
[matt joins]
It's the second album you've recorded with Dave Fridman (Alan corrects by saying 'grammy award winning producer dave fridman'), did the process differ the that of when you recorded the great destroyer?
Alan: We approached it very different for sure. Usually in the past we'd record the songs like an extension of how we play them live, with the drums, bass and guitar, so we tried to use some different methods and do different things to what we usually did, whilst still being Low. We approached the great destroyer in a more traditional fashion, but this time having worked with him already we knew we could go in and he could help us with what we were trying to do.
Zak left the band in 2005, was it hard for you (Matt) to come in and learn the older material to play live as well as writing new material with the band?
Matt: Learning the old stuff came pretty easy as I was already familiar with most of the catalogue, and the new stuff kind of similarly went well as I'd played with Alan in the past, so rehearsals went smoothly.
Mimi: Then we just beat him [group laughter]
Alan: It's always a struggle, we're not always on the same page but we tackle things at the same pace and with similar vision. I enjoyed the process of revisiting the old stuff, I think that in itself might of influenced the new record. We weren't necessarily running away from the old style but we looked at things and thought 'yeah, maybe we do do this, but lets see what chances we can take and what changes we can make'
You did a radio 6 session and interview yesterday, the presenter more or less openly admitted he didn't know an awful lot about you and what sort of thing you did, what did you make of that?
Alan: I think he handled that pretty well. There's nothing worse than when you have an interview with a presenter who knows nothing about you, but even worse when they pretend to know stuff they don't. He was honest about it and we had a talk with him before and after it so it wasn't so bad. You could tell he had listened to the new record and paid attention.
Mimi: It's so hard in that profession, you have so much music to get through and stuff to organise, so yeah, he didn't do badly.
Alan: I don't think we've ever been offended by a presenter not knowing much about us, it's to be assumed generally.
Am I right in saying this is the first show of the tour?
Mimi: Yeah I guess, it's a pretty short trip and this is the first show.
Alan: Yeah this is the first one on this record, it's not out yet but I guess the point of this short trip is to present the new material and to talk with people like you.
So will there be a good mix of new and old material at these shows? Are you planning on mainly previewing the new album or playing a mix of the older stuff and just dropping a few new tracks in there?
Alan: We're pretty much on the new record.
Mimi: Yeah, we play a lot of the new record.
Alan: We'll probably play most of the new one, but we'll have to do about half of the set older material too.
Will you be playing the new or old version of Murderer on this tour?
Alan: I know a lot of people who like the ay we've always done it live so i think we'll probably just keep doing doing it that way
I was wondering if there's any particular reason that the 2nd tracks of the last 4 records (including the new one) have been the names of places. Whitetail, Canada, California, and Belarus.
Alan: We should of had Missouri 2nd on Secret Name too, could've got a run going.
Mimi: Yeah
Alan: That's actually the first we've heard of it... actually... wait wait wait...Completely deliberate. Yes, yes, if you were to take out a globe and plot those places on it, they would create a 3 dimensional algorithm that we believe is the key to cold fusion... Yeah, that's a good one, very observant.
Makes a change from the Mormon questions?
Mimi: Yeah, we need more questions like that one.
Alan: Now you're putting pressure on us.
On the making of Trust dvd, there's a list of tracks being worked on and Belarus was listed. Was it recorded, unused and then reworked for use on the new record?
Alan: Yeah it's a track we've had kicking around for a while, it was a possible song for trust.
Was it more low-fi back then?
Mimi: Well there was no drum machines
Alan: Yeah and there was a lot more guitar. It's a very very basic song, there's just a couple of things happening, it's almost a 'no-song'. Very simple but a nice track.
Any plans to record the track destroyer?
Alan: It was a track we were working on the great destroyer, we still kick it around a bit. It's one of those songs that's really great live, at the right moment, but if it's not the right moment and especially if you're trying to record it, it just seem doesn't work.
Are the venues on the tour handpicked? Or do the promoters tend to pick where you play?
Alan: We try and get the booking agent to ask the promoter to find somewhere interesting sometimes you're left to what's on offer, we really loved playing union chapel, but they don't do gigs there anymore?
Left a bad impression?
Alan: Oh yeah yeah, all those rowdy Low fans causing a riot, spitting on the floor and stuff. No, that was a really nice venue, I'd love to play there again one day.
Does it frustrate you when the crowd speak through the music when you're playing? I know it annoys me.
Alan: It's kinda a crap-shoot but you realise that some shows are noisy and some aren't.
Mimi: You can't let it get to you, we realised pretty early on that it happened.
Alan: Yeah, if you let it get to you it can destroy you for no reason. Some of the stuff we do it has to be silent for you to hear though, I tend to play louder and with less dynamics if people are speaking loud. They can please themselves really, it's their money.
Are there any plans to reissue the older albums like I could live in hope and long division? They're pretty hard to get hold of this side of the pond.
Alan: Well, the label that owns them aren't traditionally very helpful with allowing people to reissue old records. It's good you mentioned that though cause I forgot we really have to speak to someone about that, they weren't very well distributed outside of the US. We really have to speak to someone about it.
You've covered artists like Pink Floyd and Neil Young? Are these major influences on the music you're still making?
Alan: We've been listening to a lot of Jamaican music over the last couple of years, it's really interesting just to hear the way they make music.
Well I've started to go over the amount of time I was told I had and I've just about got through the questions so I'll let you go and set up and stuff, thanks for the interview
Matt: Thank you very much
Mimi: You're welcome
Alan: Ermm, Cheeerio
Wednesday 29 April 2009
9: Did you miss these?
This weeks playlist and discoveries:
John Cale - Music For A New Society
Chad vanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons Of Bad Luck
The Cure - Disintergration
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Sun Kil Moon - April
Sonic Youth - The Eternal (advance)
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Mark Kozelek - Find Me, Ruben Olivares
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers (advance)
John Cale - Music For A New Society
Chad vanGaalen - Soft Airplane
Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons Of Bad Luck
The Cure - Disintergration
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Sun Kil Moon - April
Sonic Youth - The Eternal (advance)
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Mark Kozelek - Find Me, Ruben Olivares
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers (advance)
Sunday 26 April 2009
8: Low in Eindhoven
I went to a gig back in January at Catherinakerk in Eindhoven. That gig was Low. Unfortunately, I have no pictres from the gig because I got mugged in Brussels en-route back to Manchester. It's a shame, there were some great ones! The show was outstanding, even though there was nothing from the first 4 albums it was amazing. The best time I've seen them was probably Nottingham in 2007, but this is a close 2nd. The renditions of The Lamb and Violent Past were far and away the best things I have seen them do, and even Monkey was a highlight! Lighting perfect, the catherdral beautiful, the sound great... everything. We ended up at a place called the tipsy duck afterwards... they served pints at least. Here is the full set list...
Friday 24 April 2009
Wednesday 22 April 2009
6: 22nd April 2009
Hello. I've not been upto much since last post. This morning I got a ticket to see Blur at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, so that should be nice. Smaller than the July shows by a long way.
Today I have listened to 2 albums that are coming out shortly. Both by survivors of the 90s brit-pop era...
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
Engineered by Steve Albini and songs by Jarvis Cocker, you wouldn't doubt this was going to be good would you? It's a bit of a strange one, not as many ballads are his first solo album. A lot of dirty rock n roll guitars on this one, some along the lines of 'Get Ready For Love' Nick Cave. The guitar sound even touches on Shellac on the first track, maybe that's down to Albini... The tracks are good, not as good as a lot of Pulp's 90s output obviously, but good anyhow. I've only given it a couple of listens so far but early signs are promising, a lot of tracks you wouldn't mind hearing if you were out drinking some fine Belgian beer.
Graham Coxon - The Spinning Top
If you're wanting 'Freakin' Out' and 'Standing On My Own Again' you'd do well not to bother picking this up. I like it a lot, he revisits a lot of the areas covered on some of his earlier work. Very acoustic for the most part, some noisy guitar work here and there but nothing too drastic. Great album to sit back and relax to. It apparently tells a story throughout, it's no The Wall, though. Country, Folk, Pop, Americana and Lo-Fi moments making up a very rewarding listen. Like I said though, don't expect feel good songs of the summer here.
Check your local independant retailer (unless HMV bought them all out) for more details on release dates and formats because I'm feeling very lazy at the moment.
Today I have listened to 2 albums that are coming out shortly. Both by survivors of the 90s brit-pop era...
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
Engineered by Steve Albini and songs by Jarvis Cocker, you wouldn't doubt this was going to be good would you? It's a bit of a strange one, not as many ballads are his first solo album. A lot of dirty rock n roll guitars on this one, some along the lines of 'Get Ready For Love' Nick Cave. The guitar sound even touches on Shellac on the first track, maybe that's down to Albini... The tracks are good, not as good as a lot of Pulp's 90s output obviously, but good anyhow. I've only given it a couple of listens so far but early signs are promising, a lot of tracks you wouldn't mind hearing if you were out drinking some fine Belgian beer.
Graham Coxon - The Spinning Top
If you're wanting 'Freakin' Out' and 'Standing On My Own Again' you'd do well not to bother picking this up. I like it a lot, he revisits a lot of the areas covered on some of his earlier work. Very acoustic for the most part, some noisy guitar work here and there but nothing too drastic. Great album to sit back and relax to. It apparently tells a story throughout, it's no The Wall, though. Country, Folk, Pop, Americana and Lo-Fi moments making up a very rewarding listen. Like I said though, don't expect feel good songs of the summer here.
Check your local independant retailer (unless HMV bought them all out) for more details on release dates and formats because I'm feeling very lazy at the moment.
Tuesday 21 April 2009
5: Jason Pierce
Once, I met J Spaceman from Spiritualized. We had a beer or 3 and talked about Gospel, Denver and crowds in Manchester. This was taken around the same time...
I had a picture with him too but I looked too stupid to post that here.
I had a picture with him too but I looked too stupid to post that here.
Sunday 19 April 2009
4: Trail of Dead and Earth
Hello, as promised I am here telling you about the stuff I've seen this week. First up was ...Trail of Dead at Manchester Academy 3 followed by that aftershow I was doing. The show was brilliant, the new songs really came to life live and the old stuff was as good as ever. The one complaint was that they played some stuff a bit too fast, but that was only really a problem during 'Will You Smile Again?' because the verses sounded a bit weird. Brilliant show though and a good setlist. Shame they didn't play 'Fields Of Coal' off the new album. Someone stage dived and landed on my neck, that really hurt (and still does). Jason went into the crowd for Caterwaul which was probably the best song of the night, he also broke his snare drum which turned into a bit of an episode. Here's the setlist...
The aftershow was messy due to lots of free drink, brilliant fun though. Jason and Conrad spun some good grooves; Michael Jackson, House of Pain and Stevie Wonder to name a few. The highlight for me was when I played Invisible Touch by Genesis though, that was the song to be beaten and it wasn't. Here's a picture...
Next up, Earth at Islington Mill. For me, this was much better than the first time I saw them (on the Hibernaculum tour). The sound was spot on, the venue is great, the crowd were good and the lighting was pleasant. I'm not sure about the setlist, it was all new style Earth, none of the early noise efforts. I can't really think how to describe an Earth gig, you have to experience it for yourself to understand it I guess. One thing is for sure, it was fantastic. Here is a photo of Dylan Carson...
There you go, thanks for reading post number 4.
Giants Causeway / Far Pavillions
Isis Unveiled
It Was There That I Saw You
Homage
Bells of Creation
Will You Smile Again?
Relative Ways
Clair de Lune
Totally Natural
Another Morning Stoner
Caterwaul
--------------
Mistakes & Regrets
Richter Scale Madness
Isis Unveiled
It Was There That I Saw You
Homage
Bells of Creation
Will You Smile Again?
Relative Ways
Clair de Lune
Totally Natural
Another Morning Stoner
Caterwaul
--------------
Mistakes & Regrets
Richter Scale Madness
The aftershow was messy due to lots of free drink, brilliant fun though. Jason and Conrad spun some good grooves; Michael Jackson, House of Pain and Stevie Wonder to name a few. The highlight for me was when I played Invisible Touch by Genesis though, that was the song to be beaten and it wasn't. Here's a picture...
Next up, Earth at Islington Mill. For me, this was much better than the first time I saw them (on the Hibernaculum tour). The sound was spot on, the venue is great, the crowd were good and the lighting was pleasant. I'm not sure about the setlist, it was all new style Earth, none of the early noise efforts. I can't really think how to describe an Earth gig, you have to experience it for yourself to understand it I guess. One thing is for sure, it was fantastic. Here is a photo of Dylan Carson...
There you go, thanks for reading post number 4.
Monday 13 April 2009
3: Things to come
There's a few gigs coming up that I'm going to so keep your eyes on the blog if you wanna hear about them. I'm particularly looking forward to the Blur shows, Primavera festival and Spiritualized performing Ladies & Gentlemen... Let me know if you're heading to any of these shows, I highly recommend you try and get to Retribution Gospel Choir because they don't tour an awful lot, only their 2nd trip to the UK.
16th April - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Academy 3, Manchester. I'm doing the aftershow for this too.
18th April - Earth
Islington Mill, Manchester
11th May - Grails ***CANCELLED***
12th May - Retribution Gospel Choir
The Deaf Institute (Trof), Manchester
28th-30th May - Primavera Sound Festival
w/ Neil Young, Sonic Youth, Spiritualized, Jarvis Cocker, Saint Etienne, SunnO))), Spectrum, My Bloody Valentine, Bloc Party, The New Year, Aphex Twin, Dan Deacon, Crystal Stilts, The Jesus Lizard, Lightning Bolt, Wavves, Shellac and more...
Parc Del Forum, Barcelona
21st June - The Thermals
Ruby Lounge, Manchester
26th June - Blur
MEN Arena, Manchester
29th June - Malcolm Middleton
Night & Day, Manchester
3rd July - Blur
Hyde Park, London
12th October - Spiritualized
performing Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Royal Festival Hall, London
In the meantime, listen to this...
Codeine - The White Birch (Sub Pop, 1994)
16th April - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Academy 3, Manchester. I'm doing the aftershow for this too.
18th April - Earth
Islington Mill, Manchester
11th May - Grails ***CANCELLED***
12th May - Retribution Gospel Choir
The Deaf Institute (Trof), Manchester
28th-30th May - Primavera Sound Festival
w/ Neil Young, Sonic Youth, Spiritualized, Jarvis Cocker, Saint Etienne, SunnO))), Spectrum, My Bloody Valentine, Bloc Party, The New Year, Aphex Twin, Dan Deacon, Crystal Stilts, The Jesus Lizard, Lightning Bolt, Wavves, Shellac and more...
Parc Del Forum, Barcelona
21st June - The Thermals
Ruby Lounge, Manchester
26th June - Blur
MEN Arena, Manchester
29th June - Malcolm Middleton
Night & Day, Manchester
3rd July - Blur
Hyde Park, London
12th October - Spiritualized
performing Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Royal Festival Hall, London
In the meantime, listen to this...
Codeine - The White Birch (Sub Pop, 1994)New discovery for me, this one. I heard the track 'Vacancy' a couple of years back but totally forgot to follow up on it until a couple of weeks ago when I was having a browse through the Sub Pop catalogue. Brilliant slow-core/low-fi album, on the same wave-length as Spiderland by Slint and Pygmalion by Slowdive. Be sure to give it a listen.
Sunday 12 April 2009
1
I suppose a good place to start this blog is to recommend some albums for you to listen to. So here it goes...
The New Year - The New Year (2008, Touch & Go Records)
I had this album recommended to me by a customer whilst I was working at HMV over christmas, I'd mentioned I was already interested because it was on Touch & Go and some of the members were in Bedhead (great band, check them out). This is their 3rd album, I haven't tracked down the first 2 yet but I definitely will after hearing this. As well as bringing forward the sound developed by Bedhead, there are rather large doses of Low and The Sea & Cake thrown in. You may think this all sounds a bit depressing, but it's a really nice listen. 'Folios' is a great opener and 'The Idea Of You' is probably the best closing track on an album last year. Looking forward to seeing these in Barcelona next month!
Retribution Gospel Choir - Retribution Gospel Choir (2008, Aural Exploits)
Retribution Gospel Choir - Retribution Gospel Choir (2008, Aural Exploits)Fantastic stoner-pop-rock featuring Steve and Alan from Low. If you're not a fan of Low don't let it put you off, this could still be well up your street. Great hooks and riffs with catchy choruses as well as some exploration into psych-rock. I find it hard to find any faults with this album, especially as a debut! Some people complain the drums are a bit busy but I think Eric does a great job on it. Steve didn't actually feature as bass player on this recording, that role was occupied by former Low bassist Matt Livingston. Highly recommended if you're into Dead Meadow, Pavement, Luna and even Journey!
I'll post some more later, I smell food burning...
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