FEATURE: How great is the BBC?

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: McCartney Sings ‘Happy Birthday Israel’

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: Capital return: Howling Bells in London tonight

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

NEWS: Sigur Ros fight Flood

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

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

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)

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