Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast

Hey folks, sorry for the delay again, after river-boating has come the reality of changing jobs and moving house. It all of a sudden hit me that its going to be another quiet week on the blogging front as we sort out a new internet provider. On that note I have come across a few indie gems whilst I have been rocking out during packing (the only way to pack in my view). Long-view (formally Longview...) hail from several area's of the UK, I originally heard of them when I found out that a Manchester favorite of mine called Gecko-Levy were splitting (though Gecko-Levy carried on) forming a new band. Then a few months down the line I went to see Long-view as, strangely, Fell City Girl were supporting, and then the week after I saw them supporting the Cure! Anyways, Long-views debut alum, Mercury, was totally tip-top although not loved by the critics or the public for that matter. The band at the moment are working on a follow up album which is penned for Autumn release.

Long-view - If You Asked
Long-view - I Would
Long-view - Falling For You
Long-view - This is

The second band, Longpigs (I'm stuck on bands starting long!) from Sheffield, have had two albums out, the first The Sun is Often Out is scarily one of my mothers favorite of all time. It is also a very fantastic brit-pop album which tried to bring a bit more rock to the scene. While Blur and Oasis were slogging it out in the tabloids these guys were writing some awesome tunes. Their second album wasn't quite as amazing as they aimed to break America with it, and the band seem to have disbanded, although their singer Crispin Hunt (who's called Crispin) is to release a solo album.

Longpigs - All Hype
Longpigs - On And On
Longpigs - Over Our Bodies

Right back to boxing Lego and my Super Nintendo, also we finally have a webhost and domain thebidet.co.uk, tell your friends!

Hlemmur

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Managed to get my hands on a copy of Hlemmur, a biographic film about a bus station in Reykjavik and its homeless inhabitants. If you get chance do watch the film, it is a complete eye-opener and it is unbelievable to think that even in Iceland (I somehow believed it was an economic mecca) there are these poor people that have such an isolated life. The thing that gives the drama a further push is its soundtrack, composed by non other than the lovely Sigur Ros. Check out some highlights!

Sigur Ros - Bversogn Sigur Ros - Hlemmur 1 Sigur Ros - Josep Tekur Fimmuna Sigur Ros - Oskaborn Bjoojarinnar Sigur Ros - Vetur

Welcome to the table

Managed to get my hands on a copy of Hlemmur, a biographic film about a bus station in Reykjavik and its homeless inhabitants. If you get chance do watch the film, it is a complete eye-opener and it is unbelievable to think that even in Iceland (I somehow believed it was an economic mecca) there are these poor people that have such an isolated life. The thing that gives the drama a further push is its soundtrack, composed by non other than the lovely Sigur Ros. Check out some highlights!

Sigur Ros - Bversogn
Sigur Ros - Hlemmur 1
Sigur Ros - Josep Tekur Fimmuna
Sigur Ros - Oskaborn Bjoojarinnar
Sigur Ros - Vetur

Guglielmo Marconi

Been a while since a history lesson.
Guglielmo Marconi, a name synonymous with the first Atlantic wireless telegraph right? Well yes he is, but Marconi wasn't your normal inventor that sits in a darkened room for years tinkering. Born in Bologna Italy Marconi made his name in history in 1909 when he won the Nobel Price for contributions to the field of wireless telegraphy. His design for creating, now common radiowaves that could traverse the vast stretch of Atlantic between Europe and the Americas was based roughly on Heinrich Hertz's work of aetheric waves. To cut a long story short Marconi boshed together bits of other peoples inventions to make a practical use of radiowaves (one that is now all too common). His claims we always prone to being rubbished by skeptics, especially when Marconi had no actual proof, just his word. What was always fascinating about Marconi was his social underlife that was always one of the key driving forces for his peers shooting him down. He was an outgoing fascist, quite fitting that until the Euro he was the face of the 2000 Lire note, and even attended Mussolini's wedding as his best man! Marconi having been banned from speaking on the BBC, and almost being single handedly blamed for the lack of communication from the sinking Titanic (it was his radios on board!), died at the age of 63. Although the world of science looks on Marconi as an illusionist rather than a Nobel prize winning scientist the people of Italy regard him as a great.

The Secret Machines (finally got there!), released their own tribute to Marconi (though completely instrumental). The band themselves are currenlty recovering from the loss of their guitarist, who has now set out to start a new band. The School of Seven Bells are made up of Benjamin Curtis (formally of The Secret Machines) and also include Claudia Deheza. Claudia herself was in another of my favourite recent bands On!Air!Library! who created Sleater-Kinney-esque-girlrock. And thats where I started from, On!Air!Library!, and I got to going on about Marconi for twenty minutes, Wednesdays are long and dull!

The Secret Machines - Marconi's Radio
The Secret Machines - Lightening Blue Eyes
The Secret Machines - Nowhere Again
School of Seven Bells - For Kalaja Mari
On!Air!Library - Feb

I'm an anti-genre!

[Little instrumental]

Rob Dougan, someone who you don't really hear much from these days, whose only/debut album, I stumbled (oooh the iTunes random) back on. Dougan, from Sydney, was famous before he even considered releasing an album or even making an attempt at a compositional career. Clubbed to Death (the only song we know by Rob Dougan) was picked up in a London nightclub and exploded into one of the most TV/Movie friendly backing tracks ever. From Guiness adverts to blockbuster films (Matrix anyone?), it came to a point where you simply couldn't get away from it if you pressed your TV's on button. He finally released his only album in 2002 (7 years after Clubbed to Death), Furious Angels, with mixed reports. The tracks all featured the heavy orchestral features of of his hit movie-single but not quite the punchy dance rhythm, and unfortunately his album was litterally "Clubbed to death!". The album itself was actually very well put together, and given Dougan's voice isn't the most friendly he even included instrumental versions of all his songs! Dougan is back writing material for his second album and is also writing tunes for the Sugababes? Insane!

Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death 2
Rob Dougan - Will You Follow Me?

We're only making plans for Nigel

Firstly sorry for the delay in posting, between spending a week on a boat in Norfolk and traveling to Manchester for a long weekend there has been oceans of rainwater in the way. As I write this I am finally on the train to Manchester after setting off from Norfolk 30 hours ago!

Secondly todays collection is made up of my laptop collection (wooo on the road) so its a bit sparse. The White Stripes have made a rather awesome back in recent weeks with their new album and single titled Icky Thump. The album itself is typical Jack White dirty guitar with bits of piano mixed in and Meg White going bang bang bang on the snares mixed with an occasional thud on the bass. What sets this apart from the White Stripes we all love? Nothing, and its not actually that bad a thing, each tune is as catchy as the other and I particularly like this little skitch into music-story-telling-thievery.

The White Stripes - Rag and Bones

The Editors are another band that are back with vengeance, their second album An End Has a Start is another album that is trying to keep the band consistent. If you are expecting anything new don't get your hopes up but if you were hoping to hear more Editors then you won't be upset.

Editors - Racing Rats

Anyone remember Victoria Bergsman? Or The Concretes? Well never mind, but Victoria Bergsman (the singer of the former Concretes) has come back on a solo project called Taken By Trees, and I tell you one thing, I am certainly taken..by....it [hmmm that didn't work]

Taken By Trees - Tell Me

Daz-da-automata

Just a quickie, as I just came across some news that Minus the Bear are coming back to warm our ears again. For those that haven't had the pleasure Minus the Bear are a Seattle based slow indie rock outfit with some crazy guitar tapping action happening. January 2006 they unfortunately lost their keyboard player and it got some, including me, worried that they might loose it a bit. But sure enough they are to release an album sometime in mid August so keep ‘em peeled! I also came across this Maccabees track, a band from Brighton or a Jewish national liberation movement (you decide)? Nothing really to say about the Maccabees apart from the songs called Lego (yes!) and I really love the line “The boys chew Lego, and now we can’t build castles, or robots, cause the pieces don’t fit together!” such an intense metaphysical point [yup]

Minus the Bear - Pachuca Sunrise
Maccabees - Lego

Baby Lady Drown

Bolton's finest, Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy), slipped up on my iTunes today, and it was a song I haven't heard in a very long time. I do like it when that happens as it makes you smile for some inexplicable reason and then you just realise you are sat in work grinning. Badly Drawn Boy is an interesting character, when he isn’t causing trouble trying to get a crowd to do a Mexican wave during a tsunami appeal concert, he stands on stage and sings his little woolly hat off. The one problem that I have with Badly Drawn Boy is his recorded material; he very rarely translates his music well to record. Where we have over-recorded songs we should just have Damon himself in a room with a guitar and harmonica at a push. That was always why his radio recordings album was a family favourite on my iTunes. Here a few select cuts

Badly Drawn Boy – Once Around the Block (BBC Session)
Badly Drawn Boy – The Shining (XFM Session)
Badly Drawn Boy – Cause a Rockslide (BBC Session)
Badly Drawn Boy – Pissing in the Wind (BBC Session)

The last song for this post is another Badly Drawn Boy song, this time with a band, a very special band. This is Roadmovie which was recorded with Doves as backing, oooooh

Badly Drawn Boy - Roadmovie (BBC Session)

Piccie - Badly Drawn Boy is the official sponser of Buxton Ladies FC, see if you can make it out on the white shirt.

Cover me in makeup-Shake up!

Covers are a fine thing, especially if well executed as a tribute to the original. For me covers shouldn’t be about making a perfect replica of the original, although Placebo would argue otherwise. Covers should be about your appreciation of a song and how you would convey the message the song sings. It doesn’t have to be vastly different it just has to be stylised to the covering bands persona otherwise its just the original sang by someone else, like a teenager with a hairbrush!

We Are Scientists have absolutely no grasp of Icelandic (I checked) but they do have a love for Sigur Ros that stretches miles. This is their cover of Hoppipolla, strictly acoustic but amazingly brought together and rather well, yet ever so slightly tongue in cheek, vocalised.

Tom Jones is a man, hes a real man, a man with chest hair and a voice that could strip even the most chastised of ladies to a desperate sex fiend. That said I am not entirely sure he should be doing covers of the Arctic Monkeys, but give him ten points for effort.

If pretty was a song it would be Julie Doiron doing a cover of Me and Julio Down by the School Yard, originally by Paul Simon. The Canadian Julie Doiron has been singing pretty songs for years no, through bands and her solo career. This is no different, but thankfully in English, and is a great tribute to Simons classic, which in itself has a big buzz on the lyricists forums. Truman Capote was under then impression that ‘me’ and ‘Julio’ were children experimenting with homosexuality in the school yard. This would certainly explain “What mama saw, was against the law”

We Are Scientists – Hoppipolla
Tom Jones – I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor
Julie Doiron – Me and Julio Down by the School Yard

School Daze!

Came across a website Law of the Playground which is a wikipedia of terms that people use/used at school. There are some ace entries there and I suggest everyone pops on and check it out, one of my favourites has to be: What do Ethiopians do at night? ..... starve.

Anyways without offending anyone else, I started thinking about music that I was into when I was in high-school/primary school and can only really think of a few.

Skunk Anansie - Hedonism
Gary Glitter - Hey Song
The Verve - Lucky Man

La Instrument

Did you know instrumental is an anagram of "Lunar Mittens"?

Yet another instrumental session is upon us, this will be a bumper issue as there will be a lack of mentaling next week (I apologise but holidays come first!). Bit of a mix today, with instrumental only tracks from Interpol and Spiritualized, and an acapella Bjork (this counts as the other end of the spectrum from instrumental). First up though I would like to introduce Amiina, a band from Iceland who you have all heard but never knew it. Amiina are the recording quartet for Sigur Ros and as I am aware once toured with them to promote Takk. As a band they excel mainly by playing stuff that doesn't sound too disimilar to Sigur Ros themselves but this is not exactly a bad thing.

Amiina - Rugla
Amiina - Glamur
Amiina - Hilli

Next up is St. Vincent, or under her real name Annie Clark, who has the power to completely render you useless for the few minutes that you listen to her music. Usually she is poppy, guitar powered, and well rounded with some awesome lyrics (enough to support Jose Gonzalez!). This on the other hand, is a tad different, it drips with affection and care and just wants to be listened too, I could spout on but why bother just listen!

St. Vincent - We Put a Pearl In The Ground

Instrumental versions of tracks that should be sung over are usually the first to be cursed by the fast-forward button. Thankfully that doesn't apply to our next two offerings, the first Interpol, is a track that does miss its lyrics, but gives you an ace insight to the complications that Interpol weave. Second up is possibly my favourite Spiritualized track of all time, and dont be surprised if its lyric-ked countpart makes an appearance sometime soon.

Interpol - Mammouth (instrumental)
Spritualized - I Didn't Mean to Hurt You (instrumental)

Toy Music, not a statement but infact the name of our next band, produce well toy music! Using the latest in toy piano, toy drum sticks, xylaphones and recorders Toy Music create some brilliant compositions using the oddest of instruments. This is no different, Strap The Button acts as a good starter for your toy music career and will have you pulling out that Early Learning Center saxophone in no time.

Toy Music - Strap the Button

Because of Ghosts, are a raw sounding mess of sound, which falls together perfectly in time and in tune. Parts of which are somewhere in between Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You, with guitar phrases laced together with xylaphone and an almost marching band like snare drum. Intrestingly enough on the bands website one of the members has a prefered instrument of "Wine Glasses"

Because of Ghosts - You Fool (Your House Was Built on a Frozen Lake)
Because of Ghosts - No More Reason, No More Doubt

Carrying on our fine instrumentals is Dirty Three, a three piece (believe it or not) from Melbourne Australia. Whats interesting about Dirty Three is that as a band they are only loved between the hardcore, but as individual musicians they have spanned all over the place. Warren Ellis, the violin player, is actually the lead violin player for Nick Caves Bad Seeds, the band themselves have had seven albums, toured with Sonic Youth and Pavement to name but a few, and are fantastic!

Dirty Three - I Really Should of Gone Out Last Night
Dirty Three - Sea Above, Sky Below

Finally, I have spent pretty much all day trying to figure out how I can justify having this next track, and to be honest I cant. Bjork doing an acapella version of Hidden Place, in terms of its instrumental status its about as far away as one can get from instrumental, but surely in that sense, like you cant have religion without both God and the devil, it makes it one in the same...

Bjork - Hidden Place (Acapella)

Trompe l'oeil

Yesterday I finally got my allotment, sorry chaps for not updating sooner its been a busy digging weekend! It was quite interesting when we first got there though as there are lots of middle to old aged men, mostly just sat around, trying to get away from their wives. There was also a lot of fuss made about the fact that someone in their mid-twenties would quite happily take on an allotment, and take to it with gusto.

To chuck in a early season crop, Keith Moon doing The Beatles? You better believe it, I am not entirely sure why this makes me think of allotments... but it does!

Keith Moon - When I'm Sixty Four

The first known allotment was in the 18th Century, and was based in Birmingham, unfortunately at this time there was no legal specification for how allotments had to be provided by the government. Due to this point there was a great decline in the amount of allotments and of their owners, as people could charge what they wanted for allotments. It was in 1908 when the Small Holdings and Allotment act came into play and from then each local county council had to provide a certain amount of land for a nominal fee. In 1997 the total that the UK councils had made from allotment fee's was £2.61 million, whereas the costs involved in renting the land out and up-keep costs was £8.44 million. Allotmenteering (which is the actual word) is not just a strict British institution either, Sweden and Germany are two of the main adopters of allotments, famously Albert Einstein had an allotment he almost got kicked out of for not weeding.

A slightly more cultured (though there is nothing wrong with Keith Moon) supper of Turin Brakes is in order when going down the allotment route. I think this has vibes of a rainy overcast plot, which is something, I am realising more in my allotmenteering capacity, comes with the job.

Turin Brakes - Above the Clouds

Robots in disguise!

After spending the best part of three and a half hours last night recording mix tapes for our holiday, I was informed that we only have a stereo-radio-cassette player to keep us company, I have been on a music high. Next week we embark on a week long trip through the Norfolk Broads (so expect zilch on the posting front) upon a floating, slug-speeding, caravan, and I need music. Last nights taping session, which was so retro it began to make me bleed, was full of the topping hits that you would expect at a wedding circa 1986. Where at least one persons is wearing: a suit with trainers, one single silver glove, too much hair lacquer, a leather jacket, a track suit (usually a child).

Talking Heads, from Rhode Island, started off as a three piece guitar/lead singer, bass/backing and drums type of affair. Consisting of David Byrne, Tina Weymouth (who recently recorded with Gorillaz) and Chris Frantz, they moved from Rhode Island to New York and actually support The Ramones at CBGB's (imagine that). It was here in NYC that Talking heads became dubbed as 'New Wave' although the first at the time, it was later to become bandied around everywhere! In 1979 the band went through their major transition to become the Talking Heads we all love, with the inclusion of more band members (five!), and the mastery of Brian Eno they released Fear of Music, and its still amazing today!

Talking Heads - Same as it Ever Was

The Housemartins, now theres a band you don't hear mentioned very much, if at all, these days. Hailing from Hull (it stinks of fish..) the original line up was a bit moribund (apart from Paul Heaton), but then with the inclusion of Norman (Fat Boy) Cook (Slim), and the drummer Hugh Whitaker (story to follow) they became huge! (well sorta). Obviously Paul Heaton went on to form the Beautiful South, which the name itself is against The Housemartins principles (being pro-north!), and Norman Cook went off to Fat-Boy up! Hugh Whitaker, the drummer of the Housemartins, returned to Hull after splitting with the band and went into partnership with a friend of his, James Hewitt. Hugh carried on playing drums until he found that his business partner James Hewitt had ran with the ten thousand pound loan that Hugh had paid him. Enraged Hugh went on a rampage through Hull placing pipe-bombs in James's house and tracking him all over the Hull and Leeds area until finally on a fateful day in 1993 James Hewitt got his come-upance. Ding-Dong' "James dear can you get the door", "Yes ok" James saw a figure through the peep hole, it was the postman. "Good morning Mr Postman" said James opening the front door, "Good morning James, you don't remember me do you? How could you forget, forget me!". Just then the postman pulled out an axe and 'whallop!' James lay on the floor, with an axe in his head.

Hugh spent just five years in prison, no one knows if James lived or died.

Housemartins - Happy Hour

p.s That shits actually true!!

I'm baaaaad, Smashing it!

Its instru-mental!

As the thunder, lightning, hail, monsoon, typhoon, hurricaine and rain continue to belt this tiny island into oblivion its time to get on with the instrumental. Thomas Newman is top of my people list today, not simply because we watched Little Children, which features his work, but because my iTunes shuffle still surprises me to this day. Thomas Newman is one of the finest soundtrack composers out there, cousin to Randy (I never knew that till now) he has put in music what sometimes cannot be expressed in visual terms. I came up with a few of the key movie elements that have been emphasized by Newman's work and here a few questions:
Would anyone of made a fuss about the American Beauty, plastic bag scene? Would anyone of cried in The Shawshank Redemption when Brookes dies? Would anyone of actually cared about Meet Joe Black?

Thomas Newman - Whisper of a Thrill (from Meet Joe Black)

The piano has always been one of those instruments I love, I have been trying to play for longer than I can remember and still marvel when I play anything remotely good. Its emotive, simple, and one of those skills that puts you in good standing to learn anything once you have mastered it. Michael Nyman is another soundtrack composer who has provided some brilliant music to some fantastic films. Nothing more so than the music to The Piano

Michael Nyman - Scent of Love

Carrying on with the piano theme, Christopher O'Riley, the American classical pianist with a penchant for Radiohead. Which comes neat onto our next offering of Robert Glasper playing some Radiohead style Jazz, which does work oddly enough. The Hawi'ian Jake Shimabukuro, who is the finest ukulele player ever, does some more covers playing the Beatles, give it time it becomes more obvious after a while. Then moving onto more normal instrumental Tuesday type stuff, we have M. Ward the singer/guitarist who has worked with many a famous act (Bright Eyes in particular). The Six Parts Seven, who are a mix of Explosions in the Sky and Eluvium, create layers of bass, drums and some fine guitar. Enjoy my chums!

Christopher O'Riley - Paranoid Android
Robert Glasper - Everything in its Right Place
Jake Shimabukuro - While my Guitar Gently Weeps
M.Ward - Transfiguration
The Six Parts Seven - Stolen Moments

Look around you!

Owen Pallett. That name probably means very little to you, and thats what this post is for! I was talking to a good friend of mine and I got onto the topic of a young composer named Owen Pallett and it seems no one knows of him. I must put this right I thought and this is my attempt at educating the masses.

From Ontario Canada, young Owen born in September 1979, is a singer/composer/violin God. He is the only (barre an occasional drummer) member of the band Final Fantasy (yes named after the game). Writing the string sections for both of The Arcade Fires albums, and touring with them occasionally, but its his solo (Final Fantasy) work that needs highlighting. On stage he is very sheepish but at the same time outlandish (think Patrick Wolf) with just a violin hooked to Boss loop pedal he creates layers upon layers of violin phrases looped on the fly so to speak. With his powerful but quite subtle lyrics pounding over the top of arrays and crescendo's of his violin. His music is about his life, and more importantly his sexuality and how this has changed his life, for better and for worse. Owen was never in the closet with sexuality and is very upbeat with his music being labelled 'Queer'

For our brief dip into the world of the Polaris Music Prize winner we have one of his more famous singles, though he supposedly hates the support it got, This is the Dream of Win and Regine (of Arcade Fire fame). Adventure.exe was a strange song in the Final Fantasy repertoire as it was made famous by an Orange advert, and advert he didn't want his song in! For our pudding this evening is The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead, which is obviously in reference to the thousands of tourists that travel in hordes to see the 1/2 kilometer tall tower of his hometown.

Final Fantasy - This is the Dream of Win and Regine
Final Fantasy - Adventure.exe
Final Fantasy - The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead

For more Final Fantasy madness be sure to check out the amazingly named 'He Poo's Clouds' and you can try clicking.......here

Just a load of Crypto-fascist-bourgeois crap!

Its been officially twelve hours since England has banned smoking in pubs, bars, nightclubs, cafes and restaurants, lunch rooms, membership clubs and shopping centres. In fact the UK is now the largest whole nation to ban smoking in such a way and seems to lead the race in banning smoking full stop. There is a mixed opinion of who is right and who is wrong in the no smoking ranks, yes it does mean that our health will benefit by not being in a smoke-ridden environment in pubs but at the same time does that encourage us to spend more time in pubs? Take today for example, almost as a tribute to the fact that there was no smoking in pubs we saw more children spending time with their parents in pubs, is this a good thing?

Anyway on to the music, as today is carnival day and everyone is a bit celebratory, for more reasons more than just the lack of smoke in public areas, we are going to have a covers evening. Our first act is Jonna Lee, doing a rather amazing version of The Postal Service's DC Sleeps Alone Tonight. Next we have the Yeah Yeah Yeah's doing a cover of Bjork's Hyperballard, which I/We are told was sent to Bjork herself and never listened too (or was it?). For a pinch of something out there we have Lovedrug from Ohio, who have always been unfortunate, and thankfully after splitting from their label (through the bands request oddly!) they have been doing some banging tunes, especially this cover of Heart Shaped Box. Finally we have Slowbear the Great and their amazing cover of Bloc Party's Banquet, this song was submitted to the Blag Party mix, which was a bunch of independant music folk doing tributes to the great Bloc Party (I seriously suggest checking them out, they are all free!)

Jonna Lee - DC Sleeps Alone Tonight
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Hyperballard
Lovedrug - Heart Shaped Box
Slowbear the Great - Banque