Ridden with inaccuracies, half truths, and plain old news.
Posts tagged Music
Wednesday Links #8
Feb 3rd
1. Giant Squid invade California. If you live in California be afraid, very afraid!
2. This kid has a very unfortunate name, no wonder he isn’t smiling.
3. Bad Brains – Banned in DC live at CBGB’s in 1982, Rastafarian hardcore punk at it’s best.
4. Serge Gainsbourg biopic soon to be released in the UK (we hope)
5. Bacon or Beer can? Hint: try with a Jamaican accent.
These New Puritans Return With New Single ‘We Want War’
Dec 7th
These New Puritans’ first album Beat Pyramid was released in January of 2008 and received a lot of positive reviews. It was Vice’s album of the month and was given a score of 7.5/10 by Pitchfork, even MOR dad rock magazines like Q and Mojo had good things to say about the band. Elements of cLOUDDEAD, The Fall, WU Tang Clan and Ikara Colt combined with a deadpan delivery and nonsensical lyrics such as ‘I am in the rain, I am in the rain. I am in the- sixteen seconds!’.
The band recently anouced that their second album Hidden will be released on the 18th of Janurary 2010:
“Produced by TNPS’s Jack Barnett and Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis, Boymerang) and mixed by Dave Cooley (J Dilla, MF DOOM) the album draws equally on on the rhythmic lexicons of dancehall and 20th century post-minimalism, with instrumentation redolent of both the oceanic brass of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes and the plastic textures of modern U.S. pop. It is sometimes brutal, sometimes melancholy, and sounds like nothing else.
Hidden features six-foot Japanese Taiko drums, a thirteen piece brass and woodwind ensemble, sub-heavy beats, prepared piano, a children’s choir, Foley recording techniques (including a melon with cream crackers attached struck by a hammer, used to simulate the sound of a human head being smashed), and the ethereal voice of Heather Marlatt from dream-pop group Salem.”
The first single from the album is called We Want War and is over seven minutes long. The video was created by Daniel Askill and is as epic and hypnotic as the track itself. Check it out below.
Dubai Sound City Festival
Nov 9th
Dubai has been getting some major international attention of late mostly because of the recent Grand Prix and the forthcoming opening of the world’s tallest hotel. Another event of note was the three day Sound City festival which featured 78 bands, artists and DJs from around the world.
The event featured showcases from established and new band split between seven venues throughout the city similar to the South-by-Southwest festival in America (East by Middle East?). Headliners Echo and the Bunnymen had to pull out at the last minute due to the illness of singer Ian McCulloch but they were replaced by the Super Furry Animals. In all five acts did not perform including Hip Hop legends De La Soul. Other than the no-shows the event was considered a success.
“The response has been hugely positive. There were between five and six thousand people here on Friday and there’s a great willingness for people who want to get on board next year.”
The festival was organized by David Pichilingi who also runs Liverpool Sound City. As well as live shows there were panel discussions and keynote speeches featuring big players from the international music industry. As well as some great bands there were a few old has beens hanging around like Ocean Colour Scene and the Human League. Perhaps next year when the festival is more established they will be able to draw some better artisits. No matter how cheap flights to Dubai get I’m not going to travel that far to see The Automatic and The Wombats.
Like Rats s/t Album: Free Download
Sep 16th
People often proclaim their hatred of genres or more accurately bands being labeled as belonging to a particular genre. Whist some bands defy explanation and exist outside of genres most great bands clearly fit into a stylistic mode. Some genres like Dubstep seem to continually evolve whilst others are fixed and have clear boundaries and norms. Black Metal is a genre that seems to be both dynamic and fixed in stone.
Some would have you believe that to be Black Metal a band must adhere to some very specific rules and any experimentation is just a dilution. Thankfully there are bands like Wolves In The Throne Room and Tulus who experiment and push the boundaries. Some band are happy to pretend it is still the 80’s and thrash away in corpse paint, releasing albums that sound like they were recorded by putting the microphones in the building next-door to the studio. This isn’t a bad thing but it is interesting to see a genre that is so split down the middle.
Like Rats are a band who mix Black Metal with Hardcore. there seems to be to be more Hardcore in the mix than Metal, I’m reminded of old Gravity Records stuff like Antiock Arrow and Heroin. The drums are fast but not helicopter blades whirring fast like a lot of BM drummers. The vocals rasp and growl and yet fit the faster tempos well.
I don’t know much about Like Rats other than that their (first?) album is avaliable for free download via their website here. I found them via the highly reccomended Invisible Organges. Guitarist Todd Nief’s blog post about the album can be found here.
What Soundtracks Your Run?
Feb 11th
Posted by Thomas in Sport
2 comments
I have been running for about two years, I started off doing a few miles once a week and have gradually increased over time. I have now managed a fairly a respectable half marathon time and whilst I’m not going to break any records I have increased my fitness level. Throughout all the changes in training schedules and distances one thing has remained constant: I always take my mp3 player with me. Whist it is interesting to be running outdoors and there is always something new to see I couldn’t do it without music – it helps to distract me from the boredom and the pain.
I don’t spend ages compiling complex play lists which are tailored to my exact run but I do make sure whatever I listen to has a quick tempo. For me this tends to mean Metal or Punk and in particular Hardcore Punk like Minor Threat or Youth of Today. Rage Against The Machine are also a favorite of mine. For me it is important to use music which will maintain my interest over time without becoming background noise.
I am hoping to run the London Marathon next year (it is a bit late for this year) because I have reach a plateau in my training and need something to work towards. Most people who run a Marathon get sponsorship and many charities are reliant on receiving this sponsorship money each year so I am hoping to be able to raise quite a bit. I am trying to increase the distance of my weekly runs, this means I have an excuse to buy a load more music in order to soundtrack my training!
I have recently added CommentLuv to this site so feel free to comment and let me know what you listen to whilst you run.