"...all singing, all dancing..."

LIVE REVIEW: Passion Pit, The Vibe Club, London (Date: 15.07.09)

2009-08-11T12:02:00.005+01:00

Tonight feels very much like an industry bash, everything’s just that little too perfect. The people are on the flawless side of beautiful, the barmen know all the glass throwing tricks and the venue feels more exclusive than Tom Cruise’s social circle.

The Vibe Bar is an old brewery. A congregation of 'so tomorrow' indie adolescents line the Brick Lane side streets on the approach to the venue. Groomed and dressed for the occasion they sit, stand and slouch, suffocating in a cloud of self-appreciation and nicotine.

It’s fine though, this is Shoreditch. This is what you should expect. If you don’t look like a Topshop model you should feel out of place and your place is to feel inadequate. It’s almost a trend in itself, we brave few are trailblazers in our own right.

Tonight is the second of five Levi’s OnesToWatch Revue shows this week so it’s probably fitting that London Fashion Week has spilled over outside. American indie-dance outfit Passion Pit are tonight’s headliners: one of the most talked about bands of the moment and we all know how the dying music press likes to talk.

Tonight they’re playing for a small crowd in a small room but they’ll soon be headlining sunny stages soaked in cider. But for now the opening bars of the first song are missed as a very non-apple based beverage in the VIP lounge is picked up and necked. From now on the night will be full of imperfections. Glorious defects and blemishes that make the Massachusetts boys live set so much more compelling than their studio work.

Every live song is a very different beast to its recorded counterpart. Partly down to the high production value of their material and partly down to the effects applied to singer Michael Angelakos’ falsetto vocals. There’s not a better example of this than when you hear ‘I’ve Got Your Number’, the song is a set favourite by a Massachusetts mile, the beeps, clicks, rattles and synths of Chunk of Change EP’s second track almost sound acoustic.

With a semi-electro group the expectation is for tight and precise performance that mimics the records without deviation. But tonight it quickly becomes apparent that the five members of Passion Pit are comfortable to let their instruments bang and twang. This allows the songs to be shown in new and different ways, giving the tracks an intended amateurish box-fresh feel that melts the room. Listening to Manners in your bedroom scrawls images of five guys playing with knobs and buttons rather than strings and skins, the latter is definitely preferred here.

Other ballistic beat brothers are far too clinical when you see them live. The dog-eared, coffee stained, scruffy execution of their songs makes each one new and fresh as well as grimy and naughty. It is this new naughty sound that fills the room and soon strips the crowd of its pretentiousness - now people are enjoying themselves a little too much. With guitars high on their chests, fingers bashing keys, sticks flailing and bodies sharply convulsing in time it’s clear the band want to promote the gritty grinding bursting out in pockets of the crowd.

As the songs continue to pop and whiz it’s apparent Passion Pit have unapologetically stolen The Beach Boys’ sunshine, the beats of Justice and Simian Mobile Disco, the groove of The Avalanches and the march of Arcade Fire. These unlikely ingredients should be impossibly ill-fitting, and yet the joins are miraculously smoothed over the equally misplaced high-pitched warbling of Matt Bellamy. Mixed together it shouldn’t work and too many times it probably doesn’t. Looking around high handclaps and ecstatic expressions it appears to be going down pretty well here.

As the set is dragged kicking and screaming to its finale you realise a very distinct difference between the older tracks of the EP and album’s newer offerings. The bric-a-brac approach and the randy innocence of ‘Cuddle Fuddle’ and ‘Better Things’ is lost in ‘Make Light’ and ‘Let Your Love Grow Tall’. There’s pessimism in the performance of Manners as if the band has been mutilated since its infancy by their swift shove into the limelight. Not that they seem particularly bothered tonight.

For now the joy remains and it is this the crowd have been feeding off tonight and from this showing the smiles will remain on the Americans’ faces for a long time to come. Tonight has been perfect.

Watch a live recording of 'I've Got Your Number' below:

This news story can be found on Virtual Festivals with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: thelineofbestfit.com

NEWS: Reckoner Gets Animated

2008-10-02T11:45:00.006+01:00

The indisputable highlight of Radiohead’s In Rainbows has finally been given the visual treatment.

The video for ‘Reckoner’, the latest single to be lifted from the Oxford’s algorithm Kings seventh studio album, was created by competition winner Clement Picon from France.

A budding Spike Jonze, Picon was selected from the four winners who entered the In Rainbows Animated Video Contest. The winner was picked by the members of the band themselves.

In an unexpected turn of events following the band’s rejection of music industry traditions and traits and self-release of the LP, the much anticipated video appeared first on MySpace Music.

In addition the site will also feature the three runners-up in the coming weeks.

This just goes to emphasise that fact that no-one really knows where and wehn Rdaiohead are going to pop up again with more new and exciting material and content.

Fortunately though the band have also posted it on their official website.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: photobucket

NEWS: Cocker Preaches In The City

2008-09-25T14:00:00.000+01:00

Music-conference-slash-festival In The City has today announced one of their most exciting guest speakers for this year’s music conference.

Former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker is to appear at the international music convention founded by Tony Wilson, which takes place in Manchester over October 5th, 6th and 7th.

Cocker will take to the lectern on the final day of the event. His lecture will discuss the function of lyrics in modern popular music.

Entitled ‘Saying the Unsayable’, ASAD is told it will be a completely biased and subjective exploration of a selection of Jarvis’ favourite songs on top of a dissection of some of his own lyrics.

He's likely to talk about Leonard Cohen, Pete Doherty, Hot Chocolate, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Neil Sedaka, Dory Previn, Katerine, Rozalla, Arctic Monkeys plus many more he hasn’t thought of yet. There will also be an in-depth analysis of ‘Louie, Louie’.

Other keynote speakers already confirmed include former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham MP and some guy called Sean Adams from some site called Drowned in Sound. Other guest speakers and panelists will be announced over the next few days.

More details are available from In The City’s official website.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: The Futureheads Bootleg Their Own Work

2008-09-23T15:04:00.003+01:00

Sunderland’s finest four-piece, The Futureheads, top off a fantastic major-label-free twelve months with a full UK tour.

Not only are they touring, but in a Pearl Jam fashion, the Futureheads are releasing a number of live shows which fans will be able to buy as digital and actual CD albums from The Futureheads’ online store. The first of which, recorded at 2004 Quart Festival in Norway, is already available from this very link.

The tour dates are as follows:

November
29th London Astoria
30th Whitehaven Civic Hall

December
2nd Glasgow ABC 2
3rd Glasgow ABC 2
5th Cardiff Point
7th Norwich Waterfront
12th Sheffield Academy (Pet Sounds)
19th Gateshead Sage
20th York Duchess

Tickets are on sale now.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: Foo Fighters to take ten year hiatus from UK

2008-09-18T17:55:00.002+01:00

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl today sugggested that that the band may not be returning to UK shores for ten years.

His dramatic statement comes after the band played two stonking summer shows at Wembley Stadium.

Unfortunately, this means Grohl and the boys may well be on their way to grandfatherhood before we see them grace a UK stage again.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music Grohl said: “After doing Wembley, we shouldn't come back there for, like, 10 years. We're over there every year, every summer, and I think it's time to take a break and come back when people really miss us.”

Elaborating further he went onto say: "It's a funny place being in the band now because we've been a band for about 14 years," Grohl said. "We've gone from playing the Astoria, to playing Earls Court to playing Wembley. That wasn't really the goal but hey, we'll take it."

"We've never really taken a long break," he said. "I think it's time.”

The band have crossed the pond no less than three times in the last three years and were joined by Led Zeppelin on their last night at Wembley.

Here’s hoping they can still rock like Page and Plant in ten years times...

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: Watch: Björk & Antony 'Dull Flame Of Desire'

2008-09-18T16:20:00.001+01:00

The video for Björk’s next single, 'Dull Flame Of Desire' is now online

Taken from Volta (reviewed) and out on the 22th September the song is a collaboration with Antony & The Johnsons front man Antony Hegarty.

As with everything associated with Iceland’s pop pixie, the video is pretty conceptual.

Three amateur directors were picked from hundreds of competition entrants and given the responsibility of producing a video worthy of the Björk’s prestigious music video library.

The two singers performed against green screen in New York then each director was sent the raw footage to edit and create their piece. The directors were each given their own section of the film to develop how they saw fit. The three parts were then edited together here in the UK to create the final piece.

Watch the video right here, right now:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: hejhejmusic.com

NEWS: Doherty & Barat Impromptu Reunion

2008-09-18T14:40:00.001+01:00

Former Libertines band mates and likely lads Pete Doherty and Carl Barat joined forces once again last night when they performed an impromptu set in London town.

The surprise performance took place at the Prince of Wales pub in Camden where Doherty was playing his own material for an MTV documentary before a gaggle of fans.

When Barat strolled out on stage though the congregation couldn’t believe their luck.

The cockney couple performed classics from their days as leaders of The Libertines, including 'Don’t Look Back Into The Sun' which transformed into a rendition of Oasis’ 'Don’t Look Back In Anger'.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: blogs.guardian.co.uk

NEWS: The Rapture Mix Tapes

2008-09-18T13:00:00.001+01:00

New York post-punk partiers The Rapture are releasing a compilation LP of inspiring tracks gummed together with their own finest DJ glue.

Released on October 20th Tapes is the latest in the DJ Kicks series which has seen contributions from Hot Chip and Four Tet in the past, delivering their own brand of mixtape mastery.

According to the press release:

Tapes is a treasure trove of rare grooves and cult classics spanning three decades, from the late 1970s to 2008. One key thread running through the mix is the evergreen sound of the New York underground, epitomised by classic tunes like Vaughan Mason & Crew’s 1980 disco-rap milestone ‘Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll’ and the irresistible beat-pop ditty ‘I’m An Indian Too’, recorded in 1979 by East Harlem’s Don Armando and his Second Avenue Rumba Band. NYC’s latest clubland stars also make their mark, from neo-disco supergroup Arcade Lover to hip-hop DJ Frog’s dazzling robo-funk alter ego, Dances With White Girls.

There’s also a selection of European-grown talent crammed into the tracklist too but the overriding influence is clearly 80s disco and hip-hop.

Of course a heavily influenced back catalogue like The Rapture’s is expected to be as eclectic as Winehouse’s taste in illegal substances so it’s only natural to expect a few unfamiliar names alongside golden roller-disco oldies.

The proof is in the pudding as they say so have a gander below for the full tracklisting:

Tracklist:

1. The Undisputed Truth - “Earthquake Shake”

2. Ghostface Killah - “Daytona 500”

3. Junkyard Band - “The Word”

4. The Bar-Kays - “Holy Ghost”

5. Vaughan Mason & Crew - “Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll”

6. Northend - “Tee´s Happy”

7. Don Armando´s Second Avenue Rumba Band - “I´m An Indian Too”

8. Martin Circus - “Disco Circus”

9. Arcade Lover - “Fantasy Lines”

10. Thomas Bangalter - “Club Soda”

11. Kiloo & Phonique - “The Passion (Phonique Mix Down)”

12. Armand Van Helden - “Flowerz”

13. Cajmere feat. Dajae - “Say U Will”

14. Syclops - “Where´s Jason´s K”

15. DJ Mujava - “Township Funk”

16. Donk Boys - “Cpstyre”

17. Dances With White Girls - “Everybody´s Got To Make A Living”

18. Alter Ego - “Why Not?!”

19. Paul Johnson - “Get Get Down (Extended Mix)”

20. Kid Crème - “Austin´s Groove”
21. Richie Havens - “Going Back To My Roots”

22. Galaxy 2 Galaxy - “Afro Arps And Minimoogs (S2)”

For more information visit these websites:

www.therapture-tapes.com

www.myspace.com/therapture

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Press Pack Shot

FEATURE: How great is the BBC?

2008-09-11T10:00:00.002+01:00

This feature was posted on Drowned in Sound:

DiS was surprised and excited to hear news that the BBC are working on a project to make all their glorious audio and video music content available to download.

The download service being developed by BBC Worldwide will offer streamed and paid download material from it's vast music archives.

This is a very exciting prospect. All the Peel sessions, Led Zeppelin's performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test, grunge hammered out on Top Of The Pops direct to your computer's video library.

With potential to be bigger than the iPlayer, DiS is naturally gagging with excitement. Details of the launch date have not yet been made available but that's not gonna stop us celebrating the news of this new music download service.

So in anticipation we thought we'd raid the YouTube archives and bring you some BBC music highlights that have inspired, awe struck and left DiS generally motived to keep pushing the good musical word.

Have a look below and see what you think of our selection. If you have any better ideas post them below and we'll soon let you know if you're right or wrong.

1. At The Drive 'One Armed Scissor' (Jools Holland 2000)

No-one was expecting At The Drive-In (pictured above) to incorporate a piece of seating furniture so creatively into the performance. This one track set was ground-breaking and sent jazz-grunge shockwaves far beyond television centre. Watching it back again it hasn't lost any of it's aggression and appeal.

2. Blur 'Universal' (Glastonbury 1998)

One of many Glastonbury performances you could pick from the Beeb's extensive annual coverage of the festival. The song's explicit optimism struck a cord with everyone in the audience both in the field and the armchair. This track especially seems to marry the message of every Glasto undeniably well.

3. Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' (Top Of The Pops 1991)

Probably one of the funniest clips you'll see in the list. Kurt can already be seen giving fame the cold shoulder here as he refuses to tow the TOTP party live and perform conservatively. He deliberately puts on a Morrissey-esque low voice to either poke fun or entertain. Either way his efforts to fail failed as The Observer newspaper listed the performance as the third greatest in the programme's history. Amazing!

4. David Bowie 'Fame' (Bowie at the Beeb 2000)

The thin white Duke returned to his old stomping ground just days after his incomparable headlining set at Glastonbury 2000. The exclusively recorded intimate gig would be the blueprint for other, more contemporary performances from The Streets and Coldplay's outdoor show at Television Centre (youtube). This was easily the best time to see the most influential man in rock do a unbelievable greatest hits set.

5. The Maccabees 'First Love' & 'Latchmere' (BBC Collective 2007)

Bringing us bang up-to-date and coincidentally with a bunch of lads much loved by DiS are The Maccabees. The band performed in 2007 as part of the BBC Collective Sessions, a culture magazine that was available on the website (bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/). Unfortunately closed now but that doesn't mean we still cannot adore the amazing sound and visual quality of the magazines extensive archives. This is what live music should sound like.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

Videos: YouTube

NEWS: To The Bones Release Album, Single & Video DIY-Style

2008-09-10T17:40:00.005+01:00

DIY music may have had a massive boost from Radiohead this year but it's still alive and well at grassroots level.

Black leather clad Bolton rockers To The Bones (pictured above) release their debut album Duke Type A on 29 September although that's not the story. On the same day they'll release the single 'Rex' through Medici Records.

The label had a very humble birth not long ago when Conor McGloin, the head of the imprint and formerly of Kinesis fame, decided to use the rest of his student loan to fund the band's forthcoming releases, tour and video. And with some success to.

To The Bones are about to embark on an 11 date tour in and around the releases and the video to 'Rex' looks as professional as anything Coldplay could throw at you.

Filmed during a house party, it cost nothing to make hiring only one cameraman, four lights and got every drunk for atmosphere.

They must be doing something very right for their high octane riot rock, endorsed by Manics and Idlewild producer Dave Eringa, has been deemed fit for a showcase slot at Manchester's music industry do In The City at the beginning of October.

You can watch 'Rex' below but the list of tour dates are as follows:

10th September - London Notting Hill Arts Centre
19th September - Grimsby The Matrix Club
3rd October - Bolton Kico Club
7th October - Manchester Cellar Vie (In The City Showcase)
9th October - Basingstoke Light Lounge
10th October - Oxford The Wheatsheaf
11th October - Chelmsford Barhouse
16th October - London The Metro
17th October - Brighton The Freebutt (w/ Killa Kenada/The Horse)
24th October - Derby The Venue
31st October - Salisbury The Barn

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: BBC

NEWS: The Stills hit UK with new album & tour

2008-09-10T16:05:00.001+01:00

Glorious Canadian pop rockers The Stills have announced a handful of UK live dates for November this year.

The tour will coincide with the UK release of the quintet's third LP Oceans Will Rise. In shops on 20 October through Arts & Crafts the statement from The Stills' press people insist the 'new album showcases a reinvigorated band armed with a razor-sharp sense of melody and a wholly rejuvenated sense of itself.' DiS agrees.

Only a couple of months ago the band found themselves opening for Paul McCartney at the Quebec City 400th Anniversary concert in front of quarter of a million people so this mini-tour is sure to bring them back down to Earth.

The dates for The Stills November UK tour are as follows:

25th November - London Cargo
26th November - Manchester Night & Day
27th November - Glasgow Stereo
28th November - London Koko Club NME

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: BBC

NEWS: Elbow React To Mercury Victory

2008-09-10T13:00:00.003+01:00

Every media outlet, not just music publication, has been reporting on Elbow's triumph last night in the race to become the Mercury Music Prize winners last night during a swanky ceremony in London town.

Going somewhat against the grain of previous winners, Elbow's victory is already proving extremely popular across both critical and fan-o-spheres.

After being handed the award for 'Album Of The Year' Elbow frontman Guy Garvey (pictured above) said, "This is quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us."

"It feels great, very unexpected. I suppose you could look at it in the same way that certain Bedouin tribes look at a bowl of milk. It's something that doesn't occur very often, and it's so much sweeter for it."

Despite the mickey taking, Garvey is said to be genuinely grateful and quite taken a back by the band's achievement.

"Having said that, it's been a long time that we've been doing it and this is a cause for celebration. I'm just so very proud that we've been working together this long - to this end. We really wanted this"

'The Seldom Seen Kid', the band's fourth album was quoted by the Chair of Judges, Simon Frith, as "an album of epic songs, rooted in their locality, a switchback of emotions rooted in the everyday, the sound of musical ambition perfectly realised. Elbow’s album is triumphant, heartbreaking, unerringly melodic and life-affirming.”

Highlights from the evening's events will be broadcast by BBC Two on Friday 12 September. The programme will feature the live performances on the night from nominees The Last Shadow Puppets, Adele, British Sea Power, Neon Neon, Laura Marling and winners Elbow.

To watch Elbow perform on the night cast your eyes beneath:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: BBC

NEWS: Britney Rules While Brand Appals At The MTV VMA 2008

2008-09-09T16:21:00.002+01:00

Cast to the background of the Spears/Brand/promise ring hype that lavished the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night was the small victory for Britain’s The Tings Tings.

The terrifically tuneful twosome from Manchester pipped Coldplay and Cowell-backed behemoth Leona Lewis to take home the ‘moon man’ for Best UK Video.

Jules De Martino and Katie White were also nominated against Duffy and Estelle but won the award for their single 'Shut Up And Let Me Go' (a video that looks a lot like ‘Seven Nation Army’ to the author).

They’re minute contribution to the evening’s lip-syncing success was cast into the shadows by Britney Spears as she took her first baby steps back into the limelight after the world last saw her being bundled into an ambulance and her children ripped from her then ample bosom.

Other moments of interest came when Russell Brand, the evening’s host, decided to take the opportunity to call on America to elect Barak Obama President and then rip the piddle out of promise rings and the virgins who decide to their lilywhite innocence on their sleeve.

Wet, Christian, homeschoolers The Jonas Brothers, who performed on the night, are proud wearers of promise rings (made infamous by the organisation The Silver Ring Thing) and appeared to take grave offense when Brand sordidly declared he was looking to collect all three pieces of jewelry from the three before the night was through.

On learning the error of his ways the camp cockney duke of homoeroticism apologised and carried on with the show, a spectacle and preceding line of gags a lot funnier than Jamie Foxx’s Busta Rhymes impression.

The rings indicate to the outside world that the owners are against pre-martial sex and have been the subject of much controversy in the US, not least for cashing in on the middle American belief system (this link is a parody of the extremist Christian religion, Westboro Baptist Church).

Britney took away three gongs (Best Pop Video, Best Female Video and Best Video) for 'Piece Of Me' and thanked "God first and foremost for just blessing me like this".

She must be oblivious to the fact that the world has seen her go from pop princess to drug addled divorcee in a matter of months. Not exactly a blessing some might say.

Have a look at Russell Brand's hilarious 'digging-himself-outta-the-hole-he-just-dug' post-show interview below:

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Mirror.co.uk

NEWS: When Two Tribes... Play Acid Folk?

2008-08-19T23:56:00.002+01:00

An innovative approach to touring is coming to the UK this September courtesy of leftfield promoters No-Fi and [No.Signal]. They're to unite some of underground music’s most eclectic artists from the US and Finland on stage.

Each of the nights on the eight date tour, dubbed concisely as ‘Approximately Infinite Universe – A Caravan of Raw Sound Magic From Finland and the US’, will be a unique performance of a never-before-seen collaboration.

The shows will see each of the Finnish acts inviting an American counterpart onto the stage to perform a piece composed in the months leading up to the tour, and after only two days of rehearsal.

The Finnish artists taking part in this wandering jam session are Islaja, Kemialliset Ystävät, Es and Tomuntonttu. They are joined from across the pond by Fursaxa (pictured), Samara Lubelski, Axolotl, Blevin Blectum and Skaters.

In a statement, No-Fi and [No.Signal] had this to say about the vision behind the tour:

“In conjunction with the artists themselves – [we] designed this approach as a way of taking the aforementioned trans-Atlantic influence exchange, trapping it in a vacuum and making it feedback on itself in order create a whole family of brand new musical beasts.”

Selected dates on the tour will feature screenings of specially commissioned work before the live performances.

Each concert will include two acts with the four groupings rotating during each date.

The concerts will also be recorded and released as digital-only compilations.

The dates of the tour are as follows:

19th September – Glasgow, CCA
20th September - Aberdeen, Lemon Tree
21st September – Sheffield, Bar Abbey
23rd September – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
24th September – Newcastle, Gateshead Sage
25th September – Manchester, Contact Theatre
26th September – Bristol, The Cube
27th September – London, ICA

All tickets are available via TicketWeb, WeGotTickets, Venues' direct website, various national record shops. More info via the main website: http://no-signal.net/aiu

Have a look below for some exclusive footage of Islaja playing an exclusive instore show for Rough Trade:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: AC/DC Doppelgangers To Invade Reading

2008-08-15T22:39:00.002+01:00

‘Back To Skool’ styled rockers AC/DC have announced an exciting competition for all fans attending the Reading Festival later this month.

The festival will play host to two massive billboards advertising the Melbourne band’s new album, but , more specifically, one will have these words:

"Come to the AC/DC billboards dressed like Angus, let a friend take a picture of you in front of the 60x40 and upload it to www.acdcrocks.com/uk the best "Angus" wins a 2 person-trip to an AC/DC rehearsal in the USA."

So, does exactly what it says on the tin then?

The prize is a trip to the States where the winner will see the band perform an intimate, competition winners only gig before they start a full US tour proper.

When you’re next in Asda then, head for George, get yourself a blazer, a pair of shorts, cap and a satchel (all for a shilling) and get practising your best rock gurn and Angus devil horns.

For inspiration have a look at the classic 'Highway To Hell' video below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: The Prodigy Return To Jilt The Nation

2008-08-15T19:43:00.002+01:00

Comeback kings of the concrete jungle, The Prodigy have announced their biggest UK tour in three years.

After a series of festival shows this summer the band are spending December taking in Carling Academy venues up and down the country on what is being called ‘The Invaders Academy Tour’.

The dates of the shows are as follows:

7th December - Carling Academy, Liverpool
8th December - Carling Academy, Glasgow
9th December - Carling Academy, Birmingham
11th December - Carling Academy, Sheffield
12th December - Carling Academy, London Brixton
13th December - Carling Academy, London Brixton

Tickets will go on general sale on Thursday 21st August with prices between £27.50 and £30. For the die hard fans, website members will be able to bag pre-sale tickets 24 hours earlier at www.theprodigy.com.

The greatness of The Prodigy’s greatness direct to your eyes below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Hopper Does A Spector

2008-08-13T15:55:00.002+01:00

Inspiration can be taken from anywhere and anything. Here at the Quietus it’s mostly pulled out of alcoholic pools of thought at our local. For a while now Hollywood has turned to the music industry and its cult figures for a spark of artistic stimulation.

Not so long ago Johnny Depp took on the guise of an inebriated Keith Richards in those pirate films before Heath Ledger slapped on some make-up and did his best Sid Vicious impression, apparently, opposite the big bad bat. Now it has been announced that Dennis Hopper is to imitate legendary music producer Phil Spector.

The star of Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider and, that classic, Speed, is to play a Spector-esque music producer in an episode of the US TV show Crash, a small screen spin-off of the movie of the same name.

Hopper said his character is “totally out of his mind.”

“It's really amazing because we don't have any restrictions, like language problems or sexual problems; we can do anything we want and we're really out there."

Spector, the producer of The Ramones and the controversial Leonard Cohen album Death Of A Ladies' Man, has certainly led a life of excess and Hopper's character looks set to be as self-destructive.

“In my episode we had an orgy. I'm doing drugs all the time. I'm smoking grass. I'm having orgies. Hey it's music, it's rock 'n' roll baby. It's gonna be an eye opener.”

As of yet it’s not known when the episode starring Hopper will air in the US but the Quietus is certainly looking for forward to seeing Hopper pull off that mad Spector afro if the make-up department feel like a challenge.

Watch a snippet of Hopper playing a very mad photojournalist in Apocalypse Now below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Colin Greenwood Plays Bass In Hollywood

2008-08-11T19:00:00.001+01:00

Just as Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk denied the employment of Radiohead as score supremos for his new flick Choke, one member of the band has been branching out into Hollywood on his own.

Thick-thumbed Colin Greenwood has contributed to a soundtrack for a new film released this year.

In amongst playing some massive outdoor dates, rewriting the textbook on how to release an album and recording groundbreaking videos the Radiohead bass player has found time to perform on the OST for new independent film Woodpecker.

Teaming up with Lee and Tyler Sargent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and composer James Lavino, Colin has followed his younger brother into Hollywood after Jonny last year wrote the music for Let There Be Blood.

The film, directed by Alex Karpovsky, has already had screenings at a number of festivals including South By South West, Wisconsin and Maine International film festivals.

An official release date is yet to be announced.

Visit the official Woodpecker film website here.

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Oberst Streams Entire New Album On Official Site

2008-07-25T19:40:00.001+01:00

Bright Eyes star Conor Oberst has made his new, self-titled solo album available to all via a stream on his website.

Conor Oberst will be officially released through Wichita Recordings on August 4 but it is already up on his official website as a live stream for those who’re too impatient to wait a week or two.

A single, ‘Souled Out!!!’, will follow on August 25 as a special one-track 7” with a special etching on the B-side by artist Kaite Murphy, creator of the Grace McSorely comics.

ASAD is told the track will also be made available via all the normal digital outlets.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

EP REVIEW: One Day As A Lion, One Day As A Lion (Released: Out Now)

2008-07-25T12:00:00.003+01:00

The trouble leaving something familiar is forming a new cohesion with the unfamiliar. This almost always take time and often compromise and, however rarely, heartbreak.

The One Day As A Lion partnership between Zack De La Rocha and Jon Theodore (former Mars Volta drummer) has produced familiar substance of little groundbreaking worth. Listening to the self-entitled EP it’s difficult to hear anything new beyond the distinctive vocal chord assault.

Like Audioslave, this could be Rage with new faces conforming to what was already a successful but ageing sound.

The biggest flaw in all the tracks is the oppression upon them, not allowing them to become, to drop into a heavier, faster form. Sure ‘Ocean View’ has a breakdown with some hastier drums but no sooner do you want it to liftoff into a thrashing solo to that stirs moshpits, it finishes.

There’s still some powerful stuff though. ‘Last Letter’ is an anti-religious wake-up call, ‘Wild International’ is the customary anti-war war cry and ‘If You Fear Dying’ is a kick up the arse to all the paranoid victims of this quietly hysterical terrorist era.

Watch Rage Against The Machines 'Killing In The Name Of' below:

More interesting than these long-time Rage romanticised themes is De La Rocha’s vocal experimentation. Blurting what are some impressive melodies for the usually shouty MC his efforts unfortunately end up sounding like Ozzy Osbourne, albeit, early Ozzy.

The thing about familiarity is that sometimes you want it back so badly eventually the change heartbreaks your heart. There’s little compromise here. Potential to turn these songs into anthems is squandered, the sound shows little progression but then despite this refusal to move forward it still sounds as angry as ever, which will do us.

This review can be found on Thrash Hits with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: Slayer To Split

2008-07-23T23:00:00.001+01:00

Thrash-metal's forefather Tom Araya has hinted that Slayer may split after they have finished recording a new album.

Araya spoke exclusively to the Quietus’ moshier sibling Thrash Hits declaring there may not be a future for Slayer after the band complete their recording commitments with American Recordings.

In the interview Araya said: “Let's put it this way, this is the final record of our commitment with Rick Rubin. When we first signed a deal with him back in 1986, we never sat down and said, ‘How long do you guys want to keep this together?’

“We signed the deal and we've just been doing records since. Then, by the time we did Seasons In The Abyss, our third record with Rubin, we had a manager (Rick Sales) who did a really good job of renegotiating an entire new deal for ten records.

“We just continued making records with no game plan other than ‘We're gonna do a record and then tour’, ‘We're gonna do another record after the tour’ and so on.”

The end isn’t as close as fans might fear though with plans continuing for what may be the band’s final album.

“We're working on new ideas now just so that people can have a taste of what's coming. Kerry (King) and Jeff (Hanneman) are putting together ideas, so what the end result of this next two and a half months is, I don't know. Once we've put together new material, we can get together and discuss our future plans.

“Seeing a 50 year old man headbanging on stage would make me cringe. If I was watching that, I'd think, ‘Dude, you're a little too old for that, aren't you? You're gonna fall off!’”

A live performance of 'Eyes Of The Insane' by Slayer is available below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Rhys Sticks His Oar In Racial Row

2008-07-23T21:20:00.001+01:00

In the ongoing ‘racism fued’ between Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke and The Sex Pistols’ John Lydon, Super Furry Animals singer Gruff Rhys (pictured left) has stepped forward and made a statement.

Earlier this week the Bloc Party singer alleged he was the victim of an "unprovoked racial attack" by Lydon and his entourage at a Spanish festival.

As a witness to the incident the Neon Neon collaborator told MTV: “Kele is a very brave man and what he said is exactly what happened. The statements Kele has said are absolutely true. It did happen.”

The Quietus understands that Rhys is yet to make an official statement to police.

Currently touring with his Mercury Award-nominated side project Rhys described the attack as "horrific".

Lydon has denied reports branding Okereke a "liar" and claiming the singer is using the incident to seek "publicity".

Watch Neon Neon's 'I Lust U' below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Skinner Hits The Streets

2008-07-23T01:00:00.002+01:00

After exciting fans with a little teaser of new material, The Streets have announced a full nationwide tour for October.

The tour is expected to showcase new songs from the forthcoming album Everything Is Borrowed.

The Quietus was among the first to announce a medley of new music taken from the album which was made available on Mike Skinner’s mySpace earlier this month.

Skinner and the gang kick things off in Glasgow on 4th October and finish things up in typically raucous fashion in Leeds in the 19th.

The Streets’ fourth LP is due for release around the same time as the live dates.

The tour will take in the following cities:

4th October - Glasgow Barrowlands
5th October - Manchester Academy
6th October - Sheffield Plug
9th October - Birmingham Academy
10th October - Newcastle Academy
11th October - Oxford Academy
13th October - Southampton Guildhall
14th October - Preston 53 Degrees
15th October - Norwich UEA
17th October - Bristol Academy
18th October - Nottingham Rock City
19th October - Leeds Academy

Or click here to be taken straight to the See Tickets website.

The Streets new video 'Escapist', complete with intercontinental wanderings that would make Ian Botham proud, can be seen below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Bittersweet Tensions For Ashcroft

2008-07-23T00:25:00.001+01:00

Stringy northern soulster Richard Ashcroft has hinted that there is still tensions within his band despite their seemingly successful reformation.

Friction has reportedly been brewing within The Verve camp as they have been putting together their new album Forth, ten year after their last long player Urban Hymns.

This shouldn’t be taken to heart though, as the singer told BBC 6 Music they’ve never necessarily seen eye-to-eye.

“Obviously there's baggage and things that you've got to sift through," he said. "It's not some Mills & Boon scene running down the beach as the sun sets. But it is the case that these four people make a unique sound together.”

Nick McCabe, the band’s guitarist confirmed that there’s always been an element of conflict within the band but that this only serves the music, man.

“We've had a lot of time to think about things, but hopefully we're older and wiser, and it just seemed to me that I put a huge chunk of my life into this and there is no way that I would turn my back on it if there was ever a chance of it working again,” he told the Beeb.

The Verve returned to the live stage with a headline set at Glastonbury this year. You can find it just beneath this scribble:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Sigur Ros Play Biggest Gigs Yet

2008-07-22T23:15:00.001+01:00

Cunning linguists Sigur Ros have announced that they are to play their biggest UK shows ever in November.

The Icelandic quartet have only just touched down on earth again after playing to the biggest crowd ever assembled for a Latitude festival headline act on Saturday 19th July.

Now they’re celebrating the success of that show by returning to these shores for five more dates towards the end of 2008.

The venues and dates are as follows:

4th November – Wolvehampton Civic
5th November – Blackpool Empress Ballroom
7th November – Bristol Colston Hall
20th November – London Alexandra Palace
21st November – London Alexandra Palace

The band’s latest album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly) went into the Top 5 upon release earlier this month.

A special deluxe edition of the album is available to pre-order from the the Sigur Ros website now. It is officially released in September.

Have a look at the much talked video for 'Svefn-g-englar' by clicking below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: The Mercury: 2008's Most Anticipated List

2008-07-22T21:00:00.001+01:00

The nominees of the annual Mercury Music Prize were unveiled at a London shindig earlier this morning.

In the running for the coveted award are Quietus favourites British Sea Power, Elbow, Neon Neon and Radiohead.

Last year’s winners were new rave accidental pioneers The Klaxons (pictured above) with their debut album Myths Of The Near Future.

The winner will be announced during all the pomp and ceremony of a true industry back-slapping bash on September 9th.

The complete shortlist for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize is as follows:

Adele - _19_
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Burial - Untrue
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Estelle - Shine
Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
Neon Neon – Stainless Style
Portico Quartet - Knee Deep In The North Sea
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement

Last year's victorious contenders can be seen below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Oasis’ Studio Bribe

2008-07-22T19:30:00.001+01:00

Ego juggernauts Oasis today declared that they kicked U2 and producer Rick Rubin out of Abbey Road studio in order to record their new album.

Guitarist Noel Gallaher is claiming this morning that the band paid the owners of the legendary London studio to evict the Irish rockers.

The situation dates back to last December when U2 had been booked to take up the controls in the sound-booth.

“U2 were booked in there with (producer) Rick Rubin. I was like, ‘U2? U2 have to have a fucking six-hour meeting (to discuss) whether to get tea or coffee in the rehearsal room! They are not coming in here any time in the next five years’.”

Talking to Mojo Gallagher went on to say, “The guy from Abbey Road was like, ‘I've got it block-booked for the exact time you want it.’

“We actually went down to Abbey Road with a bag of money, and said, ‘We can pay for the studio now’.”

Dig Out Your Soul, Oasis’ new studio album is released on October 6th, preceded by the single, ‘The Shock Of Lightning', out on September 28th.

Although there’s a wait for the album, the band have already released the artwork which you can see below.

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Ozzy Returns To The Studio

2008-07-22T19:00:00.001+01:00

The pickled Prince of Darkness is returning to the studio to work on a brand new album, so ASAD believes.

According to Blabbermouth.net Ozzy Osbourne will be penning and recording new music after his live appearances this summer.

In the coming weeks Ozzy will be performing at the Monsters of Rock show in Calgary, Canada on Saturday 26th July and Ozzfest 2008 in Dallas on Saturday 9th August.

On top of this his last release, Black Rain achieved gold certification and he is billed to feature in a brand new reality TV show starting in the autumn, in the States at least.

Keep it ASAD to read the latest new on the album developments as they happen.

To watch the mighty Black Sabbath pound out 'Ironman' at last year’s Ozzfest click below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: CSS Tour Second Home For A Second Time

2008-07-22T18:00:00.001+01:00

Brazilian party pixies CSS are to tour the British Isles once again later this year.

Current star of our friend’s The Lipster’s first TV feature, Lovefoxx is giving her catsuits another airing throughout October.

The tour will no doubt cement the new album Donkey into the hearts and minds of the die hard fanbase, alongside classics ‘Alala’ and ‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’.

CSS are scheduled to play the following dates:

5th October - Sheffield Leadmill
6th October - London Shepherds Bush Empire
7th October - Norwich Waterfront
9th October - Coventry Kasbah
10th October - Manchester Academy
12th October - Edinburgh Liquid Room
13th October - Nottingham Rescue Rooms
14th October - Bristol Thekla
15th October - Brighton Concorde

Tickets are available from See Tickets.

To have a look at the new video to ‘Left Behind’ from Donkey, click away:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Lydon Brands Okereke A 'Liar'

2008-07-22T02:10:00.001+01:00

After this morning’s revelations about an alleged scuffle between Kele Okereke and John Lydon at a Spanish festival, the crazy eyed punk vet has finally provided a statement to the press.

In the short, sensitively constructed mail out Lydon denies his involvement in the racist assault by labelling Okereke a liar and someone in need of publicity.

“I feel very sorry for a man that needs to lie about what was a perfect evening.”

In the first public statement from Lydon’s camp about events on Saturday evening, the sex Pistols claims, “trouble was brought us, resulting in those causing the trouble being physically removed by festival security. If they need publicity so badly this is the allegation universe they run into.”

Using the punk-rock royal we he added, “After the show John Rotten and management remained behind to sign autographs, which we did for four solid hours without incident and had a great time talking to other Spanish bands, this seems to have sparked jealousy in certain bands.”

Lydon did however make one sole reference to the supposed racial accusations behind the incident, “We are in the middle of a wonderful tour, after 30 years we are achieving a true unity in our audience. They are multi-varied, all ages, all races, creeds and colours. When you are at a festival with bands who are jealous fools, lies and confusion usually follow.”

He then directs a comment directly at Okereke: “Grow up and learn to be a true man. It's a shame that the wonderful world of the media is riddled with nonsense like this.”

Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke is yet to release a media retort.

To have a look at last year’s Love Music Hate Racism roundtable debate featuring Kele Okereke click below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Ben Folds Announces New Album

2008-07-22T01:20:00.001+01:00

Ben Folds is going to unleash his rock side with his new long-awaited album.

Out on September 30, Way To Normal is Fold’s third solo long-player as a solo artist and comes as the follow-up to Songs For Silverman.

Folds takes up vocal, piano and, of course, song-writing duties on the Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives) produced album.

Indie pop starlet Regina Spektor features as a guest vocalist on the album’s first single, ‘You Don't Know Me’.

The new raucous album shouldn’t be assumed to be an ode to divorce following Folds’ own two-year legal proceedings with his ex-wife, as the musician explains.

“The songs are not topical. I was not interested in making a record about the D-word. I got all that stuff out of my system on the last record, which was deliberately stoic. This new album is really about me being free, which is why it feels cathartic and expressive. It's about me coming back to being myself.

"I came out of the courthouse, kissed the ground, and walked straight into the studio. I felt like a bottle of champagne that had been shaken for 18 months and popped open in the studio. That's why this record has so much energy."

Ben Folds has been performing at many summer festivals this year, and will continue to tour Way To Normal worldwide into 2009.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: flickr

NEWS: Everything Must Go!

2008-07-22T00:30:00.003+01:00

The Go! Team are having a clearout.

The retro pop-rockers today launch a revolutionary brand new website that is dedicated to dishing out free digital content from their back catalogue.

Located on their website, fans will find a new recording of ’Milk Crisis’, the four track EP of Get It Together, their first release and some remixes they've done of other artists and other artists have done of them.

The cream of the crop is a collection of song parts from ‘Ladyflash’ and ‘Flashlight Fight’ featuring Chuck D which have been made available for superstar DJs out there to fiddle with.

Projects achieving a decent level of audio-aesthetics are invited to send their remixes to remix@thegoteam.co.uk

The Quietus has been reliably informed that the band will be adding more downloads to the site in the near future. Keep checking back for old demos, live versions and other stuff.

Meanwhile the band’s somewhat unbelievably busy world tour, with and without CSS continues:

25th July - Pentaport Festival, South Korea
27th July - Fuji Rock Festival (Red Marquee Stage), Japan
30th July - First Avenue (w/ CSS) Minneapolis, Minnesota
31st July - Turner Hall (w/ CSS) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1st August - Lollapalooza Festival Chicago, Illinois
2nd August - Magic Stick, Detroit, Michigan
4th August - MEG stage / Osheaga Festival, Montreal, Canada
5th August - Phoenix (w/ CSS) Toronto, Ontario
7th August - Trocadero (w/ CSS) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8th August - All Points West Festival, Liberty Island, New York
9th August - The Roxy (w/ CSS) Boston, Massachusetts
10th August - Virgin Mobile Festival, Baltimore, Maryland
15th August - Belsonic Festival, Belfast, Northern Ireland
22nd August - MTV Weekend Day, Gijon, Spain
23rd August - A Coruna Beach Party, A Coruna, Spain
30th August - Surfstock Festival, Newquay, Cornwall
31st August - Jersey Live Festival, Trinity, Jersey, Channel Islands

For the classic ‘Ladyflash’ have a look below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: DFA Dish Out Some Krautrock

2008-07-22T00:30:00.002+01:00

DFA Records are releasing a LP of material from Berlin based Supersoul Recordings to celebrate the German label’s second birthday.

Nobody Knows Anything has been compiled by DFA’s sublabel Death From Abroad for a US only release, and via Supersoul/Kompakt for the rest of the world.

Heavily rooted in stylish electronic dance music, Supersoul was founded by Xaver Naudascher in 2006. All the label’s featured artists have taken inspiration from Krautrock, Italo Disco, Electro, Chicago House and Detroit Techno.

DFA are giving readers the opportunity to listen to the entire collection. Simple visit this bit of the DFA site and enjoy.

The tracklisting for Nobody Knows Anything is as follows:

CD 1:

Xaver Naudascher - 'Lost'
Mogg & Naudascher - 'Moon Unit Pt. 2'
Mogg & Naudascher - 'Moon Unit Pt. 1'
Walter Jones - 'Deuteronomy Brown' (I-f edit)
Plastique de Reve - 'Resist' feat. Radical Cheerleaders
Strangelets - 'Riot On Planet 10'
Xaver Naudascher - 'Afterlife'
Max Brannslokker - 'Stropharia'
Walter Jones - 'The Odyssey Sound' (Mogg & Naudascher edit)

CD 2:

Skatebård - 'Marimba'
Plastique De Reve - 'Lost In The City' feat. Ghostape
Xaver Naudascher - 'Motor City'
Strangelets - 'Riot On Planet 10' (Blitz Gramsci rmx)
Mogg & Naudascher - 'Moon Unit Pt. 4' feat. Rosalind
Skatebård - 'Pagans'
Mogg & Naudascher - 'Moon Unit Pt. 3' feat. Arthur Hornig
Maxx Brannslokker - 'Solar Trip' feat. Katya Tyukova
Skatebård - 'Flexy'
Walter Jones - 'A.I.P.' (X.L.N.'s Maison Vumbi edit)

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Bloc Party And Sex Pistols In 'Racial Attack'

2008-07-21T21:20:00.001+01:00

Reports are emerging today of an incident involving Bloc Party's Kele Okereke and Sex Pistols' frontman John Lydon at a Spanish festival over the weekend.

A fight erupted at the Summercase festival in Barcelona on Saturday July 19th which has now been called an 'unprovoked racist attack' by Okereke.

According to the Bloc Party camp the singer approached Lydon to ask if he would consider reforming one of the his bands, Public Image Ltd.

In a statement Bloc Party claim the punk veteran "became intimidating and aggressive while his entourage responded with a racist tirade including the statement, 'Your problem is your black attitude'."

A fight occurred soon after in which Lydon's entourage were seen by some 50 people to attack Okereke at which point Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs and Foals' Yannis Philippakis stepped in to help the singer.

Other bands who witnessed the ruckus include Mystery Jets, Neon Neon and Har Mar Superstar.

The violence left Kele with severe bruising and cuts to his face and body and a split lip.

Festival security stepped in to neutralise the situation which was later reported to Spanish police. Okereke gave a statement to British police upon returning to the UK.

Speaking to NME.com the Bloc Party frontman said: "It's not an issue of the physical assault, even though it was an unprovoked attack, it is the fact that race was brought into the matter so readily.

"Someone as respected and as intelligent as Lydon should know better than to bring race into the equation, or socialise with and encourage those who hold such narrow-minded attitudes.

"I am disappointed that someone I held with such high regard turns out to be such a bigot."

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: U2 Producer Remembers The Early Days

2008-07-19T01:40:00.002+01:00

Original U2 producer Steve Lillywhite has spoken of the time he spent with the band recording their monumental first three albums.

In an interview posted on the BBC News website Lillywhite records his experiences mixing the records, socialising with the band and generally witnessing the good musical juices issue forth from Bono & co.

As time went on, and one album followed the last, the Grammy award winner saw the band morph from cocky Irish wannabies to even cockier politically-driven rock stars and creative accountants.

He was also on board for the band’s first number one album War, released in 1983.

Lillywhite’s comments come as U2 release re-mastered special edition issues of those first LPs, as dissected on the Quietus by our very own Andrew Mueller here.

Below are the best bits of what he had to say to the Beeb. For the full story on the BBC website.

Boy
(1980)

Recorded when the band were all still under the age of 21 the title reflected their still innocent nature. Despite this the album was originally going to be mastered by Martin Hannett who is famous for helping develop Joy Division’s sound, a flattering proposition for such a new band.

“I always remember on that first album, I was sitting at the mixing desk with the band behind me and suddenly I heard all this giggling. I turned around and suddenly they all went sheepish, shushing each other like teacher was looking at them.

“I think they would admit that, like all teenage boys, they hadn't lived long enough to acquire a personality… There wasn't much talking in the studio. It was quite serious.”

October
(1981)

A brooding Bono didn’t go down well with the critics as U2’s second offering received mixed reviews. Fears of the music industry being against the band’s religious beliefs and the lose briefcase full of lyrics nearly stopped the band’s progression in its track. Thank God it didn’t.

“U2 could have gone two ways after Boy. They could have broken out and gone bigger - but in fact what they did was they shrunk a little bit. They were a little bit scared of the world, I think.

“Yes, there were Bibles dotted around the room during the recording. There was a fair amount of that. But I was so busy trying to pull teeth - trying to make an album - that it sort of washed over me.

“It was completely chaotic and mad in the studio and, obviously, Bono's lyrics being lost contributed to the atmosphere. I'm not sure whether any of those words would have been used on the album - only he knows that - but certainly it would have been a starting point.”

War
(1983)

The breakthrough album. Knocked Thriller off the top of the charts. ‘Nuf said.

“The band had been questioning whether their beliefs could coincide with their new experiences. And in the end it was their manager Paul McGuinness who sat down and said, ‘don't be so silly, you can have them both’.

“In his sort of matter-of-fact way, he convinced them that the world would be better if they carried on making music.

“But I think we all realised that there'd been a step back with October and that, if we were going to go for it, we had to have the urgency of the first album.

“I remember Bono saying to The Edge, ‘don't be like The Edge. Be like Mick Jones from the Clash’.

“Because Edge is like a scientist. He has the white coat on and pencils in his pocket. And I think what Bono wanted him to do was take off the white coat and put on the star-studded leather jacket.”

And for some classic 1983 U2 click below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Metallica Artwork Revealed

2008-07-19T00:05:00.001+01:00

Metallica have released some of the artwork (pictured above) that is to feature on their forthcoming album Death Magnetic.

The images put up on the Metallica website yesterday depict a coffin etched out of iron filings that have been treated by some magnetic fields from top to bottom, just like those prepubescent primary school science experiments.

The impressive, pristine looking images are a further teaser from the metal behemoths, who earlier this month told fans of an extremely limited and already sought after collectors edition of the new album.

In a spectacularly melancholy move to win over the new-age digital loving music fans Metallica announced they are going to release Death Magnetic in a special coffin boxset when the album hits the shelves later this year.

The coffin release will include the full album, a CD of demos, a DVD 'making of' documentary with never before seen footage, an exclusive t-shirt, a flag (randomly), guitar picks and a poster along with a collector's card containing an embossed code to redeem a free download of a special European show happening in September.

The statement giving the details of the coffin box on the Metallica website also said the band were in the process of finalising the artwork at the moment.

Have a gander just below for the new Metallica video for 'The Day That Never Comes':

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Brian Jonestown Massacre Each Other?

2008-07-18T23:15:00.001+01:00

Yesterday the NME reported on a somewhat chaotic end to Wednesday’s Brian Jonestown Massacre gig.

The show is said to have come to an abrupt conclusion after an argument broke out between lead singer Anton Newcombe and guitarist Frankie Emerson.

After police were called and rumours of knife injuries sustained by Emerson began to circulate, the label and management of the band today released a statement announcing that no such events occurred.

The statement read as follows:

“There was no knife or knives involved in any shape or form in this incident. The cuts to Frankie Emerson were caused by some glass splinters.

“Emerson’s injuries were superficial to his arm and stomach and he was treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London. These injuries were caused by horseplay by the band in their own changing room after the gig.”

Whether or not the injuries were caused by glass or "horseplay" is still up for debate as the announced remains somewhat shady with these details.

“Anton Newcombe was questioned at Kentish Police Station to help the police with their enquiries and was released with no charge or caution. Frankie Emerson did not press any charges on Anton Newcombe.

“Any comments by anyone within or outside the media to the contrary are completely false. The band will continue with their successful European tour.”

The London Forum gig on July 16th may have started well but it soon descended into some pretty laughable scenes inner-band dysfunction.

Apparently an inebriated Emerson swung a microphone in a fit of showmanship and damaged it during the evening.

Newcombe reacted by telling him, in front of the crowd, that he would have to pay for the broken equipment to which Emerson responded by sarcastically blasting "testing, one two, one two" into the mic before the band’s encore.

Drummer Joel Gion attempted to settle matters by saying goodnight to the crowd but Emerson trumped up again shouting: “Don't shut front of house man, you fucker.”

After returning to complete the encore the alleged confrontation took place backstage, and police were called to diffuse the situation. No arrests were made and the band is continuing on their UK tour.

A label spokesman played down the incident, declaring: “These things do happen on tour when the band are tired and been away from home too long.”

Brian Jonestown Massacre video to ‘When Jokers Attack’ can be watched below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: McCartney Sings ‘Happy Birthday Israel’

2008-07-18T19:35:00.001+01:00

Hamster king of the City of Culture Paul McCartney looks set to make history once again by playing a gig in Israel, 43 years after The Beatles were banned from performing in the country.

In 1965 the biggest band in the world was famously turned away by the then education minister of Israel, who believed the band’s music might corrupt the nation’s youth.

Earlier this year McCartney, fellow Beatle Ringo Starr and the relatives of George Harrison and John Lennon each received letters of apology from Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor.

The letter read: “There is no doubt that it was a great missed opportunity to prevent people like you, who shaped the minds of the generation, to come to Israel and perform.”

This comes five years after McCartney made history by performing in Moscow’s Red Square, the first time any Beatle had been allowed to play in the Russia since the Soviet regime banned the group.

A date for the gig has not been revealed but it is understood that the former Wings frontman will appear in the Middle East before the year is out.

In other McCartney news, Liverpool’s famous son has faced opposition to his appearance in Quebec this weekend. McCartney is to play an event celebrating the city's 400th anniversary, but members of the grumpy French-descended community have got in a huff about the "Canadianisation" of the event. The city was under French rule until it was captured by General Wolfe in 1759, and there has been a strong movement for independence from Canada ever since.

McCartney plays ‘Back in the USSR’ for the people of the former USSR below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Eno And Byrne Join Forces Once Again

2008-07-18T00:45:00.001+01:00

Magic musical partnership Brian Eno and David Byrne have delighted fans by announcing they are once again working together on a new studio album. This will be preceded by three US tour dates.

According to Billboard, the song-writing duo has already started work on the new album, their first since 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. As yet untitled, the LP will be released later this year.

David Byrne is expected to self-release the project once it is completed.

The tour, billed ever-so-succinctly as 'The Songs of Talking Heads' David Byrne and Roxy Music founder Brian Eno', will feature songs from Eno-era Talking Heads.

The three dates will take in Atlanta on September 20th then the Austin City Limits Festival in Texas on September 26th before finishing up in California on October 4th.

A truly classic performance of Eno-produced ‘Life During Wartime’ from the Talking Heads’ movie Stop Making Sense is waiting just below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: The Hoosiers Blast Kings Of Leon's Dancing Abilities

2008-07-17T23:20:00.002+01:00

The Hoosiers (above) have attacked Kings of Leon (below) for ‘not putting on a show’ when they headlined the Glastonbury Festival last month.

The music press was full of praise for the blues rockers after their Pyramid Stage set on the Friday night, but The Hoosiers' Irwin Sparkes believes they could have danced a bit.

Talking to The Daily Star, the frontman said: “I saw them at Glasto and they are good but they just don’t put on much of a show.

“You want something personal because you know they do it every day – you want them to make it feel special for you.

“We did some dances on stage at Glastonbury. We like to put on a bit of a show.”

Make your own punchline up: here...

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Images: Google

NEWS: Glastonbury vs. Lollapalooza

2008-07-17T22:50:00.003+01:00

The Godfather of muddy summer shindigs Glastonbury could get a new competitor as reports out this morning claim Perry Farrell is considering bringing his Lollapalooza festival across the pond.

The former Jane's Addiction singer has said he’s been approached with offers to make the famous US music gathering international. Speaking to NME.COM he also revealed the three-day Chicago festival will have new elements to it when it when things kick off on August 1.

“Lollapalooza is one of the historically great festivals in this country. Over there [in England] they have Glastonbury - it's actually older than Lollapalooza. I love the competition. I love the idea that OK, you've got Glastonbury, let's see what we can do to make our Lollapalooza fantastic.”

Taking an entire festival overseas is no mean feat, and Farrell is under no illusions as to how demanding the mammoth task ahead of him will be.

“I'm in negotiations right now with a few other locations, some of them overseas, and we'll see how it goes. I look at Lollapalooza as an incredible party machine and you have to go where you can put on the best party."

On more immediate matters Farrell spoke of the latest addition to the Chicago Grant Park outing; a shaded “club area” where punters will be able to enjoy a bit of a dance, a drink and watch some live music.

“It'll have booze and seating and an authentic club sound and feel. It's a place where you can get out of the sun, grab a drink and get a taste of dance culture. And I'll be doing a live electro set there with my Satellite Party posse.”

The once travelling music carnival which has now found a permanent home in Chicago features an impressive line-up this year. Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, The Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley are all set to make an appearance, with Farrell particularly looking forward to Kanye West’s set.

“This year Kanye West has had a bit of controversy going on with his live sets, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing him hit the stage and rock the city of Chicago.”

To see The Raconteurs perform ‘Level’ at last year’s Lollapalooza divert your gaze below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: The Manics Come Home

2008-07-17T22:50:00.002+01:00

Former glam slut punks the Manic Street Preachers have announced a special homecoming gig as a warm-up to their Reading and Leeds festival appearances.

The trio will be playing the Newport Centre on Thursday 21st August.

Close to their childhood home of Blackwood, Caerphilly, the show is a rare chance to see the stadium rockers in a space barely big enough to swing a Cuban dictator.

Tickets for the night will be available from 9:30 on Friday July 18 from via the See Tickets website. You can also snap them up directly from the Newport Centre on 01633 656757 or 0871 200 260.

Tickets are £25.00.

To rediscover why you once loved this band click below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Future Of The Left Extend Their Summer Road Trip

2008-07-17T20:25:00.001+01:00

Angry Welsh rockers Future Of The Left have expanded their upcoming UK tour by adding two new dates in London and Newcastle.

The DiS favourites will call at London Proud Galleries on July 25 and Newcastle’s Head of Steam on August 16.

The tour dates are as follows:

25th July - Proud Galleries, London
11th August - Lousiana, Bristol
12th August - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
14th August - Belsonic Festival, Belfast
15th August - Captains Rest, Glasgow
16th August - Head of Steam, Newcastle
19th August - Forum, Tunbridge Wells
20th August - Water Rats, London
22nd August - Reading Festival
23rd August - Leeds Festival
30th August - DETAILS TBA, Sheffield
31st August - Offset Festival, London

Watch 'Lord Hates A Coward' by Future Of The Left performed at last year's SXSW festival below:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

INTERVIEW: Trail of Dead talk evolution and misfortune ahead of new LP

2008-07-17T17:00:00.003+01:00

As …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead sit in their studio delicately piecing together their sixth album, and deciding what its preceding EP will sound like, frontman Conrad Keeley (the group is completed by Kevin Allen, Aaron Ford, Clay Morris, Jay Phillips and Jason Reece) takes time out to have a word with DiS.

Before you started work on the new album how did you see Trail of Dead’s sound evolving after your last LP, So Divided (review)?
Evolution, maturation: these aren’t necessarily conscious acts. They happen organically, or at least should, and therefore you don’t always notice it. With us I think it happened live, when we were playing our old songs, but trying out new ways to make them interesting. It started with improvising with our old drummer Doni, then continued with our current drummer Aaron. I don’t even know if I managed to address this evolution properly on the new record, but I hope I did to some degree.

Do you feel the band is moving in a new direction?
I don’t think we’ve ever taken on new directions – I’ve always seen everything we do as simply extensions of what we originally intended to do with the band when we started. I think people who don’t see our records as logical progressions had a different idea of what we were going for in the first place. If anything, our last record So Divided fell slightly out of step, but that had mainly to do with the fact that we weren’t trying to make a great record – we were just going through the motions, because we were fed up with our label. Despite what happened behind the scenes on that record, I’m amazed how well it came out.

Video: Trail of Dead, ‘Caterwaul’, from Worlds Apart

Trail of Dead are an act many DiS readers will have followed for some time (true story – Ed) – can you explain what’s behind the new record and what we can expect?
Musically there were a number of new influences that inspired me while I was writing, bands like Yeasayer, Fleet Foxes, and Dirty Projectors. None of these bands are making ‘rock’ music, per se, but then I haven’t heard a particularly inspiring rock album in ages. If you know of one, please tell me. As always, there’s a lot of pain and frustration behind any given record, mainly from the recording process itself. I was playing with a lot of themes in the songs – youth and aging, theology and spirituality, childhood and memory. Unfortunately, I missed most of the important topics, like sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Is there a title for the new album yet?
No, we usually wait to name the album at the very last minute.

You’ve run into some problems what with your producer leaving right at the last minute – this doesn’t mean it’s cursed or something, does it?
We are no strangers to curses and misfortune, and we’ve learned to take them in stride. If anything, it was a blessing. I think we needed to work with people who still believed in the future of music, and had not given up on their lives and the world.

How do you overcome obstacles like a producer leaving?
I don’t see that as too massive a problem. Like all of our problems, I try to look at the big picture, and realise that what we are doing is fairly insignificant. If we were trying to rebuild Iraq, or relieve earthquake victims in remote parts of China, I might be concerned. But we’re not: we’re just recording rock music. It’s hardly worth getting upset over.

I hear you’re planning to release an EP to precede the new album. Can you give any details about that?
I don’t yet know what’s going on the EP, I think I’m still writing it.

It seems you never stop working – when you’re not writing music you’re doodling. What do you do to relax? To relax I usually like to bike really fast, run really fast, climb a mountain, get on a jet ski, or do something dangerous that might kill me.

Video: Trail of Dead, ‘Another Morning Stoner’,
from Source Tags & Codes

The new album will be released through your new label, Richter Scale (news). Are you excited about the prospect of putting out your own music, and music you enjoy?
What could be more exciting! Yes, indeed. But all this is timely, the way I see it. Many bands are starting their own labels and imprints. With the changes taking place in the industry it seems to make a lot more sense. We came onto the majors because we wanted to; I had a romance-fuelled idea of what that meant, based on the history of bands I grew up admiring, I wanted to be like them. It was hard for me to face up to the fact that it will never be like the ‘60s and ‘70s, the days of stadium and arena rock is past, and we are living in a time where rock has taken a back seat to urban music and pop music, and a lot of things that aren’t even music. In a way, facing the reality of it was a lot more difficult than making a decision to be in control of what we do have.

What’s it like partnering up with Universal again though, considering you parted company last year?

It wasn’t really that messy, we actually got off quite easily. Imagine all those stories you hear about bands whose albums got shelved, or who lost control of their catalogue. In so many ways we’ve been lucky, and as I see it we continue to be.

Expect Trail of Dead’s sixth album to land in stores in early 2009, with an EP of new material expected beforehand. Watch video diaries of the band’s studio sessions at their official website, here. Find them on MySpace here.

This interview can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Trail of Dead MySpace

NEWS: Dirty Libertine Chav: Busy Bee Barat

2008-07-17T00:45:00.001+01:00

Pushing aside the ever renewing hype about possibly joining forces once again with loveable rogue Doherty, Carl Barat has revealed details of another side project he’s got brewing away.

On top of the work he’s been doing on The Chavs, with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans and Klaxons’ Jamie Reynolds, Barat has begun working on a dub album with Reverend and The Makers frontman Jon McClure.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music earlier today, he gave away few details:

“I'm just making a little dub record. To see how it goes, and if it's no good then well just leave it. It's just something I want to do and something he wants to do, so…”

The former-Libertine who is currently touring the new Dirty Pretty Things album Romance at Short Notice also spoke a little about what The Chavs are getting upto next.

Treating The Chavs as a somewhat of a musical retreat he said the new material is going to be quite different from they’ve done before:

“It's gonna be our darker stuff that we haven't been able to do with our bands. I think, I mean the inspiration starting points were the later PiL records. The idea is everyone brings something to the table really and we just see how it goes. It might change completely, but The Chavs are not going to be too silly anymore.”

Back to the Doherty rumour mill then?

For a retrospective look at how The Chavs were born, glance your eyes below:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Uncut

NEWS: Metallica To Release New Album In Game

2008-07-16T22:20:00.001+01:00

Metallica are the latest in a long line of bands to endorse rock and roll through video gaming.

The Quietus darlings confirmed yesterday that Death Magnetic will feature on the forthcoming Guitar Hero game … in its entirety.

This represents a groundbreaking step for Metallica who are the first band to have an LP simultaneously released on both gaming and audio formats.

The partnership is an even more exciting prospect for fans who, for the first time, will be able to play along to a whole album of material as it is sold in the shops.

Entitled Guitar Hero: World Tour, the newest game in the series will allow users to download all the songs from the LP for some serious guitar bashing.

Still without a release date, in a statement on their website that band said Death Magnetic would be ‘ready to once Guitar Hero: World Tour hits the streets in the fall’. That’s autumn to me and you.

The metal heavyweights went onto say: “We are so psyched that we’ll be the first out of the gate with this simultaneous release.

“Who knows, maybe a few years from now this will be the norm when your favourite band’s new record comes out.”

In a week already packed with news of music and game crossovers, this comes only 24 hours after Guns N’ Roses announced that new song 'Shackler's Revenege' will be released through Rock Band 2.

This marks the first new material from Axl Rose in more than a decade.

For some Mission: Metallica footage direct your eyes below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Jarvis Showcases New Rock Songs

2008-07-16T00:15:00.001+01:00

Britpop hero and Quietus guest writer Jarvis Cocker has revealed that he will be roadtesting new material during a short US tour this week.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music today the former Pulp frontman also gave details of his first album since the acclaimed 2006 solo debut and its heavier sound.

“I have been working and I have been writing. I’m doing three shows in America in July where I’m gonna try a lot of new stuff out. I’ll see if I survive that, then I’ll try and get it recorded as soon as possible really.

“I probably won’t get it out this year being realistic. But I’d like to get it out as soon as possible. But I’m afraid I will kill again. There will be another record.”

Elaborating on the new material further, the Artery fan spoke of the more wholesome band sound that will be incorporated into the follow-up to Jarvis.

“It’s hard to say as it’s not all done yet but I think it’ll probably be louder than the last one. The thing was, I wrote that record over a period of time and enlisted the help of Steve [Mackey – bass] and Ross [Orton – drums] and Richard [Hawley – guitar] to help me record it. Then went out and played it, and discovered I had a band that could rock.

“That really made me think. I’d never really had that before. Pulp could be loud, but we didn’t really rock…. Well, maybe occasionally. So what I’ve tried to do with the new stuff, rather than me just sit there and wait for inspiration to come at some point – which takes ages – instead we’ve written stuff together. And it’s a bit louder.

“It’s probably something to do with some kind of midlife crisis as well, y’know? Rock while to still have the ability to do it before your bits start falling off.”

May the testing commence, hopefully with Jarvis’ Cocker full intact. His US tour dates are as follows:

19th July - Pitchfork Music Festival, Union Park Chicago
21st July - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
22nd July - Terminal 5, New York

For a live version of Cocker’s ‘Fat Children’ head below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Bowie For T In The Park 2009

2008-07-16T00:00:00.001+01:00

Singer, dancer, actor, producer and all round good egg David Bowie is being trailed by T In The Park organisers to headline next year’s festival.

Organiser of the Scottish jaunt Geoff Ellis has said that Bowie would be his dream headliner after the star had to cancel his appearance at the 2004 festival due to a shoulder injury.

Ellis said: “It feels like we’ve unfinished business.”

The Darkness replaced Bowie as headliners at the festival four years ago.

Fans keen to buy tickets for next year’s musical outing can get ‘Early Bird’ tickets at 2008 prices from the festival’s website.

It will be held in Balado, Kinross between July 10 and 12.

Glance below for a video of Bowie performing ‘China Girl’ at the Glastonbury Festival in 2000:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Coldplay In Song Giveaway

2008-07-15T23:40:00.001+01:00

Musical activists Coldplay have released new track 'Death Will Never Conquer' into the ether of the internet.

Available from the band’s website the previously unreleased song is a gift to all the fans who have supported the them through the ever successful Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends era and to celebrate the start of their world tour.

The track is a stripped down bluegrass affair featuring only Martin and his ivories.

A statement on the site says: “Tonight’s the first night of the tour. To say thank you to everyone who’s bought tickets and supported us hear’s a new song…”

Leaving fans on a bit of a cliffhanger the message ends, “You'll hear it at the concerts with a twist...”

It will be safe to say that this twist will not feature doom metal, drum and bass, dubstep or free jazz.

For a snippet of the band’s appearance at BBC Television Centre on June 18 click below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Flaming Lips: New Movie, New Album, New Direction

2008-07-15T00:15:00.001+01:00

Spacey swooner Wayne Coyne has shot his load and giving information on the The Flaming Lips’ two biggest projects to date.

Talking to BBC 6 Music on Saturday (July 12) and in typical fantastical style Coyne gave details of the band’s new album, its disparate influences and the imminent release of their long-awaited feature film.

“Some of it sounds like John Lennon, but if he got together with Miles Davis and they went back in time, but there was a supercomputer that they could figure out how to work!”

We’ve done a couple of songs, but we have a handful of other songs that I know have a good vibe to them. We’ve been wanting to do it for a while, but we’ve been trying to find the right combination of song and mood. But I think we’ll get there.”

On top of all this activity the first ever full-length Flaming Lips feature film, Christmas On Mars, is in the can. Seven years in the making it looks set for a DVD release toward the end of the year:

“We never knew when we were gonna release the movie for sure. We started making it in 2001, but we always knew were gonna release the Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album [2002] before that came out.

“But then after Yoshimi came out, we never got to go home again. So luckily we were interrupted by popularity – or whatever you want to call it. And luckily we were able to get back to it and I think it’s better now that we didn’t finish it that early because computers, technology, skill level, bravery and all those things, just changed for us. I think we’re able to do something a lot more interesting, a lot more emotional and a lot more weird. It’s just been made better because it took us so long.”

The film’s plot is perhaps as randomly psychedelic as the band’s multi-layered lunacy hints at.

“There’s an abandoned space station on Mars, where there’s a baby being born that happens to be coinciding with Christmas - the baby’s accidentally being born on Christmas Eve,” explains Coyne.

“There’s a major disaster, the oxygen generator breaks, they don’t know if the baby’s gonna survive, but my character [a green-faced Martian] shows up and through some magical thinking, some great things happens.”

For more Flaming Lips craziness check out the video to the band’s 2006 single ‘The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)’ below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Snoop Dogg Walks The Line

2008-07-14T21:15:00.001+01:00

One the most outrageous collaborations in music history is nigh, with the news that Snoop Doggy Dogg is set to feature on the much anticipated album Johnny Cash Remixed, a new version of Cash’s legendary I Walk The Line.

The project, which involves contemporary artists remixing tracks based on the album, is being overseen by the Cash family.

With his descendents keen loving eyes watching over the project the Man in Black’s work shouldn’t (we hope) be subjected to too much ill-advised and clunky genre cross-pollination.

The full tracklisting including remixing artists is listed below:

'I Walk The Line' (featuring Snoop Dogg)
'Country Boy' (Sonny J)
'Get Rhythm' (Philip Steir)
'Leave that Junk Alone' (Alabama 3)
'Folsom Prison Blues' (Pete Rock)
'Hey Porter' (Mocean Worker)
'Sugartime' (Kennedy)
'Trail to Mexico' (Mexican Industry of Sound/MIS)
'Doin' My Time' (The Heavy)
'Wide Open Road' (Count de Money)

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Radiohead Get Laser Treatment

2008-07-14T19:55:00.001+01:00

Ever innovative Oxfordians Radiohead are about to release a music video for In Rainbows track ‘House of Cards’.

This isn’t the story though. Staying true to their word and continuing to do away with traditional filmmaking techniques for the videos for their new album the band have produced the groundbreaking short film using the latest laser technology.

Developed by Velodyne's Lidar as an improvement on radar, the laser uses structured light to give detail of objects within a close proximity.

The result: a warbling Thom Yorke highlighted in neon light instead of human skin pigmentation.

The techy stuff goes a bit like this. Using light pulses to portray environments in three dimensions, for the music video Velodyne took 64 lasers, shot 900 times per minute in a 360-degree radius. This way both landscapes and rooms were given a haunting hyper-futuristic aspect.

In a statement Yorke said: “I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn't meant to be used, the struggle to get your head around what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points - and how strangely emotional it ended up being.”

ASAD can reveal the video will be hosted here Accompanying the video will be a ‘making of’ documentary and a selection of renders lifted from the film for your delectation.

Radiohead have posted a gallery of laser shots, visit the Radiohead website to see them.

Have a look below now for the amazing video:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Chinese Democracy invades Rock Band 2

2008-07-14T12:00:00.002+01:00

Following Mötley Crüe’s lead, Guns N’ Roses are to release a song through a computer.

The sequel to the hugely popular Rock Band game will include ‘Shackler’s Revenge’, a track from Chinese Democracy - probably the most anticipated album of recent rock memory.

This news is likely to be confirmed today (July 14) but metalunderground.com broke it earlier quoting anonymous individuals close to the deal as sources.

The song’s inclusion in Rock Band 2 is a hint that the new album will be out this autumn, finally putting an end to years of delays, although a confirmed release date is yet to be announced.

Watch a video of Rock Band 2's drum kit in action below:

This news story can be found on Thrash Hits with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: Lydon Slams PR Machine

2008-07-12T01:10:00.001+01:00

Potty mouthed old egg John Lydon has today stated that the Sex Pistols never worked a publicity campaign during their entire career.

The current music industry climate of struggling record labels is said to please the edgy veteran, mostly because he’d never enjoyed working with them.

Talking to the Daily Star Lydon said: “My advice to young musicians is: You can do it for yourself, you really can.

“During the whole of my career I've never orchestrated a record with a tour and a publicity campaign. It's never happened.”

In defence of The Sex Pistols somewhat lacklustre efforts at releasing music of late he added: “So what if we released our last album 31 years ago? We make records when we want not when we're told. We’re not a shuttle bus service... Or The Rolling Stones.

“It's more natural to create new material this way because there's a different kind of energy when you’re out there. That's what the Sex Pistols are all about. We spend bugger all on publicity.”

Obviously the sweary Today television interview in 1976 that launched the band and the very public signing of their A&M Records contract outside Buckingham Palace during a special press ceremony was all charity.

In a characteristically witty attack at the close of the interview Lydon slammed musicians such as Madonna who do spend lots of cash on marketing.

“What is it [Madonna] spends? About £250,000 a year to keep her pony-arse face in the paper?”

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Film, Lazarus, Film!!!

2008-07-11T23:30:00.001+01:00

A series of short films are being made to accompany the reissuing of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds entire back catalogue.

From Her To Eternity, The First Born Is Dead, Kicking Against The Pricks and Your Funeral My Trial are to be digitally remastered and remixed in full 5.1 surround sound and released at the end of the year with more released throughout 2009.

Each super-dooper deluxe collector’s edition will include the remastered stereo album, the new surround mix, the b-sides from the singles, exclusive sleeve notes and a specially commissioned documentary by acclaimed artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

This epic film-making project will be touring the globe looking for fans who are willing to interviewed talking about their favourite band.

Taking in London, New York, Melbourne and Berlin, Forsyth and Pollard will be looking for people who feel they have a connection to the band's music, or a particular song.

Each film is likely to be a powerful montage of people chatting directly into the camera about their experiences with the band’s work. From the famous to the infamous and not-so-famous, everyone will have a chance to have their say.

The artists already have a history of working with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and have spent the last six months working with them on several projects. They have produced four promo videos for the new album Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!, some live studio footage and a set of seven one minute 'seance' clips which have been broadcast on YouTube.

If you are interested in participating visit the artists’ website here.

Watch the first seance film below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Primal Scream Explain Glam Direction

2008-07-11T19:40:00.001+01:00

Slinky-hipped bowlcut Bobby Gillespie has spoken out about Primal Scream’s latest album, the loss of a bandmate and his glam rock influences.

Released on July 21, Beautiful Future, the band’s ninth studio album, is set to be an ode to early hair rock, vintage British pop rock and dark electro.

Speaking to The Sun this week the frontman seems very fond of the relatively new direction: “Our guitarist Andrew (Innes) began playing the guitar in a different way... very angular, very precise, very machine-like.”

Could this have anything to do with Bloc Party and The Rakes producer Paul Epworth onboard?

“Riot City Blues was garagey, grungey, bluesy, high-energy rock but there are no real blues notes this time round. The songs that came were very pop, almost bubblegum.

“The album is joyful but the band has always had that. Tracks like ‘Movin’ On Up’ and ‘Rocks’ are completely ecstatic. That’s what I like.”

One obstacle the band had to overcome was the lose of long-term guitarist Robert ‘Throb’ Young, an old schoolfriend of Gillespie.

“I love Robert. I mean he was one of the songwriters with me and Andrew. We wrote Screamadelica and Give Out But Don’t Give Up together. We were a great partnership but other things come into play. People’s lives change.”

The band isn’t going to wallow in the despair of being a man down though. Beautiful Future is to dress up the Primal Screams tendencies for stomping militarism and sweating rock & roll in sequins and big bad stompin’ boots. “We love glam rock,” explained Bobby G.

“What The Beatles were for people in the Sixties is what glam rock was for us. We love Glitter, we love Bolan, we love Roxy, we love Suzi Quatro ... 48 Crash is great.”

Fallen star Gary Glitter seems to be of particular inspiration to the singer: “We love Glitter’s big drums and big chants. Basically, we love glam. You can’t be glam enough, especially these days.”

The album will feature collaborations with Lovefoxx (CSS), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss) and folk legend Linda Thompson.

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Morrissey Pushed Veg At Wireless

2008-07-11T01:00:00.001+01:00

Loveable buff rogue Morrissey apparently attempted to ban meat backstage at last weekend’s Wireless Festival.

The Manc vegetable lover demanded a ban on all fleshy products and went about fly-posting his trademark ‘Meat Is Murder’ imagery around the VIP area, according to Teletext. The Quietus can't quite recall any posters promoting the joys of a firm young carrot, but that might have something to do with the Samoan Fogcutters we'd had beforehand.

Morrissey also had a moan about the pal of burger smoke hanging over the Festival site from the Wireless stage.

A source said: "Liverpool band The Rascals lived up to their name and defaced the poster nearest Moz's enclosure so it read 'Meat is boss', and drew a load of burgers on it!" Does anyone else remember the time _Select_ magazine printed a painting of Morrissey sniffing a pie in a mock advertisement bearing the slogan "Meat Is Magic"?

To watch ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ have a look below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: The Verve Release Mystery Video

2008-07-10T23:45:00.001+01:00

A cryptic new video to accompany The Verve's new single ‘Love Is Noise’ has appeared on the band's mySpace.

From panoramic views of mountains to ladies playing with some rather big, mean looking birds and video of an Asian sporting ceremonials, the apparently random collection of images certainly aren't announcing any obvious messages.

What is of greater concern to fans is the fact that a typically gaunt Richard Ashcroft appears quite separately from his bandmates on screen.

Will this have fans concerned that Dicky & co's latest spell together might be a short one, or is it merely all in the editing? Philosophers of the world are troubled.

You can view the clip in question below:

The Verve - Love Is Noise

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Free Seasick Steve Download

2008-07-10T21:00:00.001+01:00

After a triumphant Glastonbury appearance lovable bum Seasick Steve returns with a new album.

His Pyramid Stage set may already be festival folklore but Steve’s new album Started Out With Nothin' and I Still Got Most of It Left may just cement his reputation as one of the great blues artists of modern times.

The follow-up to Dog House Music is released on September 29.

In the build up to the album Steve’s label Warner are offering a free download of ‘Roll and Tumble Blues’. Download ‘Roll and Tumble Blues’ here.

A montage of live footage including Steve’s adventures on Worthy Farm can also be watched online here.

The Yankee bluesman will be taking his DIY guitar to the Latitude Festival and has numerous other shows in the UK lined up throughout October. Full listing below:

1st October - Royal Albert Hall
3rd October - Southampton Guildhall
5th October - Bristol Carling Academy
6th October - Brighton Dome
9th October - Nottingham Rock City
19th October - Liverpool Carling Academy

Seasick Steve pic courtesy Shot2bits

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Pumpkins Celebrate 20 Years With Live Shows

2008-07-10T19:45:00.001+01:00

The folically (and members) challenged Smashing Pumpkins are to celebrate their 20th anniversary with a series of live dates in August.

The opening gig will take place in Hammond, Indiana at the Horseshoe Casino on August 9. This relatively small show will be will be followed by a handful of similarly modest sized dates.

An announcement on the Smashing Pumpkins website gives details of the anniversary tour proper which will take in the cities of Los Angeles, New York and their home town of Chicago. Information on the dates and venues will be given at a later.

In a statement on their website, lead singer Billy Corgan said: “The August tour is going to be a blast... Expect a very loud and raucous show from us...and we are very, very happy to know we will finally be playing our own shows come November in New York, L.A., and Chicago... The 20th Anniversary shows will be magical... We are already working on lots of surprises.”

The anniversary tour has put back the much anticipated Gish tour to early 2009 but fans will be happily consoled by the news that the band will be playing unique sets and songs.

A special box-set re-issue of the Pumpkins’ debut album Gish will also be released next year to accompany the tour.

Watch the ‘Siva’ video from Gish:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Boosh Fest "a success" say organisers

2008-07-10T16:10:00.005+01:00

Despite reports in The Guardian that fans were left “bemused”, the organisers of The Mighty Boosh Festival have deemed it an overwhelming success.

It demonstrated a fantastic return to form from the ‘Godfather of Gigs’ Vince Power who masterminded the all-dayer for comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding.

The entertainment cocktail of comedy and music that took place last Saturday (July 5) was hampered by traffic problems which, we are reassured, are going to be looked at in the event of another Boosh Fest.

In an unexpected bout of blazing sun revellers plastered in face paint and fancy dress added a Boosh universe theme to the day.

Highlights included Ross Noble and Frankie Boyle’s ‘daft as’ sets in the rammed comedy tent and powerful performances from Robots in Disguise, White Denim, The Kills and the much-celebrated Gary Numan.

As the The Mighty Boosh Band took to the stage the site looked ready to explode with hundreds of sunburnt Bob Fossils and Nabos barging to catch a glimpse of their heroes.

So who went? Who enjoyed it? Who didn’t? Who was caught up in the traffic? Et cetera.

To see an on site interview with the Boosh boys have a look below:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: BBC

NEWS: End Of The Road Announce Film Contest

2008-07-10T02:30:00.001+01:00

The annual End Of The Road music festival will this year feature some exciting events for film buffs.

Joining forces with cult movie magazine Little White Lies, the Larmer Tree Gardens site will host a cinema tent showing only the most eclectic mix of films and shorts during the festival, which runs between September 12th and 14th.

The thrilling Brit flick Dead Man’s Shoes will be run in its entirety, amongst a selection of short films, music videos and other feature films past and present.

To celebrate Little White Lies involvement with this year’s festival the organisers are holding a film competition. The End Of The Reel challenges anyone to create a short 15 seconds ident to be screened on the main stage, in the cinema tent and online.

In a statement the organisers said: “In the spirit of the festival and the magazine, entries need to be fresh, innovative and thought provoking.”

Entries will be posted on the End Of The Reel YouTube page

The winners will bag two tickets to End Of The Road, one year’s subscription to Little White Lies and several armfuls of Rough Trade and Carhartt goodies.

The rules are as follows:

The piece can be animated, filmed or graphically produced.
The content must relate to End Of The Road theme and ‘Truth and Movies’ (Little White Lies’ tagline).
Entries must be uploaded to any video sharing website, and the link emailed to: endofthereel@littlewhitelies.co.uk.
Deadline for entries is August 29.
Winners will be announced September 1.

This year’s festival includes performances from Calexico, Bon Iver, Tindersticks, Mercury Rev, Dirty Three, Richard Hawley, British Sea Power and Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, among others. For the last remaining tickets to the festival go to the site here. Oh, and stay tuned to The Quietus for more exciting End Of The Road information very soon.

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: My Morning Jacket Begin Writing New Album

2008-07-10T02:00:00.001+01:00

Reverb royalty My Morning Jacket have already put their creative caps on and begun work on their next album.

It was only last month when the band’s latest LP, Evil Urges, was released, but frontman Jim James today gave details of plans afoot for the next full-length release.

Talking to BBC 6 Music James said: “I’m already writing songs for the new record and stuff. The process is weird because whenever we make a record, the songs come from one or two years of life that you’ve lived.

"Then by the time you get to make that record you’re in that zone but when it comes out, it’s a year or two later. So, for me personally, I’m working on the next thing."

Despite all the media love for ‘Evil Urges’ the guitarist has said that he’s tried to avoid reading the reviews.

“I guess as a band you try to not hear too much of what people say because it feels good when somebody says something good but it feels bad when someone says something bad.”

“We’ve had a lot of people say some nice things about it and some that haven’t liked it so I feel like we’re always kinda in the middle. But we’re really happy with it.”

Watch the video to ‘I’m Amazed’ from Evil Urges below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Gang Of Four To Headline Offset Fest

2008-07-10T00:35:00.001+01:00

Ye Olde Yorkshire post-punk outfit Gang Of Four are headlining this year’s tube-trip-home-friendly Offset festival.

The band join the likes of astute minimalists Wire and robed lunatics Chrome Hoof at the festival, which will take place over August 30 and 31 in Hainault Forest, Essex.

Also on the line-up are Brighton’s The Maccabees, Andy Gill favourites The Young Knives, Metronomy, and Johnny Foreigner. The Experimental Circle club will headline a stage of stern sounds from rising acts including Ulterior, ddd, Ipso Facto and Prinzhorn Dance School.

In the past the festival has showcased bands such as Biffy Clyro, The Duke Spirit and Art Brut.

With 150 bands over seven stages tickets are priced around the £50 mark for full camping over the weekend and are available here.

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: You're the next Lil Wayne? Barack Obama doesn't think so

2008-07-09T18:00:00.001+01:00

US President in waiting Barack Obama today name checked superstar rapper Lil Wayne during a speech intended to encourage young people to stay in school.

The ‘tough love’ message directed toward the nation’s African American youth was an attempt to illustrate the importance of a high school education above an attempt at employment in the professional sports arena or the music industry.

“You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school,” announced Obama to a cheering crowd in Powder Springs, Georgia.

In the speech the Democratic nominee spoke of high school drop-out rates and the need for students to be more committed to their education in order to develop a successful career post-school years.

Crossing the pop culture/political divide is a dangerous move for any figure, but for the most celebrated rap artist of 2008 it’s a bit of a coup.

For a bit of Lil' Wayne look below:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: BBC

NEWS: Capital return: Howling Bells in London tonight

2008-07-09T15:20:00.001+01:00

Australian four-piece Howling Bells are set to make their return to the London live scene tonight (July 9) when they roll up to The Hoxton Bar and Kitchen.

To celebrate, DrownedinSound got cosy with Juanita Stein (pictured) in the July rain to talk about their new album, the follow-up to their Bella Union-released self-titled (review).

When asked what progress had been made on their second album, the vocalist said:

“We’re about three quarters through mixing the second record now. Been a really inspired and exciting process making this album.

“Where the debut was charcoal and blood red, this one is gold and silver. Diamond shaped as opposed to circular. More optimistic minus the naivety that comes with it.”

Sounds interesting and nicely angular, but can people expect? What about influences?

“In terms of influences, the band seems to have re-connected with the music that first inspired us as individuals. Pink Floyd, The Doors, Hendrix, Love, The Byrds, all the stuff we used to get stoned to combined with all the fun, progressive electronic music we listen to today.

“As this record has been a way more collaborative affair, all those influences combined have definitely made their mark.”

Hopefully all this promise will manifest itself on stage tonight.

The LP was laid down at Sound Factory Studios in Los Angeles with producer Dan Grech-Marguerat, whose past credits include Radiohead and Paul McCartney.

In addition to tonight's London show, you can catch Howling Bells at the following festivals:

18 July - Southwold Latitude Festival
20 July - London Lovebox
9 August - London Field Day
10 August - Leicester Summer Sundae
29 August - Scotland Hydro Connect

'Low' by Howling Bells is playing below:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

COMMENT: Is professional music opinion now worth nothing?

2008-07-09T12:00:00.002+01:00

Metallica (pictured) might yet be spared their blushes as it turns out most people are looking elsewhere for their music criticism and reviews.

Music criticism is apparently being rubbished by fans as they begin to seek muso advice from other sources.

Professional opinion is being ignored by eight out of ten consumers who are favouring online reviews from music stores and social networking sites for the latest reviews of albums and gigs.

E-commerce firm Avail Intelligence conducted this latest Trust Index research which showed 40 per cent of respondents preferred information sources such as the iTunes Music Store and the iLike Facebook application.

The opinion of family and like minded mates came in at the top though with 41% of the vote.

On top of this the ability of the internet to be a successful platform for the sale of music is being questioned.

Fifty-one per cent of people said they prefer to purchase CDs while 25 per cent opt for digital downloads.

At the moment the average spend on CDs is £9 per month. Due to the minimal cost of electronic tracks that’s around 38 per cent of an equivalent digital music spend.

Dr Rolf Elmer, chief executive at Avail Intelligence, said: “What this research shows is that today's consumer is more informed than ever and that personalisation will be critical for e-tailers looking to stand out.”

Some of this change can be attributed to the now common use of social networks to launch new artists such as Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys and the diversity of these sites.

Discuss: What do you think of these revelations? Is our opinion null and void? Surely not!?

This discussion can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Taringa.net

NEWS: Hear New Streets Here

2008-07-09T08:10:00.001+01:00

Would-be suburban poet laureate Mike Skinner has debuted four new Streets tracks from his forthcoming album online.

Mike Skinner posted the offerings as a medley of snippets on the band's Myspace pace.

The tracks include ‘The Escapist’, ‘The Way Of The Dodo’, ‘The Sherry End’ and ‘On The Flip Of A Coin’

The teaser comes a month before the Brummie beat master is expected to preview more new songs at a special Brighton gig on August 10. Skinner will be joined by N*E*R*D for the Vodafone TBA beach party. And the rain the rain it cometh down...

Everything Is Burrowed, the fourth album from The Streets, is due out later this year.

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Stage shakes off alcoholism: Reading and Leeds re-branded

2008-07-08T17:55:00.000+01:00

With the cleaning up and rebranding of the Reading and Leeds Festival sans-rubbish dishwater alcohol, the new bands tent has gone through somewhat of a metamorphosis.

As of this year the smallest of the stages at the festival formerly known as The Carling Weekend will be called the Festival Republic Tent.

Headlining this stage will be Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, Elliot Minor and The Kills (pictured above).

This year the Reading and Leeds Festivals will take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 22-24. More information here.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: Calvin Harris frustrated with Dizzee number one

2008-07-08T17:35:00.000+01:00

A rift opened up in the masterly anthem-penning partnership that is Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris today.

Harris (pictured above, cunt) has begrudgingly stated that he deserves more credit for the current UK number one ‘Dance Wiv Me’.

Speaking to the Daily Star the singer/producer (pictured) claims that fans do not realise how much of his work was put into the project:

“I'm slightly frustrated with those who just think I sing the hook. I did the beat, of course. But never mind, I'm made up that Dizzee is at number one.”

Seems Dizzee was right to have Harris only 'featuring'. There’s not been a true duet since Aerosmith and Run DMC.

Have a look at the said single below:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

NEWS: Portishead Quit Touring

2008-07-08T08:14:00.001+01:00

Sabbatical-loving Bristolians Portishead have spoken of their plans for a new album – and revealed that they’ll no longer be setting forth musical nuclear wind in the live auditoria of the world.

Talking to BBC 6 Music this morning guitarist Adrian Utley told fans, “We are thinking a new album, that’s partly why we’re not touring enormously. In 1998 we toured for a year and a bit and it just crashed us. None of us wanted to see each other for a while after that.

“We got together the other night discussing stuff and getting a bit of a plan together.”

But Utley added that these writings will probably hit the cutting room floor before they get to work proper: "I mean we have got stuff, but we'll start again - that's what we want to do.”

With other commitments like families and various side-projects it seems touring will be the first sacrifice made by the band in order to keep writing: “We’re all gonna be doing stuff. We’ve finished our touring for this album for this year because of things that we want to do.

“To be at home with our children, very young children. I mean really, just babies - it is an important time and I don’t want to miss that.”

Watch 'Machine Gun' by Portishead below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

NEWS: Sigur Ros fight Flood

2008-07-08T08:10:00.001+01:00

Icelandic ambience mongers Sigur Ros have revealed that a barny with legendary producer Flood "kicked us up the arse" during the recording of their tongue-melting new album Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Flood, best known for his work with U2 and Depeche Mode, didn't immediately see eye-to-eye with his charges. "There was a clash," lead warbler Jonsí Birgisson told The Sun of the Canute-like standoff. "Flood came to Iceland and we were already in the middle of writing songs. But Flood doesn't work like that - he usually works with a band from scratch and writes with them until the end. We had been writing for 14 years so his methods were a bit hard to take on board. He kept butting in, saying, 'Oh, why don't you put a guitar here or there?' and we'd reply with a firm, 'No!'"

"So we sent Flood home and finished writing our songs - and after that he was perfect. He did help. He has this great focus and works hard. He kicked us up the arse."

As well as a beef with the famous desk jockey, Birgisson told the popular daily that single 'Gobbledigook', was written after the band survived the tedium of this year’s Eurovision camp-off.

Birgisson said "We wrote ['Gobbledigook'] on the night of the Eurovision song contest. We were in a rented farmhouse, it was a long evening, we watched the whole contest, and afterwards our brains were so fried we had to write 'Gobbledigook'."

The song’s title may appear to poke fun at the song contest but there’s actually an entirely different meaning behind it. "It translates badly into English. [In Icelandic it] means some sort of prank. Something like things going wrong, like roofs falling down on to your head."

Watch 'Gobbledigook' performed by Sigur Ros with Bjork at the Naturra festival below. It's gold for the eyes:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus

ALBUM REVIEW: The Futureheads, This is Not the World (Released: 26.05.08)

2008-05-19T17:43:00.001+01:00

Let’s not kid ourselves: This Is Not The World was almost the album that never happened. So many great bands fold after being dropped by major labels, so it could have been easily assumed that The Futureheads would follow the likes of Hope Of The States into the history books.

The band’s third album always had to be something much more than a return to form, then; it had to make a statement of longevity that would welcome in Nul Records-era Futureheads and see them through this challenging new chapter. Considering the magnitude of the task they’ve pissed all over it, laughing their socks off.

The Sunderland four-piece would’ve been forgiven for taking on the task with a degree of restraint, approaching this LP with a fear of pushing their evolution too far, too soon. But the only back-pedalling here is evident in the absence of two-minute raging pop songs and the presence of very definite structures: verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, chorus. However, This is Not the World remains a frenzied dash through stunning build-ups and punk poundings.

The disco angst of patented material brazenly shines through, but there’s a suggestion of dissent where there used to be unashamed fun. The opening track and first single ‘The Beginning Of The Twist’ is a call to arms, proclaiming an imminent shift in something chaotic; it’s already the song of a picture of great big middle digit pointing skyward from a tightly clenched fist. And why not?

After all, following their dumping by former label 679 this was always going to be a retaliatory record. Documenting many of the feelings and exploits in the aftermath, these 12 songs are dark in places with hints of confusion about where the band currently is.

‘Walking Backwards’ is deceptively chipper; it cries out in confusion, not knowing a role or direction. Suffering the abuse of an oppressive body, the entire album is a mouthpiece for a creative freedom not felt for a long time.

Built of compounded riffs and sliding basslines ‘Sale of the Century’ is a Pumpkins anthem that Billy Corgan never penned, a crude anger outlet. Snapping between darkness and traditional liveliness the transition is so blatant and underhanded it sounds like a cut and paste job. This is overshadowed by the extraordinary outro: a complex unravelling of missed drumbeats and guitar interjections that morph into something almost unrehearsed.

The new single, ‘Radio Heart’, is something very different. Wetter than what surrounds it, it longs for a girl with a transistor blood pump. Sticking out like a sore thumb, feels like an afterthought addition with standalone cuts firmly in mind. Some will expect this album to bash the music industry throughout, from the electronic hum of a second in to the record’s climax 39 minutes later, but it’s peppered with inoffensively tuneful offerings that need, maybe, to grow some balls to really keep such company. Then again, no band can be angry all the time.

That said the standout track is a post-love song chronicling the transmission of advice from one friend to another as he tries to get over a girl. There’s something brutally honest about ‘Hard To Bear’: “You lock yourself in your room / You keep your curtains closed to help seal in the gloom / Your bedclothes still stink of her stale perfume / But you hope the smell doesn’t vanish too soon.”

Another highlight attacks that destroyer of life, routine. ‘Everything’s Changing Today’ is a boozy emancipation from being stuck in a rut every night to becoming a social butterfly; the kind of escapism all bands offer their fans.

In places this album is the statement it should be, a Trojan Horse bringing down one of the biggest symbols of capitalism from the inside. It’s a shame then that, sometimes, the quartet chooses to equip themselves with teaspoons and not chainsaws to do the job. Still, it’s one almighty journey through realms uncharted by The Futureheads thus far, and it’s done in fine form.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Nul Records

LIVE REVIEW: The Futureheads, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (Date: 05.03.08)

2008-03-09T15:03:00.001Z

Being dropped from a label is something many of us can only empathise with. Perhaps as gutting as your mum throwing you down the stairs, but apparently not. According to reports The Futureheads have never felt so creatively free since splitting with Warner. It maybe a pushy maternal instinct to see your creation to thrive but to cut them loose when the second album proves a commercial miss is a bit much. Kicking shit into the eyes of the majors, they’re now doing it their way. This tour, the album, ‘The Beginning of the Twist’ are the fires whence this phoenix rose.

Ever confident and holding absolute belief in their new mission, Sunderland’s favourite sons storm through ‘A to B’, ‘Area’ and more. Turn to a friend, chat to a neighbour and you’ve already missed the opening numbers. The playful aggression nurtured at Fantastic Plastic Records suddenly seems a lot more belligerent tonight as mettle is tested. Despite this serious rites of passage, Barry and Ross maintain a mischievous mood demanding people dance as if at the school disco just as ‘Skip to the End’ explodes from the setlist. Barry’s new hair, a throwback to a This Is England age, and raged filled expressions stand juxtaposed to his request for everyone to sing along mimicking the call of the seagull.

The effort in making ‘Stupid and Shallow' and ‘Meantime’ as dance-able as humanely possible has been used to demonstrate growth in the band with new songs reflecting a maturity that’s not all pretense and pomp; that is if you overlook the ballroom timing of the future hits. Ross announces proudly: “The next one starts in waltz time”, the title track of ‘This Is Not the World’ that is. You’d be forgiven for thinking the boys are catering for the Strictly Come Dancing audience as the last song started in tango time. The current single and the ‘Man Ray’ encore indicate that they’re definitely not turning into pounces as the din peaks at stadium rock anthem levels.

There’s a natural pause in the ‘Man Ray’ lyrics while the music ticks over mercilessly. The four Futureheads each graciously thank the crowd for dancing the school disco salsa to which a roar silences the instrumental din to reassure the band that while 679 Recordings may have deserted them their fans certainly won’t.

Words: Dean Samways

Photo: Dean Samways

LIVE REVIEW: The Go! Team, Southampton University Students' Union (Date: 24.02.08)

2008-03-03T12:26:00.000Z

How the fuck do they do it? How does Ninja stay so ecstatic, so enthusiastic, so hyperactive through entire gigs? Then there’s the high-legged, arm-flailing dances. Tonight the hysteria isn’t born in the crowd; it streams from the stage and infects the hip congregation as they feed on the energy. The Go! Team never seem to tire and, on top of this, each member of the Brighton crew possesses an enamel-rotting sweet smile that’s going to either make you sick or envious. The fun starts now.

Tonight Ninja’s squeezed into a tiny green top and the most fashionable black bin liner skirt but she doesn’t stay still long enough for you to appreciate it. Before long she’s running on the spot, windmilling and bellowing at the peak of every leap. Beyond Sam, Jamie and head-honcho Ian, the wandering guitarists who dodge and weaver around the little rapping dynamo, the pace of the evening is blisteringly hammered out.

The two drum kits hypnotize but as you watch and listen you’ve got to ask whether or not they add anything musically. Thankfully Chi steps out from her skins to sing the most adorable ditty as an interlude while Ninja disappears for a costume change. Either side of this uncharacteristically subtle intermission the band rage between tracks that stretch between Super Furry Animals homage to a driving soundtrack arranged to throw hulking Cadillacs into cardboard boxes for no particular reason.

‘Grip Like A Vice’ may be a skip-rope anthem suited and booted in leg warmers and faded retro vests, but ‘The Power Is On’ is the coolest playground power track with hints of action figure fights and sandbox skirmishes. The tempo is so rampant you’d think they’d need a sit down but a sip of water and they’re back on it. ‘Huddle Formation’, ‘Bottle Rocket’ and ‘Ladyflash’ are already Go! Team classics, vintage with their Grandmaster Flash-era beats.

Last year’s Proof Of Youth album has consolidated the band’s mainstream status. Tonight’s hearty versions of ‘Titanic Vandalism’, ‘The Wrath of Marcie’ and ‘Doing It Right’ sound like themes from programmes that give kids mini-scramblers to race up and down slagheaps. Amazing! This is their beauty: the electroclash of retro on retro, white pop and black rap, producing a universal party sound. The fusion’s so perfect tonight that I’m not sure if I want to go home and play with Transformers or continue my dissertation. What year is it again?

Words: Dean Samways

Photo: Dean Samways

LIVE REVIEW: CSS, Portsmouth Pyramids (Date: 20.12.07)

2008-01-02T20:28:00.001Z

The holiday season is unavoidable in Pompey’s soon-to-be-flattened leisure centre. Garish gold, silver, red and green decorations hang in the chlorine thick air. As expected from a series of dates billed as a Christmas tour, the stage is lavishly endowed with more plastic paraphernalia. Microphones suffocated in tinsel, huge stars drip from the light rigging and a fibre optic Christmas tree oscillating in vibrant colours neighbours the drum kit. Later we’re told it belongs to the venue, which would explain its survival after the other props are liberated and handed to the audience come the night’s close.

As the lights dim on the Christmas morning living room scene a snow machine spews out detergent-like suds that sting the throats of people standing at the back as well as those whose perfect indie hairstyles are being bleached. Coughing fits aside, the scene is serene enough. Balloons are handed out and ticker tape released when six human sized presents waddle out on stage. They perform a short dance before exploding into the members of CSS, vocalist Lovefoxx complete with an uncomfortable snowflake worn like a high collared waistcoat. Let the festivities begin.

‘Fuckoff Is Not The Only Thing You Have To Show’ may not be in the spirit of Christmas, but it gets the show started. The energy, as always, is ridiculously fun. The bounding cat suit, black locks and slightly chubby grin are all exaggerated tonight, but then this is the last night of the ChristmaSS tour.

The people of the south coast are treated to a new one early on. An impressive starry backdrop and amazing disco ball effects accompany ‘Beautiful Song’. ‘This Month, Day 10’ continues a rude theme that flows through every CSS gig, but one which shouldn’t really fit here what with Jesus and Santa look-alikes manning the mixing desk. ‘Music Is My Hot Sex’ and ‘Meeting Paris Hilton’ heighten the sexy fun before the band dedicate the next song, ‘Alcohol’, a love song, to everyone.

‘Alala’ and ‘Off The Hook’ follow in quick concession before a banner announces another new one, ‘Reggae All Night’. The fresh tracks don’t dampen the crowd in any way, as unfamiliarity might expect to do. The mob continues to bay for more as the band retreat and return for the encore. An unannounced Christmas number is played out before a rendition of L7’s ‘Pretend That We’re Dead’ and the band’s closer, predictably by now, ‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’.

It’s disheartening when you see a band lots but they don’t pull out any new crackers to whet the appetite of their fans. Klaxons, for example, are still not playing any new numbers despite the album being a year old now. Thankfully this crowd is treated over the Christmas season to some musical treats and it looks like the sassy Brazilian vixens aren’t losing any of their sex appeal going into the New Year.

Words: Dean Samways

Photo: indietastic.net

LIVE REVIEW: Simian Mobile Disco, Southampton Guildhall (Date: 30.12.07)

2007-12-05T16:17:00.001Z

I’m always a little bit sceptical when I’m about to see a dance act, even one prefixed, oddly, with the ‘indie’ adjective. There’s something Not Quite Right about seeing two guys playing music through a series of contraptions analogue and digital, LED-littered units and a mess of wires. They could just be playing their CDs under the desk, couldn’t they? They might have their iTunes library open, right?

Such pessimism often breeds a reluctance to go to this sort of gig. Some time ago a Chemical Brothers, Faithless or Fat Boy Slim show wouldn’t even have lightly pricked my interest. After tonight, though, I’m converted.

I’m a complete Simian Mobile Disco virgin. It took Justice to bring them to my attention, and they don’t even play that track tonight. Instead they blow me – and all and sundry – away with everything else. And they’re only the support band, playing second fiddle to Mercury winners Klaxons.

The visual show surrounding SMD’s bobbing twin bodies is almost as tight as the electronic beats: vertical bars of light flash between red, green and blue and guide white circles up and down around the two guys as they tweak their arrangement of equipment at the centre of the stage – it’s all very Radiohead at Glasto 2003, aesthetically. During each of the songs the two James’ are only visible by their silhouettes dashing between the beams, the ceiling cast in white light.

As expected the set is one long mix of tracks woven together with a joyous jauntiness that sends hands thrusting into the dry ice mist. But such descriptions inevitably fail to portray the display in all its real, malleable glory.

The duo continue to work their knobs, switches and buttons, bending bodies around in the darkness to the rhythm being generated. The use of the equipment as a percussion instrument is impressive, and with every thud of an open fist the songs alter and transform into the next track. Sound and vision is often said to be the sensory combination that inspires and awes, and this astonishes. This feels more of an event than a traditional gig, with subsequent DJs sending the crowd into a euphoric state of indie trance. Headliners Klaxons can only stand back and wish that their show was as electric as their support’s. An unfortunate position to be in, especially when you’ve supposedly penned NME’s Song of the Year.

Words: Dean Samways

Photos: neumagazine.co.uk

LIVE REVIEW: We Are Scientists, Southampton University Student's Union (Date: 18.11.07)

2007-11-28T19:34:00.002Z

Great gigs that stay with you fall into two categories: epic or fun. Arcade Fire, Editors and Muse are epic spectacles that shake you to your very core and leave your bones resonating for an age. Bloc Party, Dirty Pretty Things and Dizzee Rascal are fun. Fun should not be confused with throwaway. These loosen the jaw and relax the bladder. They stun. They throw bodies into spins and send arms-a-flailing. We Are Scientists are of the latter category.

Bouncing on stage with a new drummer and guitarist, who are never really introduced, Keith and Chris promise to “fuck you up!”; by this they bring a little bit of entertainment and learning, and like an episode of Sesame Street where Big Bird is cavity checked by that doughy-eyed mammoth, they deliver. They hit the crowd hard with a lightning rendition of ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’ then flow straight into ‘This Scene Is Dead’, which is slower than its recorded counterpart but is as pounding as an assault of kettle drums. Now comes the banter: WaS seem to have an uncanny ability to be as funny as hell, but only if you’re in on the gag. This doesn’t detract from the understood japes being little nuggets of comedy genius.

After ‘Inaction’ an uneasy stride is taken into unknown territory. The first of the new songs is played for the crowd to get their ears around. Perhaps called ‘Patience’, it echoes Coldplay and is the first indication that maybe this ‘difficult’ second album will be more destined for the coffee table than the dance floor.

Another new one has a new romantic tone. Keys are given more prominence in the new repertoire as the tempo dawdles to an ambient, Rapture-like slow jam. It’s now that you ask yourself, “What’s happened?”

Just as it seems all is lost and the Scientists seem destined to be locked up in the lab to find that secret ingredient of dance indie again, they leisurely thrash out ‘It’s A Hit’, ‘Lousy Reputation’ and ‘The Great Escape’ before coming back on to attack a somewhat disheartened crowd with another new one. This time it’s ‘70s punk, aggressive and just what was needed. Hope is restored and then cemented with ‘Cash Cow’.

“We had to finish on this… because it’s so fucking dance-able!”

Words: Dean Samways

Photo: Peter Hill

LIVE REVIEW: Dizzee Rascal, Southampton University Student's Union (Date: 08.11.07)

2007-11-13T19:26:00.001Z

In the first year of university there was a big debate, never really settled and costing us a night out: “Is rap music ‘real’ music?” Two friends well versed in the strategies of argument, who, unfortunately for the opposer, were also fans of black music, took the discussion into the early hours. Needless to say my über-indie, whiter-than-white friend was shouted down and mocked until he buckled and compromised, “I only give rap music the time of day if it offers me something more than Fiddy and his gangster musings”.

I’ll hold my hands up: I’m a bigger fan of guitar music than I am UK hip-hop. In fact the last rap album I bought was probably The Sugarhill Gang best of, some five years ago. With Dizzee Rascal though you don’t just get a London MC with a powerful, bass soundtrack; you get a twice-nominated and one-time winner of the Mercury Prize who smashes down genres and musical barriers with a playful grin on his face. Needless to say this is my first gig seeing three guys on a stage with no strings or skins in sight.

Tonight is an assault. The three men on stage, two MCs and one DJ, set the pace for the ecstatic crowd with lightening lyrics splashed on top of tunes that rubbish everything that’s gone before them. The raw, vest-wearing enthusiasm that cannons through the entire set forces Dizzee and friend to take two interludes. The first comes after the Arctic Monkeys collaboration, ‘Temptation’, at which point homage is paid to the Sheffield scenesters with a snip of ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ played over the PA followed by some Nirvana and Kaiser Chiefs. The second pause has a jungle theme, with classic cuts played from Dizzee’s days as a D’n’B DJ. All this gives the gig a different feel.

The show leaves me dumbfounded.‘Old Skool’, ‘Sirens’ and ‘Flex’ demonstrate amazing enjoyment in what the Londoner does, and the crowd revel in it. ‘Stop Dat’, ‘Fix Up, Look Sharp’ ‘Jus’ A Rascal’ blow everyone away as hands are raised and jumping breaks out. If there was ever a gig that changed a mind about a genre of music, it was this one. and

Words: Dean Samways

Photo: Fabric London Press Website

LIVE REVIEW: Kate Nash, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (Date: 22.10.07)

2007-10-24T14:01:00.001+01:00

The young grow up so fast. Glancing around there are small people who look lost without a conker and a hand full of Pogs. Youngsters line the barrier refusing to acknowledge an elder pushing through the crowd shouting: “When do you want to go home?”, “Do you want another Fruit Shoot?”

An act that attracts such a vast fan base should be celebrated and is, if only if it wasn’t for Rihanna and her pesky rain shield. Tonight Kate Nash has some props of her own. Red tied back velvet curtains, her name in pink neon, fairy lights draped over amps, artificial plants and china ornaments.

The secret behind this Harrow girl’s success is her ability to bring music down from near elite planes to poetry of the public. These familiar themes that line Nash’s music mushroom in significance for every single person. They can try to reach out to her through their bedroom music system but when she’s in front of them they reach out physically and verbally, and she so very kindly and happily reaches back.

The distorted drums of ‘Play’ crash into the room as the neon light sparks to life; the people’s musician arrives. ‘Mariella’, the opener, is an excellent showcase of Kate’s voice. It is amazing! Over exaggerated accent aside, the keys and tones, speed and elocution is dumb-founding. ‘The Shit Song’ is beautiful. The lack of electronic accompaniment helps the daydream of sunny afternoons and large glasses of booze. Non-album track ‘Stitching Leggings’ fills the set list to last the hour and half adequately before returning to stringless ‘Skeleton Song’ and a richly stripped down ‘Birds’. ‘Nicest Thing’ continues the gorgeous low tempo of the most touching tracks before the gears are cranked up for ‘Mouthwash’ and ‘Foundations’. The interchanging, the upbeat and the mellow, is seamless.

The encore finishes the crowd off. A night of banter, smiles, laughs and sweetness is punctuated with Kate lonesome on the piano for ‘Little Red’ and then joined by her band for ‘Pumpkin Song’. The former has a crescendo that would be fitting for any classical concert but the rings of “I just want your kiss boy!” puts ridiculous smiles on every face, Kate’s included.

Words: Dean Samways

Photo: Adam John Miller's MySpace