OK everyone is doing it so why not
in no particular order:
The Indelicates - David Koresh Superstar got to love a duo to make a musical of this subject, though I do not quote I do believe they are as cynical and aethiest as I am
Bombay Bicycle Club - A different Kind Of Fix Love this album though by the time it came out Bad Timing and Sleep seemed comfortable and not new, Shuffle was amazing.
The Wombats - This Modern Glitch - perfect pop from perfectly human guys. Not sure I am comfortable yet with Murph opening his problems to the world but so so happy to see them slap the NME and all doubters in the face, the boys came back with a vengeance.
Emmy The Great - Virtue totally love this album and find more to adore the more I listen, Dinosaur Sex is just perfect.
Fight Like Apes - The Body Of Christ And The Legs Of Tina Turner again they produce punchy perfect music with an absurdist title. I just wish hey toured the US at least once or a million times.
Now my two cheats - actually released in 2010 but I was absurdly slow
Endor - Endor you should have heard PopCop expounding on this band and now hear my please - listen and love. able to be found on bandcamp the best way to buy music.
My First Tooth - Territories not quite sure how this love started but this album was amazingly great. Find them on the Alcopop label.
Sam Duckworth - The Mannequin AKA Get Cape Wear Cape Fly sweetly endearing and life affirming
Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines- yes an American - or more precisely its Michael Benjamin Lerner. Hard to pick a track but listen to Car Crash or Dirty Thing and not smile and sing a long a little and you must be dead.
Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure - wow when we thought he had disappeared the king of synth came back with a wonderful album
Yuck - Yuck - taking the best from Cajun Dance Party , that is Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom, indeed Daniel also being Oupa which started as Yu(c)k. This band came to SXSW and then toured the US allowing us all to see how brilliantly songs like Rubber and Suicide Policeman sounded live.
being pushed elsewhere as 2011 but we know they were 2010 but still loved Kid Canaveral Shouting at wildlife and Admiral Fallow's Boots Met My Face.
you may notice I was lucky enough to have seen most of my picks live if not this year in previous years.
also pretty good was Wild Beasts Smother, Friendly Fires Pala, The Joy Formidable The Big Roar though not totally loved
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Gigs 2011
to misquote from 'A Tale of Two Cities'
it was the best of years for gigs and it was the worst of years.
2011 was the year LiveNation came in puts its brutal finger round the neck of live music in Boston and throttles it to a horrible mangled mess.
FUCK YOU LIVE NATION MAY YOU ROT IN HELL.
We are way down in our concerts only 69 this year.
We saw gigs by our absolute favourites Twilight Sad and The Wombats and that included very special SXSW gigs from The Sad and an amazingly wonderfully intimate sets from The 'bats.
We saw Mystery Jets, Telekinesis and Bear Hands again
We got to finally see Bombay Bicycle Club after listening to them for five years and MANY MANY times so much they now recognize and joke with us.
We also got to see Yuck, weird situation the progenitor of Yuck Cajun Dance Party makes me foolish in adoration. So amazing to talk to Daniel, who seems shy and Max was so amazingly friendly Iam for ever in his debt.
We got to see Admiral Fallow,Kid Canaveral, withered Hand and King Creosote for the first time and fell in love. King Creosote in Boston astounded me beyond words so that their gig is seared in my mind in awe. Weird because Kenny is such a down t earth bloke and not someone we would be normally throwing back pints with but I bow before his musical genius.
We saw Alessi's Ark many times and loved her down to earth humility and honesty, she went from nice music to must go see her when she is near.
We got to see Emmy The Great in a random CMJ hit and run gig and found she lived up to her hype. I find it impossible to dislike a woman who treats the subject of date rape as an opportunity to show a man that a woman has control of her body and should be treated with respect.
We saw the death of Glasvegas, the gig in Boston was brutal and humiliating in its awfulness.
We got to see Pulled Apart By Horses and loved their huge energy, sorry still dont love their music.
The Indelicates hit the USA and my love for them grew in leaps and bounds, when I saw them at SXSW Simon scared me, this time I realised he is a sweet teddy bear.
I realised The Vaccines and Brother were a total hype taht we coudl forget.
We got to see Eddie Collins again, wow what a comeback and he played my favourite song, Don't Shilly Shally - oh wow fan girl time!
so my quick review less than I wanted but the highs were high so perhaps I am not so sad.
it was the best of years for gigs and it was the worst of years.
2011 was the year LiveNation came in puts its brutal finger round the neck of live music in Boston and throttles it to a horrible mangled mess.
FUCK YOU LIVE NATION MAY YOU ROT IN HELL.
We are way down in our concerts only 69 this year.
We saw gigs by our absolute favourites Twilight Sad and The Wombats and that included very special SXSW gigs from The Sad and an amazingly wonderfully intimate sets from The 'bats.
We saw Mystery Jets, Telekinesis and Bear Hands again
We got to finally see Bombay Bicycle Club after listening to them for five years and MANY MANY times so much they now recognize and joke with us.
We also got to see Yuck, weird situation the progenitor of Yuck Cajun Dance Party makes me foolish in adoration. So amazing to talk to Daniel, who seems shy and Max was so amazingly friendly Iam for ever in his debt.
We got to see Admiral Fallow,Kid Canaveral, withered Hand and King Creosote for the first time and fell in love. King Creosote in Boston astounded me beyond words so that their gig is seared in my mind in awe. Weird because Kenny is such a down t earth bloke and not someone we would be normally throwing back pints with but I bow before his musical genius.
We saw Alessi's Ark many times and loved her down to earth humility and honesty, she went from nice music to must go see her when she is near.
We got to see Emmy The Great in a random CMJ hit and run gig and found she lived up to her hype. I find it impossible to dislike a woman who treats the subject of date rape as an opportunity to show a man that a woman has control of her body and should be treated with respect.
We saw the death of Glasvegas, the gig in Boston was brutal and humiliating in its awfulness.
We got to see Pulled Apart By Horses and loved their huge energy, sorry still dont love their music.
The Indelicates hit the USA and my love for them grew in leaps and bounds, when I saw them at SXSW Simon scared me, this time I realised he is a sweet teddy bear.
I realised The Vaccines and Brother were a total hype taht we coudl forget.
We got to see Eddie Collins again, wow what a comeback and he played my favourite song, Don't Shilly Shally - oh wow fan girl time!
so my quick review less than I wanted but the highs were high so perhaps I am not so sad.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
The Indelicates Visit the US
So The Indelicates have once again come over to the USA, not the first time BUT it is the first glorious time they will make it to New England.
And not ONCE but TWICE, they play the Cantab Lounge in Cambridsge on Thursday and The Speakeasy in Providence RI on Friday.
We saw The Indelicates at SXSW in 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/31046907@N00/sets/72157604402541731/with/2390933904/
and I blogged about how much I loved their album Songs For Swinging Lovers noting it as one of my favourites of 2011.
From the press release I quote 'Essentially the joint project of Simon Indelicate (formerly a performance poet and author of ‘The Book Of Job: The Musical’ – revived in 2011) and Julia Indelicate (an acclaimed documentary photographer) The Indelicates are a piano and guitar-led pop/rock act from Sussex, UK. Taking their musical cues from folk and classical sources - as well as the broad spectrum of British indie rock – they write melodic, edgy and intellectually coherent songs that have been consistently well-received in the UK and abroad.'
But the reason I love them is their wit, their satire and their refusal to accept.
Listen and love and go see them on Thursday and Friday.
And not ONCE but TWICE, they play the Cantab Lounge in Cambridsge on Thursday and The Speakeasy in Providence RI on Friday.
We saw The Indelicates at SXSW in 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/31046907@N00/sets/72157604402541731/with/2390933904/
and I blogged about how much I loved their album Songs For Swinging Lovers noting it as one of my favourites of 2011.
From the press release I quote 'Essentially the joint project of Simon Indelicate (formerly a performance poet and author of ‘The Book Of Job: The Musical’ – revived in 2011) and Julia Indelicate (an acclaimed documentary photographer) The Indelicates are a piano and guitar-led pop/rock act from Sussex, UK. Taking their musical cues from folk and classical sources - as well as the broad spectrum of British indie rock – they write melodic, edgy and intellectually coherent songs that have been consistently well-received in the UK and abroad.'
But the reason I love them is their wit, their satire and their refusal to accept.
Listen and love and go see them on Thursday and Friday.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The Demise of Dancing Jesus
According to the music companies there was a huge success this week but I see it as a huge fail.
===========================================
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=145746
Following a joint investigation by BPI and IFPI into a music-based internet discussion forum called Dancing Jesus, the site administrator and one of its most prolific uploaders known as "Trix" were yesterday arrested by the City of London Police.
In a simultaneous action, American Homeland Security seized the site's server in Dallas where the content was being hosted.
Dancing Jesus is renowned for offering access to predominantly music files which have been uploaded without the permission of the copyright owner. The site specialises in leaking pre-release material.
The City of London Police are now progressing this enquiry.
============================================
I have visited Dancing Jesus for years now, not to steal music there were better ways to get music but the passion and breadth of knowledge on the board was amazing. In 2006 a bunch of folks posted about this amazing young band that just won the Road to V contest and posted some demos. There began my knowledge and path to loving Bombay Bicycle Club.
Also found Milburn providing many many bsides and obscure tracks to melt your heart.
Mumm-Ra including their The Dance On The Shore EP and The Dance In France EPs.
I was A Cub Scout, Jeremy Warmsley, Johnny Flynn, Patrick Wolf, Micachu, Forward Russia, Foals, Little Man Tate, Reverend and The Makers, Bromheads Jacket, the Long Blondes, The Duke Spirit, The Pigeon Detectives, The wombats, Dirty Pretty Things, belatedly to love The Libertines, Maximo park, The Rifles, Sky Larkin Wild Beasts, Johnny Foreigner, Brakes, BSP, The Rifles, The Holloways, Komakino, belatedly Elle Milano, Cajun Dance Party.
http://www.last.fm/user/Janeinma/charts
the music I listen to I listen to because of that board and those people. The music I buy the concerts I go to 95% because of Dancing Jesus.
I can only speak for myself but that board drove me to buy more music than I had in years and to support bands in ways that I would not have done otherwise.
Every year before I went to SXSW I would post my short list of British bands and ask for people who had really seen and heard these bands to guide my choices.
And isn't it hypocritical for bloggers and critics who rarely pay for any of the CDS they listen to to berate folks for wanting to listen to music before they buy it?
I am so sorry Music Biz you may be celebrating but I am sobbing and feel so bereft.
===========================================
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=145746
Following a joint investigation by BPI and IFPI into a music-based internet discussion forum called Dancing Jesus, the site administrator and one of its most prolific uploaders known as "Trix" were yesterday arrested by the City of London Police.
In a simultaneous action, American Homeland Security seized the site's server in Dallas where the content was being hosted.
Dancing Jesus is renowned for offering access to predominantly music files which have been uploaded without the permission of the copyright owner. The site specialises in leaking pre-release material.
The City of London Police are now progressing this enquiry.
============================================
I have visited Dancing Jesus for years now, not to steal music there were better ways to get music but the passion and breadth of knowledge on the board was amazing. In 2006 a bunch of folks posted about this amazing young band that just won the Road to V contest and posted some demos. There began my knowledge and path to loving Bombay Bicycle Club.
Also found Milburn providing many many bsides and obscure tracks to melt your heart.
Mumm-Ra including their The Dance On The Shore EP and The Dance In France EPs.
I was A Cub Scout, Jeremy Warmsley, Johnny Flynn, Patrick Wolf, Micachu, Forward Russia, Foals, Little Man Tate, Reverend and The Makers, Bromheads Jacket, the Long Blondes, The Duke Spirit, The Pigeon Detectives, The wombats, Dirty Pretty Things, belatedly to love The Libertines, Maximo park, The Rifles, Sky Larkin Wild Beasts, Johnny Foreigner, Brakes, BSP, The Rifles, The Holloways, Komakino, belatedly Elle Milano, Cajun Dance Party.
http://www.last.fm/user/Janeinma/charts
the music I listen to I listen to because of that board and those people. The music I buy the concerts I go to 95% because of Dancing Jesus.
I can only speak for myself but that board drove me to buy more music than I had in years and to support bands in ways that I would not have done otherwise.
Every year before I went to SXSW I would post my short list of British bands and ask for people who had really seen and heard these bands to guide my choices.
And isn't it hypocritical for bloggers and critics who rarely pay for any of the CDS they listen to to berate folks for wanting to listen to music before they buy it?
I am so sorry Music Biz you may be celebrating but I am sobbing and feel so bereft.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Bombay Bicycle Club
Whatever people may say about me, I think it is clear I love music.
I love a lot of music but I have bands that I love having never really know - Cajun Dance Party - Daniel is a bit weird but if you listen how could you not forgive that and others that I love and bands that go way up there into my totally awesome level.
The Cribs went right up there to awesome then Johnny Marr broke my heart and dragged them to the gutter. Time waits to see if they can regain their power.
Then The Twilight Sad, a band that when you tune in you would do anything for - bastards where is your next album don't you understand I am going through withdrawal and suffering worse than any junkie.
Then as the title might suggest there is Bombay Bicycle Club. Seriously awing folks way back more than 4 years ago I started to follow these guys without any hope of seeing them,then SXSW happened and I got to see them 4 times in one week.
This week a new target is hit BBC play Boston - negatively as a support band but I challenge anyone that sees them not to fall as totally and utterly under their spell as I have done.
I see a lot of Two Door Cinema Club fans being blown away. The show is sold out so I really hope peopel aren't arseholes. Meanwhile on Wednesday we will be road tripping to get to see BBC headlining at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
I so want this to be awesome and I know the guys on stage will cooperate I just hope the audiences do too.
Funny story at SXSW: after the last BBC show where we were talking to BBC we noticed Mark Divine and Andy from The Twilight Sad in the audience completely out of their minds drunk. I was trying to help Divine out seeing he was getting maudling and noticed Ed looking on in amazement, so I went to tell him this was The Twilight Sad's drummer and he just looked blank and said who - minor scolding ensued. As I knew I love BBC but my boys from The Sad will ALWAYS come first.
I love a lot of music but I have bands that I love having never really know - Cajun Dance Party - Daniel is a bit weird but if you listen how could you not forgive that and others that I love and bands that go way up there into my totally awesome level.
The Cribs went right up there to awesome then Johnny Marr broke my heart and dragged them to the gutter. Time waits to see if they can regain their power.
Then The Twilight Sad, a band that when you tune in you would do anything for - bastards where is your next album don't you understand I am going through withdrawal and suffering worse than any junkie.
Then as the title might suggest there is Bombay Bicycle Club. Seriously awing folks way back more than 4 years ago I started to follow these guys without any hope of seeing them,then SXSW happened and I got to see them 4 times in one week.
This week a new target is hit BBC play Boston - negatively as a support band but I challenge anyone that sees them not to fall as totally and utterly under their spell as I have done.
I see a lot of Two Door Cinema Club fans being blown away. The show is sold out so I really hope peopel aren't arseholes. Meanwhile on Wednesday we will be road tripping to get to see BBC headlining at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
I so want this to be awesome and I know the guys on stage will cooperate I just hope the audiences do too.
Funny story at SXSW: after the last BBC show where we were talking to BBC we noticed Mark Divine and Andy from The Twilight Sad in the audience completely out of their minds drunk. I was trying to help Divine out seeing he was getting maudling and noticed Ed looking on in amazement, so I went to tell him this was The Twilight Sad's drummer and he just looked blank and said who - minor scolding ensued. As I knew I love BBC but my boys from The Sad will ALWAYS come first.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
King Creosote Boston - Wow
I feel so negligent.
Lets be honest going to see Matthew And The atlas made me feel jaded and hateful. I had no expectations for Kenny aka King Creosote. When I walked away from this concert I felt I had been lucky to be there that I had just seen an amazingly honest amazing and beautiful performance.
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins Diamond Mine is a laid back album with some posituve notes but the night left me gasping. The whole performance was worth noticing but when Kenny sang 'Your Young voice' the emotion the honesty and the whole tenor of the performance left me gasping in amazement and speechless. videoing the song always leaves you detached and not appreciating it but that this performance was not caught takes my heart and throttles it with pain. I felt dazed afterward, applause was a understated way to respond to such a performance. Then lets go to the other extreme at the end of the night Kenny left us with his rendition of Francie and Josie's 'La di da' song. This vaudeville like song which coaches such a hilarious concept in such veiled terms is fun to watch on youtube but an experience live.
Kenny is a legend in Scotland and a incredibly down to earth man.
I can totally understand both the adulation and approachability of this man come record label hero.
Nobody noticed this concert but it is one I feel awed to have been at and truely thankful for.
real music is out there its just a matter of finding it. Kenny, you awed me and I am pretty jaded.
Lets be honest going to see Matthew And The atlas made me feel jaded and hateful. I had no expectations for Kenny aka King Creosote. When I walked away from this concert I felt I had been lucky to be there that I had just seen an amazingly honest amazing and beautiful performance.
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins Diamond Mine is a laid back album with some posituve notes but the night left me gasping. The whole performance was worth noticing but when Kenny sang 'Your Young voice' the emotion the honesty and the whole tenor of the performance left me gasping in amazement and speechless. videoing the song always leaves you detached and not appreciating it but that this performance was not caught takes my heart and throttles it with pain. I felt dazed afterward, applause was a understated way to respond to such a performance. Then lets go to the other extreme at the end of the night Kenny left us with his rendition of Francie and Josie's 'La di da' song. This vaudeville like song which coaches such a hilarious concept in such veiled terms is fun to watch on youtube but an experience live.
Kenny is a legend in Scotland and a incredibly down to earth man.
I can totally understand both the adulation and approachability of this man come record label hero.
Nobody noticed this concert but it is one I feel awed to have been at and truely thankful for.
real music is out there its just a matter of finding it. Kenny, you awed me and I am pretty jaded.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Matthew and The Atlas/King creosote
I went quiet after my last gig. Why? Because it sucked. I really wanted to like Matthew And The atlas, great venue, good vibe from a UK band, supported by Mumford and Sons but it just did not work. The band though trying hard just doesnt do it, they just don't have strong enough songs. I just couldnt get excited at all. Then there was the actual night, my s90 dies leaving me frustrated and annoyed. Then the audience, they talked through two sets then in a gig which wasnt crowded and was not packed a get an idiot who doesn't understand physics. General physics laws two people can not be in the same space at the same time. Just because you are at a gig it does not give you the right to bump into me annoying me for 15 minutes. sorry but I wanted to take those drumsticks the band gave you and drive them straight through your neck. Instead I left pronto annoyed and pissed off. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Oh well King Creosote comes to Boston on Wednesday, totally lousy venue, Brighton Music Hall, but from what I saw of Kenny at SXSW he is a really down to earth nice guy. I am hoping this will obliterate my memory of the last gig despite the fact I am still unsure whether to buy a new Canon S95 or another camera.
Oh well King Creosote comes to Boston on Wednesday, totally lousy venue, Brighton Music Hall, but from what I saw of Kenny at SXSW he is a really down to earth nice guy. I am hoping this will obliterate my memory of the last gig despite the fact I am still unsure whether to buy a new Canon S95 or another camera.
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