Have you ever thought to yourself that there must be huge, towering piles of obscure but wonderful music out there that you would, in all likelihood, love or at least find interesting, but you just don’t have the gumption to find it? Wouldn’t it be amazing if a couple of dance music freaks got together and found it all for you and then fed it to you in little Weetabix Mini Crunch-sized portions? Well, that’s exactly what the guys at Fervent Moon do, and they have just re-launched their site. Read more »
FERVENT MOON - BACK IN THE GAME
MUMDANCE HAS GIVEN US A MIX AND A REMIX, AND HE HAS INVENTED A NEW GENRE
Once upon a time Mumdance was simply known as plain old Jack Adams and he used to book events and nights for us at The Old Blue Last. Nowadays though he has forgotten all about little old us and has become a superstar DJ. Literally. Just look at his MySpace page – the upcoming shows list looks like the itinerary for Around the World In 80 Days. He’s also decided to invent his own genre, which he’s calling “kerplunk”. This is not a joke. Click on to hear his remix of Maximo Park’s “Let’s Get Clinical”, which is without a doubt the first attempt at nailing the kerplunk aesthetic anywhere ever. Jack’s also kindly supplied us with a whole mix that he recently put together with a bunch of folks like Jammer and C-Gritz all over it.
SEX CHURCH WRITE ABOUT BUMMERS, MOSTLY
Last month my friend Nicholas sent me a package filled with photocopies of vintage soft-core biker porn with headings like “How to Buy Women Legally” and “The Last Nazi Bikers of the Third Reich.” Attached to the last page with a note written in magic marker promising two more gifts that would be following shortly: a tour tape from a group called Sex Church and a pair of black leather gloves. While I never got the gloves, I did get tipped off to one of the best new bands on the West Coast. Read more »
IT’S A BOTTIN HALLOWEEN DISCO
It’s that time of year again, the time when William Bottin comes out from behind the curtain to hide razorblades in your kids’ apples and flood the street with Horror Disco. He’s playing a couple of Halloween-y UK dates this week. If you don’t know why you should go along, then click through to hear “Disco for the Devil”. Read more »
Spray yourself with the Aerosols
I’m pretty obsessed with San Fransisco at the moment. It’s all the hills and the gays and The Rock starring Sean Connery and the indie bands. There are lots of wonky indie bands out there now – something you’ll know if you’ve been paying any attention to this blog (or have I just been pissing my words into a big digital black hole?). Read more »
BLONDES JUST WANT TO HAVE ETC
Maybe Blondes haven’t ever heard of Van Morrison, because for me the word “Moondance” conjures images of fat Tex-Mexicans expressing their Irish roots on St. Patrick’s day and Irish governments selling their cultural identity to Disney, one Leprechaun keyring at a time. Read more »
Alba Lua are so dreamy they forgot to record any drum parts
I was in Bordeaux recently, staying in a temporarily vacant flat owned by a drummer who had a great record collection and a weird bathroom-and-bedroom-in-the-same-room scenario (is that a French thing?). Anyway, when I awoke to the smell of coffee and croissants (it was a pretty idyllic morning), the drummer plus band had returned and were waiting to practice upstairs. Despite the record collection and good taste in furniture, my expectation was that, like 95 per cent of the music out there, it would be a bit shit. It wasn’t. Read more »
Give Cave a wave
I’ve been driving Times New Viking around Europe for a few weeks and had my (admittedly shitty) but still pretty useful laptop stolen in Manchester. So I’ve been pretty much unable to write any posts here. What’s happened in the world of Pitchfork-friendly bands in my absence? Well, nothing too surprising, actually. The long-rumoured Pavement reunion was confirmed, Jay Reatard’s band quit, oh and (as everyone in the world will know) the lil’ guy from Wavves beat up Jared Black Lips (apparently with a lot of help from his manager and a bottle). Read more »
Make those grey locks gleam
Sorry to dwell on a band’s name again, but Silver Shampoo? I didn’t really get it, so I googled it and it turns out it’s the name for a shampoo for people with grey hair. I guess it turns you into a silver fox, like Clooney or Gere. It’s the opposite of those evil ads where the precocious, disrespectful children convince the greying widower to clasp life to his chest once more, dye his hair and go on a date with that hot widow who teaches at their school. Silver Shampoo encourages people to embrace their silvery locks and the beauty of age. Read more »
A Thank you to Thank You
I know a little about Baltimore: it’s the setting for The Wire, which is, y’know, the best thing since Shakespeare, Eminem, TV on the Radio, and whatever else the middle brow loves. It’s where the much-hyped Dan Deacon got together his faux-psychedelic Wham City collective and it’s where B-more, the chopped-up hip-hop/house hybrid, originated. In this country (well, Nottingham at least), B-more seems to be mainly popular with slightly posh students at hideous bars with horrendously cheap drinks offers, but I’m willing to believe it has a different audience over there. Read more »
