A.R.E. Weapons - Keys Money Cigarettes

Earlier this year we saw A.R.E. Weapons release what I believe was their third full-length via their own website. To be honest, it surprised me that the band even still existed. I owned their self-titled first record when it came out back in 2003. I never felt the urge to sell it when I was cleaning up my record collection, which I guess does show some level of affection and enjoyment, but as far as I was concerned, that was all from the band. The album was an enjoyable little piece of NY "fuck you" attitude with the occasional cheesy and overblown loving sentiment but I really couldn't see how the band would last. However, apparently they've released two records since then, "Keys Money Cigarettes" being the latest. Those of you who have followed the band on any level since their inception will know how much Suicide references have plagued them in all forms of press and criticism. After all, it's two guys from New York, one pisses around with electronics and one screams like a man-bitch and they both have that ever beloved sense of NY cool. Sound familiar?

The point when the Suicide comparison ends comes in both delivery and subject matter. It's very easy to presume that Suicide were an absolutely terrifying proposition decades ago. Hell, even now when I play people "Frankie Teardrop" they become very, very nervous. Suicide had a dark mentality. They didn't make much music that was either easily accessible or friendly. They wrote songs about a man shooting his six month old son and wife because that actually seemed like a good topic to write a song about to them. Every lyric in that song was sung so you could hear just how disturbed the subject matter was, save the occasional lyric lacking scream to add to the intensity. It's an incredibly disturbed exercise in music creation, of which very few bands have been able to recreate since. Now lets look at A.R.E. Weapons. They sing songs about hustling, how great they are, drugs, quite normal social situations and frankly there's not an element of edge or fear anywhere to be seen here. It's pretty easy to call A.R.E. Weapons "goofy". That's how all their songs come off, at least. It's almost impossible to think of anyone in their sane mind actually taking offense or being shocked by anything this band does. Now this leads to two possibilities. A) The band actually think they're an incredibly dangerous and important proposition and everything they have to say is incredibly smart. In other words they're delusional. Or B) They're well aware that they're not a torch carrier for Suicide and are just genuinely enjoying the ride. I personally have no idea, every piece of press and image from the band shows that their mentality towards what they do could go either way.

As something that resembles a final thought, let's drop the Suicide comparison and any level of notable posturing and consider the new record on purely musical grounds. It's great. It's a fun slab of danceable attitude from two men who are incredibly competent within their roles in the band. Vocals are yelped, samples are mashed and "Keys Money Cigarettes" is A.R.E. Weapons at their snotty, mocking best. Completely disposable but more enjoyable because of it.

A.R.E. Weapons - Nobody Likes Us We Don't Care
A.R.E. Weapons - Mystery

Buy Keys Money Cigarettes from the band's website


For reference and terrifying everyone around you:
Suicide - Frankie Teardrop

Ani Difranco - s/t debut

I would like to say that this is "Ani Difranco's Masterpiece", but I would be lying. Not because it isn't incredible (it is), but because she released this - a gorgeous, complicated and often vicious album and has continued to better herself again and again ever since. Ani Difranco's discography is so vast that she is the only the artist in my CD collection who has her own designated shelf, in date order. This means that this CD lies at the far left, while the most recent Knuckle Down lies at the other end. There are certain comparisons to be made between her debut 19-year-old-girl recordings and her wisened musings on her latest album; over the years she has released albums with accompaniment from drum machines, full orchestras, jazz bands, spoken word poets and even hip-hop backing, but after proving her undeniable worth in all of these styles she has chosen to return once more to just her and her guitar; stripped-down, honest and exposed.

When you hear Ani almost-literally wearing her heart on her sleeve in this way, it's not hard to visualise the steps she has made in her life. Her last record was full of hard-hitting songs about divorce, loss, her ex-husband, while her first-record is just as brutal in it's delivery only we see utterly different topics playing on the younger Ani's mind. She sings about love, sex, abortions, her new life in New York... but while Ani's concerns have changed, and perhaps broadened, over the years, it's apparent that her talent for extremely beautiful lyrics was developed young, and the trademark choppy quiet/loud guitar-playing is noticeable already. The vocals sound much younger - she sounds sweet, as if making an effort to play her vocal chords as intricately as her guitar, while she has since realised that she sometimes needs to spit and yell her words into the microphone to get people's full attentions.

You get the feeling that if Ani Difranco had never ever released another album after this (let's imagine that she did a Jeff Buckley) that this would, or should, be recognised as one of the greatest debuts. After all, a couple of her all-time greatest songs are already on this album. As it happened, she kept releasing albums and each one was a little different and there's a strange trend whereby each is a little better than the last, which somehow means that her debut has faded into the dark realms of DiFranco history, when it deserves much more recognition than it gets. It is Ani proving that she's been writing great songs, playing amazing guitar and singing her heart out from the beginning, and she has stayed true to the foundations she laid out in this album ever since.

Both Hands
Fire Door

You can order this album from Amazon

Mission Of Burma - Obliterati

I suspect Mission Of Burma's reunion years back was quite a surprise for the people who'd been around for their band's original cult success. As well as completely baffling to the new generation of kids who knew them as little more than a note in the 80s post-punk stage (yours truly included). But none the less, there they were. Playing shows at all Tomorrows Parties and reminding the aging cult nerds why they all had such a huge boner for them decades ago. However for the many music obsessed teenagers who knew little to nothing about the band, the revival was little more than a case of being told that Mission Of Burma were and are incredibly important and it would be in their best interest to become familiar with their back catalogue. That's what we were left with. A hand full of records to listen to and for some, complete confusion as to why everyone cared so much. The whole process of trying to become familiar with a band that you had no particular interest in before a widely publicized reunion can go so many ways. For me, I felt they were somewhat inconsistent but held the ability to throw out some really decent little slabs of emotive semi-political post-punk. But I did have the feeling that if the band wanted to solidify their relationship with the younger enthusiasts, they'd have to make new records and those new records would have to be really good.

I've spent the better part of today with Mission Of Burma's new album "Obliterati". I was listening to it in the bath, I put it in my walkman when I was going to see a friend and had it in the background when trying to clean my bedroom. Mainly I was in a state of enjoyment whilst also pondering whether or not this is the record that will inspire the new generation to take notice. Eventually I've managed to conclude that "Obliterati", whilst a very enjoyable and solid album won't win them many new fans. Mainly due to the fact they have stuck too close to their expected to sound to win over those people who felt slightly alienated by the band's past work when it was thrown at them a few years back. Of course I'm not attempting to imply that they should change their respected and enjoyable fundamentals to attract newcomers, I'll leave that to faceless A&R people. But lets face it. The original fans are getting older. Some loosing interest in what they were obsessed with in their younger years and bar the occasional aging elitist prick, I can't imagine any of the bands fans not wanting to see Mission Of Burma appealing to a new generation, passing the torch down if you will.

For people who do hold a soft spot for Burma, this record will do it for you in the way that only this band can. I'd easily consider calling it one of their finest records to date. For those still on the fence, I'd recommend you at least give "Obliterati" a try and attempt not to let the hyperbole behind the band put you off.

Mission Of Burma - Spider's Web
Mission Of Burma - Careening With Conviction

Buy Obliterati from Amazon

In other awesome bands reforming news:
Scratch Acid are reforming, with all original members for the Touch & Go Records 25th Anniversary show. They'll be playing with the likes of Shellac, Ted Leo, The Black Heart Procession and Pinback to toast one of the world's best labels. It's unannounced as to whether the reunion will continue after the show or if it's just a single mark of respect. Either way, I'm hoping they come to England and David Yow can freak us all out by stuffing the catering down his trousers and then smacking everyone in the face with his balls.

Scratch Acid - She Said
Scratch Acid - Mary Had A Little Drug Problem

Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst

Dr. Octagon is one of the most well known alter egos for respected hip-hop oddball Kool Keith. Whilst records under the name Kool Keith were far from straight up hip-hop affairs, his at the time new alias allowed him to delve even further in to the constant trashy sex fantasy that seems to be the majority of his thought process. With spot on production from Dan The Automator, Keith/Octagon blended his highly sexual and slightly disturbed mentality with his apparent love for the dark depths of sci-fi. This direction was set seconds in to the album as we hear a conversation between a nurse and doctor which leads to the nurse "satisfying the doctors needs" because she "likes it when he gets bigger and bigger" but doesn't "want him to explode all over the wall". If everyone really is so up in arms about the new Streets track that is basically the glorification of the gentleman caller/date rapist culture, I have no idea what everyone would have made of a skit like "A Visit To The Gynecologist" had this record received more mainstream attention back when it was released in the 90s. Then there's the actual tracks and this is what caused Keith's sanity to actually questioned at the time. Much like I said before, it's a mix of bizarre sci-fi fantasy mixed with graphic medical care related violence and a strong element of sexual perversion all mixed in with a collection of samples that seemed to mainly be taken from 80s sci-fi movies to give proceedings that extra feeling of complete detachment from reality. On "Earth People" when Keith declares "earth people/I was born on Jupiter", there was a strong sense that he actually believed what he was saying.

Dr. Octagon - Intro
Dr. Octagon - Earth People
Dr. Octagon - Halfsharkalligatorhalfman

Buy Dr. Octagonecologyst from Amazon

In other Kool Keith news:
Keith just released another record under the name Nogatco Rd. (Dr Octagon spelt backwards) under the name Mr. Nogatco. The good news is he's still as disturbed, over sexed and spaced out as he's ever been. His albums also have some damn good artwork.

Mr. Nogatco - Nogatco Rd.
Mr. Nogatco - Celestial

Buy Nogatco Rd. from Amazon

Sorry, I had to:
So I had my itunes on random earlier, not exactly sure why. I discovered that somehow the most bizarre mash-up had made it's way on to my hard drive. Now I love Big Black and I have a soft spot for Eminem when all he used to rap about was beating bullies to death. But a mix of the two doesn't sound good on paper. This is the annoying if slightly funny rap to "Job For Me" over the bass and guitar to BB's "Kerosene". I'm sure you're all laughing at me for posting this but £30 says you press the play button.

The Former Yugoslavia - Big Black vs Eminem

About the next podcast:edit
Still no luck.

Check out podcast no2 here

Horrorpops - Hell Yeah

My initial reaction to Horrorpops was to smirk and make some snidey comment about post-Distillers post-Cramps post-Tiger-Army cliques. Then, however, I actually listened to their debut and was much more impressed than I would like to openly admit. There is something enjoyably kitsch about this band - they don't come across as taking themselves completely seriously, they just want to dress as Betty Page and/or Eraserhead and jump around onstage with their Go-Go Girls. Yes, this band has Official Go-Go Girls, and to read their lyrics you would easily mistake them for a 1950s rockabilly band.

But so what if they are every clique about the World Of Psychobilly thrown in a big pot and stirred up? If you want a band who have got their image, sound, and sense of humour perfected then look no further. Like I said, they don't appear to consider themselves the next punk rock divas - rather they've just had fun creating their own Horrorpops world that could probably be placed somewhere between a Nekromantix show, the Moulin Rouge and something Tim Burton dreamt up. If nothing else, they look incredible. Front-woman Patricia and her little duo of Go-Go Girls look better than any Suicide Girl you ever laid eyes on, and the male members could easily have walked off the set of Johnny Suede.

Though I couldn't listen to this record a lot (it may have some catchy little numbers but it sure isn't anything The Cramps or The Damned haven't done before) it is still a highly entertaining listen and worth checking out if you like slap-bass and surf guitars. In short, cliqued as it may be, The Horrorpops travelling pscyhobilly pantomime is every bit as fun as they planned it to be.

Julia
Baby Lou Tattoo

You can order Hell Yeah from Amazon

The nine best tracks of 2006........so far

You all just adore lists, don't you? It's the most magnificently fetishised practice in modern music. It's great fun to play people's artistic creation against other people's for no real reason besides an exercise in ranking skills. Well on this completely irrelevant and unimportant stopping point in the year, here's what I think are the nine best tracks anyone's laid down so far. I decided to leave out my favorite tracks from the recent Grandaddy and Raconteurs because they were posted here like a week ago.

No real order but if you really want there to be one, just make it up.

The Coup - We Are The Ones

Originally this was going to be "My Favorite Mutiny" but apparently that was released as a single last year and I don't really feel like being corrected. So from The Coup's fantastic new record "Pick A Bigger Weapon", here's the albums second best track "We Are The Ones". Here we see Mr Riley rapping in a mock geeky voice over a decent beat and breaking in to an irritatingly catchy chorus.

IAMX - The Negative Sex

Sneaker Pimps man gone solo laying down another grizzly slab of keyboard driven musing. Anyone who can lay down a line like "we all want to fuck ourselves and rape the world" and not come off looking like a pretentious little prick is cool with me.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Way Out

One of the most humorous little rivalries I've noticed this year has been between the ever all over the place Yeah Yeah Yeahs and newcomers Be Your Own Pet. Ten minutes after BYOP release their first album and already we had a thousand people proclaiming them "the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs". Problem was, that record had all the lasting power of a box of tissues at a Dashboard show. Mainly people rambled about how "urgent" they were but urgency doesn't last and the same direct approach to everything doesn't work unless you're really good or doing something completely unique. Yea Yeah Yeahs on the other hand released a record full of growing, clever and well written numbers, "Way Out" being the most powerful. They've showed they have the ability to progress and stay relevant.

Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Thunder Road

Whilst an album of Tortoise and the good Prince doing cover versions may have seemed great on paper, the album proved to be a bit of a drag. However their cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" worked perfectly. Oldham's dry cold vocals managed to strip the old classic of any sense of urgency and making the song sound like "I See A Darkness" out take.

Ghostface Killah - Shakey Dog

"Shakey Dog" is probably the best track from Ghostface's newish album "Fishscale". Great vocal sample, great productions, great beat and all topped off with the Killah's semi-high pitched, inventive and skillful rapping.

Beirut - Postcards From Italy

Yeah, I'm sure you're sick of hearing about Beirut. I am too. Some of the write ups for this bands new record have been pretty fucking funny. "They sound like a gypsy jazz band". No, they sound like a set of indy kids taking vague influence from gypsy jazz. But what's most important is that they work. Beirut manage to cram so many instruments in to each track yet not come off as an exercise in hipsters go classical. "Postcards From Italy" is the track that kept sticking out although it's a decent album as a whole. I thought it got really boring at the end but in turned out my itunes had moved on to Belle & Sebastian.

Uffie - Ready To Uff

To put it very simply, this is a girl half rapping half singing about how great she is, how much she wants to fuck and how everyone who isn't her, sucks. As a rapper she isn't worth shit but that's missing the point. Uffie is entertaining and full of attitude that makes almost makes you want to slap her. She'll probably end up being this years M.I.A, only way less annoying.

Liars - It Fit When I Was A Kid

I'm starting to think that Liars' "Drum's Not Dead" may be the most annoying record of the year. I understand their need to harness all the spooky voodoo energy of the drum but did they really have to make a whole record of simple drumming with the occasional miscellaneous noise? The more you listen to it the more you realize it sounds like a third grade music lesson. That being said, there are moments when everything falls in to place and you're actually given something to listen to. "It Fit When I Was A kid" is creepy and strange enough to put it miles ahead of the rest of the record.

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - You Are What You Love

I wonder how many times I can run with the "this song is good but the rest of the album isn't so great" angle in one post before anyone notices? Yeah, whilst Jenny Lewis' solo project doesn't inspire the same intense feeling of annoyance that Liars manage, I did generally find the record just plodded along somewhat uneventfully. Then right at the end we're given the reminder as to why we all loved Rilo Kiley so much in the first place in the shape of "You Are What You Love".

P.S Yes, I'm aware of the irony in this being a best songs post and most of the writing is about albums.

Overlooked Albums no4. The Icarus Line - Penance Soiree

Back when I was in mid secondary school, I had a huge obsession with The Icarus Line, mainly because of their first album "Mono" and their reputation as modern punks biggest set of assholes. Back when I was about fourteen, I thought there was nothing cooler than stealing display guitars from the hard rock and giving The Strokes tour bus a new color scheme. Even to this day I can't argue that "Mono" is a fantastic exercise in molding clever if slightly obvious influences in to complete aggression. However unless the band can create one hell of a come back in the next few years, they're going to go down as one of this eras biggest could-have-been bands. Guitarist and the bands most violent member Aaron North quit the band to join Nine Inch Nails and no one's heard much out of them since.

"Penance Soiree" was The Icarus Line's major label debut, obviously they'd gotten sick of sleeping in the gutter after every show. So all of us eager little mid pubescent fans had faith that despite the "selling out" they'd still be as raw as ever. Problem was, when Penance Soiree came out they'd completely changed their sound. By no means was it something to make their label happy, if anything this new awkward take on drone-rock and shoegaze was even harder for the majority to swallow than the Born Against meets Drive Like Jehu punk of the first album. But none the less, I and every other idiot who was in need of their musical bratty yelping were not pleased. Clearly we thought The Icarus Line should spend their time making the same album over and over until the act wore thin. Looking back now I understand completely why I didn't like the record at the time but it also makes me feel slightly stupid. "Penance Soiree" is musically and conceptually better than the angsty debut. The whole album takes The Jesus & Mary Chain root of bathing great melodies so far in to distortion that it's hard to even notice that they're there. "Spit On It" could be the finest recording the band ever did/will do and "Party The Baby Off" with it's constant repetition of "take off all your clothes" is one hell of a sleazy album closer.

The Icarus Line - Spit On It
The Icarus Line - Virgin Velcro
The Icarus Line - Party The Baby Off

Buy Penance Soiree from Amazon

Check out the overlooked albums archive.

Braintax - Biro Funk

I'm not sure how many of you have had the incredible pleasure of ever visiting the UK but I'm sure that you're all well aware of the stereotype that it's a place driven mainly by vague melancholy and snide, unpleasant attitudes. Like the majority of first world countries we're all given the right to bitch about how horrible this place is and it seems like our most exercised of all the rights. Yet under all this gloom and rudeness there's an almost ironic sense of pride. The first time any other country decides to take a mocking jab at us, we won't stand for it. Only we're allowed to make fun of our shitty country. For a rapper like Braintax this unpleasant yet humorous atmosphere gave him the perfect subject matter for one of the best pieces of social commentary these shores have thrown outwards in quite some time. Braintax set himself up as the all purpose inclusive figure of the understanding, knowing, angry participant in every day British life. His subjects change from interesting commentary about the way relationships seem to work around here to vitriolic rants about capitalism. Obviously the latter subject caused the odd redundant political statement but on a record that just had so much charm and was so easy to relate to, it was easy to understand.

Braintax - Last Date
Braintax - The Grip

Buy Biro Funk from Amazon UK

In other news:
Danger Mouse has taken time off from his work with Gnarls Barkley to hook up with MF Doom and make a new Danger Doom track. Good news everyone, I don't think this one has cartoon characters rapping on it. There is a talking part at the end by two characters that I can't identify but I'm guessing they're not part of a Ted Turner organization. Anyone want to put me straight on who they are?

Danger Doom - Korn Dogs

The Bronx - S/T

For anyone who's wondering, my favorite recently intercepted US hardcore band is LA's The Bronx. Fortunately for me and anyone who shares this sentiment, July 18th will see the release of The Bronx's second, self-titled album. Their first album was a harsh reminder of everything that made hardcore appeal to me so much in the first place. Urgent, unapologetic and loud seem to be the three describing words that come to mind. Every song was done in three takes which left the tracks full of little recording errors but also managed to contribute to just how raw the band sounded. They've used the same recording concept for the new album and from the sound of the below sample mp3s, we can all rest assured that nothing has changed. I highly recommend you give "Shitty Future" a try. The Mudhoney like guitar line coupled with the ever anger packed vocals just completely make the track take off.

They're also one hell of a live act and I think they're about to embark on a US tour, so try and check them out.

The Bronx - Shitty Future
The Bronx - History's Stranglers

Nouvelle Vague - Bande A Part

For the few of you who are not yet familiar with Nouvelle Vague, here's a basic explanation. They're a covers band. Fortunately they're an incredibly impressive covers band who've captured the hearts of hipsters and hopeless French romantics the world over. Their covers of Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine and Dead Kennedys have earned them one hell of a cult following and today their new album "Bande A Part" was released in sections of Europe.

Whilst previous albums have had more of a 70s focus or just a calculated compilation of tracks from any era, "Bande A Part" sees the melodic Euros taking a more 80s, goth theme for the song selection. A few exceptions occur in the shape of Buzzcocks and Cramps covers but for the most part it seems they're giving their graceful touch to an era full of morbid yet classic music for the freaks. When pondering what to write I kept wanting to run with the idea that the reason this album and this band is such a success is their ability to completely strip down a song and leave the lyrics completely open, free from any form of disguise. But that's really only a side note in why this band manages to work. Truth be told, and I'm sorry if this comes off as sexist, but the singing makes everything about this music sexy. They manage to make songs that seemed so amazingly sexless and even creepy have a warm sexual edge. This obviously isn't true to the punk covers but if you actually thought Bauhaus "Bela Lugosi's Dead" or Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Moon" contained any level of sex appeal, then there is something seriously wrong with you and this logic works on "Heart Of Glass" unless Debbie Harry's deadpan pitching really did something for you.

Nouvelle Vague now have an incredible advantage. They clearly enjoy working through decades past of popular music and there's no shortage of people who want to hear a bunch of French chicks sexify all their favorite songs. They're an enjoyable listen even to people who aren't too big on the originals and they handle the songs with enough skill to not piss off the covered songs diehard fans. I really can't see how there's anything but an easy ride ahead for this band.

Nouvelle Vague - Killing Moon
Nouvelle Vague - Bela Lugosi's Dead

Unexpected bonus:
Ahh, why not.

Echo & The Bunnymen - Killing Moon
Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

No podcast this week

Sorry to the eight people who actually care. My computer seems to be refusing to let me use mixing software. Hopefully it'll be resolved by next week.

Thea Gilmore - Avalanche

As a regular at folk festivals, in particular the renowned Cambridge Folk Festival, you start to recognise familiar faces floating around in the crowds. For example, the creepy skinny man with the long hair who has a big 5ft stick with a plaster skull on the top who appears EVERY year. But if you want to be a pro at celeb-spotting, just hang around the record stall and you'll be sure to spot the delightful Thea Gilmore at least half a dozen times throughout the weekend. I don't think I've ever seen any performer as obviously genuinely excited and pleased to be playing for an audience before. The Cambridge audience were in turn equally as chuffed to have such a fabulous performer opening the weekend for them.

After all, Thea Gilmore's indie folk-rock could hardly fail to get the audience's attention. There is very little to fault; the lyrics are intelligent, her slightly husky voice is strangely satisfying, the songs are cleverely constructed pop numbers with undeniably catchy choruses. The Independent called her "the most prolific and intelligent wordsmith of her generation." I suppose a critic could argue that Gilmore is hardly smashing through any boundaries into new realms of unexplored experimental music here, but her music does not lack any integrity. She may not be revolutionary but she certainly has the formula for a great song sussed. I recommend blasting this out of your car stereo when you're on the motorway, on the way to a really great folk festival, possibly to go Thea-spotting. And sing along. You know you want to.

Rags And Bones
Juliet (Keep That In Mind)

Buy this album from Amazon

Why? - Elephant Eyelash

Why? are a continuation of the tried and tested dark indy-pop meets hip-hop that was previously put down by cLOUDDEAD and their side project Hymie's Basement. With last years full length release "Elephant Eyelash", the former member of the previously mentioned band showed that his ability to mix rather dark and disturbed lyrical pictures with calm and pleasant instrumentation showed no sign of letting up. The tradition of having a single track on each album that clearly stands head and shoulders above the rest of the album also seems to return. cLOUDDEAD's "Ten" had "Dead Dogs Two". Hymie's Basement's self titled release had "21st Century Pop Song" and Why? have released another incredibly graceful yet nervous single in the shape of "Rubber Traits". Whilst it doesn't have the power of past releases defining moments, it's still worth the price of the album on it's own.

Why? - Rubber Traits
Why? - Waterfalls

Buy Elephant Eyelash from Insound.

Overlooked albums no3. Foetus - Flow

Foetus were and are one of my favorite industrial bands. I've always had a soft spot for music that just sweats controlled chaos and because of this love for all music unhinged, Foetus were one of those "love at first hearing" cases for me. By the time "Flow" had been released, J.G Thirwell (aka Foetus) had been playing with vicious, loud samples throughout the course of many prior recordings and had become quite force within the industrial scene. "Flow" however was them at their absolute peak. They had managed to almost perfect the noise that they'd been spewing out for years. The production on the sample use made the tracks sound absolutely huge with the vocals usual echo to add to the feeling of music that almost felt as if it was closing around you. Getting closer and closer and ready to pounce.

Foetus - Quick Fix
Foetus - The Need Machine

Buy Flow from Amazon

Check out the overlooked albums archive.

Grandaddy - Just like The Fambly Cat

A brief forward:
I've personally been a fan of Grandaddy for quite a while and it's somewhat of a shame that they're now gone. I was going to write up their new record but I also happen to be friends with a guy who's had the band at his heart for many years now and he also happened to be a decent writer. So he agreed to do the writing to accompany this post. I've enjoyed reading what he's written in memory of the band and I hope it's the same for you.

I don't really know what is normally said in this blog. I have only checked it out a few times, as me and my good friends Eugene and Kieran have different tastes. Also different ways of approaching music. I'm not too familiar with the other contributor to the blog, but I am guessing we may not have too many things in common at least music wise, as well. If what usually happens here is a detailed history of the band, or discography. Well go here.

I myself will just talk some, about how I approach music, about what this band means to me. There are many ways people approach music. Some spend time examining every aspect of it. Trying to find more and more, and comparing it. Trying to see why something is good, and why something else isn't. They say things like "I don't like this song, but its their best song". This to me doesn't make sense. As music is opinion really. Better yet, music is feeling. See, there are those of us that approach music by just feeling it. I tend to examine what I feel more than music anyways, so maybe that has something to do with it. Back to the point though, Grandaddy to me was love at first sound. This band can do no wrong for me. As most people that know me I am a big fan of simple. This band does a lot with just being simple. Catchy is something they do great, which makes it that much more shocking they will be no more. I suppose not being scene enough to be picked up by the majority, and not being anti-scene enough to be picked up with the equally populated minority might have something to do with it. What most don't realize about this band is how they can really pull at you. At your emotions. They have some heart wrenching songs, and some songs that will just make you want to run around and be a kid again. Songs that will put a big smile on your face, or songs that you will just want to sit back to and relax with. Songs that will tell you a story, or just not be appreciated until you are ready to appreciate them. Their latest and last CD, "Just Like The Fambly Cat", is something that may take majority of people time to get used to. I think it being there last CD, they decided to go out on their terms. They decided to make a record they could be happy with. The first priority of this creation really isn't meant to sell units. This doesn't mean it isn't good, this doesn't mean its really experimental(, trippy shit. Just means, you really need to be able to feel music, or at least examine music right in order to appreciate it. This is something the band made for themselves, and decided to share with their fans. Its the perfect soundtrack for any Grandaddy fan, who wants to sit back and remember all the times they have had with this band. Intentional or not. An album that will probably go unappreciated by a lot of people. "Open minded", and "close minded" alike. For those of you who are barely finding out about Grandaddy, this may not be the record to start with, for those of you who have followed this band a good while, try your hardest to truly enjoy what they did for you. Because they truly did something special. I'm sorry for my ranting, and if this wasn't to your liking. If you enjoyed this, I'm glad you did and I hope you have a good understanding of my love for this band. So enjoy....

- Robert

Grandaddy - Skateboarding Saves Me Twice
Grandaddy - Where I'm Anymore

Buy Just Like The Fambly Cat from Insound

Unexpected bonus:
Robert handed me one of his many Grandaddy rarities for all the Grandaddy fans to enjoy.
Grandaddy - Glider Pilot

The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

I really despise NME. Really, I do. And now that Arctic Monkeys have finished being the Band Of The Minute and arsed off to flop in America (at last), NME has turned it's misguided eye to The Raconteurs since they are the next Big Thing, it would seem. Or should I say, they are previous-Big-Things who have all combined their Big skills and are now going to make a possible Bigger Thing.

What I'm trying to say is that Jack White teamed up with Brendan Benson and some other guys who are apparently famous too and called themselves The Raconteurs and NME are bumming them already. Urgh. It's enough to make me despise them already. Yes, I know your mouse is probably already hovering over the 'back' button, but bear with me a moment. But after multiple exposures to my brother's copy of this album I actually found myself humming along to 'Store Bought Blues' and the single 'Steady As She Goes'.

Although Jack White has weird hair and shocked even the NME readers (normally fine with commercialised crap) when he sold out to Coca Cola, it does have to be said that this man makes a fine garage blues racket when he wants to. Mingle this with Brendan Benson's gift for the more refined indie ballads, and you're starting to get the idea. The other two guys are completely new to me, but the drummer can actually drum well unlike the strangely-loveable Meg White, god bless her.

'Together' could easily be a Lennon/McCartney creation, and 'Store Bought Bones' is a good foot-stamper. It's not what I expected from this particular blend of musicians, but an interesting listen nonetheless.

Together
Store Bought Bones

This album is available from Play

The Black Heart Procession - The Spell

The Black Heart Procession's first three records were fantastic little journeys into the dark areas of the human mind. Passionate, romantic, bleak, mourning, awkward, all the attributes needed to create almost gothic pieces of endearing gloom. They clearly took strong influence from the 80s goth movements more slowed down and grim moments yet with the grainy production and less-is-more attitude to instrumentation they sounded as close to unique as any band has managed in quite a while. Then with album number four, they surprised everyone with a record that was upbeat in comparison with the first three. It didn't impress the bands fan base and didn't really bring in many new recruits and some people had started to write the band off as having lost their edge and sense of purpose.

Well it's new album time and the question all the old fans want the answer to is if The Black Heart Procession managed to tap back in to that well of romantic despair that made them such an interesting prospect in the first place? Personally I'm in two minds about the answer. On one hand "The Spell" is far more dark than the band's last release and fairly close to being on a par with the ever adored first three records. However due to much more fluid and warm production, the band have done away with their sailing quiet and cold sound for what sounds a fair bit like a straight up 80s goth record. Whether this is the band's desire to go for a much more full sound or the producer's desire to make the band far more easily palatable is not something I'm in any position to speculate on. But if we discard any memory of what The Black Heart Procession were and take "The Spell" for the dripping heartfelt record that it is, then we do have an interesting and enjoyable chunk of audio misery.

The Black Heart Procession - Not Just Words

Songs posted changed due to the request of Touch & Go records

Buy The Spell from Insound.

Secret Mommy - Very Rec

"Very Rec" was last years full length release from punker turned IDM creator Andy Dixon under his obligatory pseudonym Secret Mommy. The most obvious point of note is the sources from which he draws his samples. Tracks are titled after various places of leisure such as "Soccer Field" "Pool" and "Dance Studio" because they are the places where the majority of samples from each track are drawn. All too reminiscent of Richard.D.James creating a fairly decent track out samples drawn from tapping a stick against a coke can. I can imagine the more pessimistic among you are mirroring my original thoughts when this concept was explained to me. That being that what sounds like an interesting and in great need of skill idea could also easily be a dull exercise in look-what-I-can-do experimenting and technical proficiency. There are points when such negative thoughts in prelistening are fairly accurate within the record. At times Dixon's desire to toy with the fundamentals of what music "should" consist of get in the way of the records enjoyableness. Fortunately he manages to weigh this desire out with many moments of completely inspired "glitch-pop". The best example of this coming from the album's second track "Pool" in which a slightly haunting vocal sample and instrument sampling coupled with the mans desire to make music out of everyday noise mold together to form an enjoyable and relaxing slab of enjoyable electronic wizardry. Obviously this won't be for anyone who's found themselves feeling nothing for the IDM genres kingpins but for those of you who enjoy the odd bit of Autechre, I'd recommend giving this a try.

Secret Mommy - Pool
Secret Mommy - Dance Studio

Buy Very Rec from Insound and check out Secret Mommy's website

The Accolade - S/T

I know it's a bit cheeky for me to abuse my Big Static Status to plug my friends' bands; but to be fair, if there's any band I know that deserves all the plugging they ever get, then it's this one. Think Bright Eyes meets Bob Dylan meets Johnny Cash and you have some idea of the sort of thing that The Accolade inject into any audience. Not that I'm comparing a bunch of local Dorset boys to Bob Dylan or anything, but it's an obvious 'style' comparison. I met this band through friends and my job about a year ago, and although it has been a busy year since for them (I haven't seen this band play to an audience that wasn't full to capacity with die-hard fans, and I've seen them play more than a few times) it has to be said that it wasn't as busy at it should have been. In a fair world, this band would be signed by a great label, and have some tours supporting major bands. Why Fat Possum haven't already been knocking on the door is, quite frankly, beyond me.

I might be biased in that they are friends of mine, and they sing about things as close to my heart as obviously to theirs ('The Square' is about Bournemouth Square - talk about home turf!) but to be honest, this is one of the best bands, if not the best band, to have come out of the local music scene in as long as I can remember. Live they get every person in the room, from 16 to 66, up on their feet and dancing, and their CDs... well, they do exactly the same. Plus they're great guys to boot. And currently looking for a drummer if anybody's interested in applying.

Look out for this band. Seriously.

To Be Free
Closer All The Time

Check out The Accolade's MySpace, where you can download more tracks, and also check out their website.

Big Static Podcast 2

So I've decided to go weekly with these podcasts for the time being. This one's mixed much better but we're still getting an annoying echo quality in my vocal segments. Enjoy.

Listen to it here.

Subscribe here.

The Bridge - A Tribute To Neil Young

So I've been wanting to create a Neil Young post since I started this blog. Unfortunately every time I tried to commit my thoughts to paper or computer, all that came out was a load of tedious fanboy bullshit. The same redundant statements people have been making on the man for eras now. "He was as essential a musician as you will ever find", "he practically invented the blueprint for modern rock" and I shit you not on this last one, "he has the voice of an angel". Man, I want to slap myself for even thinking of those statements.

So to divert the almost groupie like way of thinking on to a bunch of my favorite late 80s rock bands, this is the 1989 tribute to Neil Young with contributions coming from some of the times best. The diversity within the contributors is pretty well exemplified by the interesting twist a number of the bands present give to Young's back catalogue. Soul Asylum make "Barstool Blues" sound absolutely huge. Loop drag "Cinnamon Girl" through a pile of distortion and drone. Pixies version of "Winterlong" sees Frank and Kim utilizing their harmonic duel vocals for that extra touch of sweetness. Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips, Nick Cave and Psychic TV all hold down their end of the bargain with incredibly diverse renditions. But the band who manage to steal the show ends up being Dinosaur Jr. Their ability to take songs apart and rework them to the point where they're almost unrecognizable is proudly displayed on the loud, distorted rendition of "Lotta Love".

Loop - Cinnamon Girl
Pixies - Winterlong
Dinosaur Jr - Lotta Love

Buy The Bridge from Amazon

Labtekwon - Song Of The Sovereign

One of my most listened to discoveries within hip-hop has been Labtekwon's "Song Of The Sovereign". On this record Labtekwon broadcasts his fairly bright way of thinking with the expected tone of vague arrogance. The album is almost completely lyrically driven with Labtekwon often rapping over little more that a simple drum or basic bass loop which is apparently all he needs to stay on beat and broadcast his messages. Messages of simple street politics, a higher spiritual and mental understanding and with the occasional meaningful tale of his own existence. From simple opener "Aten (The God Is Love)" to the final powerhouse closing of "I Am Here" (possibly the albums finest track), Labtekwon reminds me of why I've recently immersed myself so deeply in to hip-hop with his charisma and powerful yet calm rhyming style. He avoids relying on any form of novelty or gimmick and even gives the ever annoying trend of hip-hop record skits and interludes a miss to keep the records flow a consistency throughout it's entire duration.

Labtekwon - Culture
Labtekwon - Perspective
Labtekwon - I Am Here

Buy Song Of The Sovereign from Amazon

Intelligence - Icky Baby

It's always great to see new bands completely toying with the fairly inclusive "punk" genre. A purest may want it to stick to the three chords and some shouting, and undoubtedly there are many fine bands with enough angst and vitriol to do the punk of old proud. But as far back as Suicide and Throbbing Gristle, we've had bands that whilst technically not having the general characteristics of the genres founders, still have the desire and ability to create noise that'll offend, sicken, shock and surprise anyone willing to listen.

With that said, last year saw the American noise-punks Intelligence release their album "Icky Baby". The record is divided in to two types of songs. In one they sound like The Jam on effects, distortion and a bag of 'shrooms but when they're at their absolute best, on songs such as "Life Preserver" and "Cheer Up Switch" they sound like a mutated Part Chimp doing Pil covers. All confined within a cleverly planned chaos. I'll probably always have a soft spot for noise like this. Completely calm, fairly deadpan yet still so loud and vicious. Giving off a strong feeling of claustrophobia and fear every step of the way.

Intelligence - Life Preserver
Intelligence - Cheer Up Switch

Buy Icky Baby from Amazon

Cassetteboy - Parker Tapes

Sorry for the non-posts, I have been: a) a little swamped under with exams and coursework deadlines, and b) without internet access. So to make up for a week of puffy eyes, worry lines and chewed fingernails (all stress indiuced), here's something to put a smile back on my face and hopefully yours.

Cassetteboy is sort of the cut-up equivelant of those joke viral emails you get sent from bored work-mates - you know, the ones where they superimpose celebrities faces into amusing .jpg scenes, designed to amuse office-workers everywhere. They poke fun at George Bush's lack of brain cells and Paris Hilton's... well, what isn't there to poke to fun at when it comes to Paris? Just when you thought that DJ Yoda was the craziest cut-up musician on the planet, along came Cassetteboy.

The two young men who make up Cassetteboy have described their work as taking celebrities and making it sound like they're talking about sex or drugs. Which, basically, it is - but there's a lot more depth to this record. The first few tracks are only a few seconds each (there's 98 tracks in all) and at first they jump along awkwardly. Then, 9 tracks and less than 2 minutes into the album, 'Joliver' kicks in. Suddenly I found myself not only turning up the volume to listen closer, but also grinning like an idiot to myself. Once they've finished introducing themselves (there are of course a handful of the obligatory 'Cass-ettte-boooooy' hip-hop openings) and the actual music kicks in, and the vicious humour picks up pace, this album is awesome. Arguably it's level of humour still hovers at Team America level, but when you hear Jamie Oliver's familiar voice saying "I'm a little tosser, I'm a little bit wet, I'm not too deep"... well, try not to crack a smile. On a more musical level, the bizarre celebrity audio-scenarios make for some strangely appealing rhythms and beats.

I chose 4 tracks here for you, but with the best part of 100 tracks that are equally as entertaining and catchy, I sincerely suggest you get hold of the entire thing. Listen out for everyone from Judge Judy to Homer Simpson.

Joliver
Large Father
Dogs Dogs Dogs Dogs, Oh Yeah, Dogs
Brian Cardboard And His Swaying Stance

Buy this album from Rough Trade

Overlooked Albums no2. Big Black - Atomizer

It seems I can't make it a few months without doing a post on one of Steve Albini's three moderately well known bands. In fact, I think this is post number five on said subject matter since September. But as much as I try to steer this page away from sheer albini fanboy obsessing, I keep getting hooked on one of his bands releases and therefore getting the urge to post about it.

Big Black's back catalogue is an undeserved stunted one. Whilst the undeniably fantastic swan song "Songs About Fucking" as well as the greatest hits and the "Pigpile" live album are incredibly easy to get hold of. There were the early EPs and this, their first full length record that are fairly hard to get physical copies of. Why "Atomizer" is being buried is beyond me as I genuinely feel it's at least as good as the seminal last album. With "Atomizer" we see Albini and co taking a largely instrumental approach and what comes from this is one of the most raw and heavy albums of the 80s. Albini's sheet metal guitar pick playing is enough to put any stadium filling "heavy-metal" act of the same era to shame. When vocals are used they're incredibly minimal and recorded low enough in the mix to make them as important as any of the other pieces of noisy aggression going on around them. The one exception to this rule being the album's possibly best track "Kerosene" in which a very basic but still incredibly disturbing tale is told of little town boredom leading to intense pyromania. The guitars and drum machine still doing their best to make the image of the burning and psychosis every bit more real.

Big Black - Passing Complexion
Big Black - Kerosene

songs removed due to the request of Touch & Go records

Check out the currently very limited overlooked albums archive.

Feathers - S/T

So it seems members of Feathers have been involved in two solid releases this year. They made up a large number of the members in the stoner rock band Witch who released their first album in mid March. Now they've released their debut self titled full-length. If I ever entertained the idea that Feathers were going to sound anything like Witch, I'd be rather disappointed. Feathers mainly crawl around in the ever widely inclusive area known as freak-folk. There's none of the basic folk desire to be a story teller and voice of the people but they do use the stripped down lo-fi nature of the genre to make music that almost feels medieval. The instrumentation at times summons up a mental image of village fairs, jesters and what ever else was around a thousand years ago. There's a general awkward nature to picking out a few tracks for you to sample, not because they're all so good but because they're all so the same. They keep the album to eight tracks because they clearly realize that any longer would cause them to out stay their welcome. Feathers' self titled debut is an enjoyable little exploring piece of folk nonsense and just short enough to not piss you off.

Feathers - To Each His Own
Feathers - Ulna

Buy Feathers' self titled debut from Amazon or download it from Emusic as part of their 50 free mp3s trial offer.

Wiley - Treddin' On Thin Ice

If you've been paying any attention to the recent grime explosion then I'm sure you've heard the name Wiley battering around a bit. He's one of the two main figures in the Roll Deep Crew, along with the now widely known Dizzee Rascal and in 2004 he released his debut solo record "Treddin' On Thin Ice" .It was both completely superior to the Rascal's over produced second album "Showtime" and also worked as a sort of grime for dummies.

As with most of grime's generally self centered nature, Wiley manages to keep his MCing on what seems to be his favorite topic, himself. Not that "Treddin' On Thin Ice" is just fifteen tracks of ego wankery. It does strike me as impressive that he can talk about so many topics whilst still keeping the focus of the lyrics on himself. He'll plow his way through tracks about apathy, awkward relationships, his own greed, gang violence, the topics you'd expect from England's neglected lower class. If you're looking to get in to grime and want something physical to get in to. Check out this and Dizzee Rascal's first record "Boy In Da Corner"

Wiley - Goin' Mad
Wiley - Pies

Buy Treddin' On Thin Ice from Amazon

Unexpected bonus:
Here are some early tracks from Roll Deep Crew.

Roll Deep Crew - Bounce
Roll Deep Crew - Scratchy

The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon

This months saw the release of the fifth album from The Coup, the first in about five years. I can't claim to have been a long time fan of this group, I was learning to read and write when they released their first album. But after reading an interview with frontman Boots Riley at Cocaine Blunts, and noticing how much of an intelligent yet fun loving man he is, I decided to give the new album a go. Generally I don't go for overly political hip-hop, I own a few Public Enemy albums but after listening to annoying ego maniacal rappers that think their generic ranting about how much of an asshole Bush is, when someone tells me that a rapper is "all about politics" I approach with a large amount of caution. Sorry but listening to Immortal Technique proclaim himself to be "the money and the message" (and you ain't got either/remember that) always brings on a strong cringe. However Boots has this political hip-hop game thoroughly figured. He keeps his message on a strong street level, using his experiences of how unpleasant living in run down areas can be to come off as man with something completely relevant and powerful to say.

In that interview I mentioned earlier he tells of how his parents used to hold political meetings in his house that would eventually turn in to parties. That memory clearly had a strong influence on this record as he never lets his message get in the way of the albums enjoyableness. Quite a fantastic combination, really. Potent and powerful with an incredible groove and decent flow. "Pick A Bigger Weapon" may just have surpassed Ghostface's new release as the most essential hip-hop record of the year.

The Coup - We Are The Ones
The Coup - Get That Monkey Off Your Back
The Coup with Black Thought and Talib Kweli - My Favorite Mutiny

Buy Pick A Bigger Weapon from Amazon

Dive Dive - Tilting At Windmills

Last year saw the release of Dive Dive's debut album despite them having been active for many years before. For years they have been playing anywhere that'll have them, they were even supposed to play my secondary school's main hall at one point. They play an incredibly infectious breed of bratty melodic yet angular pop-rock. The songs are well structured, the musicianship is urgent without being overly aggressive and in Jamie Stuart (far left) is the perfect stringy little frontman for the band. The absolute standout track is the incredibly catchy "5-5-5 For Filmstars" which is so loaded with angst and frustration yet still manages to come off as a fantastic pop number. It's pretty easy to imagine that if these dudes were from London and dressed all "retro", NME would be pushing them at anyone and everyone.

Dive Dive - Name And Number
Dive Dive - 5-5-5 For Filmstars

Buy Tilting At Windmills from Amazon UK
Check out Dive Dive's official site

Overlooked albums no1. Black Flag - My War

Overlooked albums is a new feature here on Big Static. Yes, I'm well aware that the dude over at Ear Farm already does something very similar to this with overlooked albums from the 90s but there's a subtle difference, this is overlooked albums from any time. Could have been released last year, could have been released fifty years ago. Also, as good of a job as Ear Farm does of pointing out what we should have been listening to years ago, there's still hundreds of records out there that don't get the praise they deserve. Also, I felt the desire to create something that resembles continuation within this blog and this was the best idea I had.

"My War" saw Black Flag enter new and very unexpected territory. The record came at a time when bands such as Loop, Spacemen 3 and The Jesus & Mary Chain were doing their best to head fuck all the critics that had lumbered them in to certain categories. Black Flag were of course one of if not the most common focal point of the 80s LA hardcore scene and were generally associated with chest beating, cop hating primal brutality. Their shows would often end in riots between fans and the local police. As my dad once said to me "son, if you'd been at a Black Flag show in the early 80s, you'd have pissed yourself".

Their early work, captured on "The First Four Years" and "Damaged" showed a band with a strong, simple message and enough raw anger to show that they were not to be sniffed at. But on "Damaged" their were a number of tracks leaning towards more internal lyrical focus points as opposed to songs such as "Rise Above" which were basic calls to arms for all the pissed off young men that needed something to rally around. "My War" took those mainly inward thinking aspects of their previous albums and made it the focus point for the entire record. The lyrics were still about as subtle as a steel toe cap boot to the groin and their was still that ever necessary anger but we heard Rollins yelling his way through songs about intense paranoia (my war/you're one of them/you say that you're my friend/but you're one of them) as well as all manor of personal and awkward topics. We also would see Greg Ginn's guitar work loose a bit of it's urgency (although it's still pretty vicious) in favor of more skilled and almost drone-rock like playing.

Black Flag - My War
Black Flag - Beat My Head Against The Wall

Buy My War from Amazon

Overlooked albums archive
no 2: Big Black - Atomizer
no 3: Foetus - Flow
no 4: The Icarus Line - Penance Soiree