You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2008.
I once knew someone who was firmly of the belief that people shouldn’t be wearing earphones and listening to music when walking on the street. He used to get rather upset about it. “People need to be alert at all times!”, he would rant, “Not making full uses of their senses when in the urban environment is a dereliction of their duty as a human! I could sneak up on them without them being aware!”. My more laissez-faire approach to portable music devices confounded him, and he moved to Japan (I don’t think I caused this, but you never know). I’m pretty sure he is a ninja now, the super-aware super-stealthy bastard. Read the rest of this entry »
Of all the things that have dropped through my front door since I moved into this new flat, this is definitely one of my favourites. Let’s look at the competition: bills, curry house menus, the local “MAN GROWS GIANT TURNIP” rag, a firework, a cat tied to a firework, cat excrement, human excrement, and two or three human body parts which suggest that someone known to the previous occupant of this flat has been kidnapped and slowly tortured (note to self: next time I move house, I must get my mail redirected). Yep, this album of exquisite, atmospheric, heavily-processed guitar is better than all those. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the undoubted highlights of last month’s doom-laden ATP Nightmare Before Christmas was the performance of Dylan Carlson’s Earth. Having exhausted myself by running around Butlin’s like a five-year-old - ah, those water slides - I slumped against a wall towards the back, letting the vibrations from those colossal guitar chords buzz their way into my head. They were debuting new songs from their then forthcoming new album The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull, and it was immediately apparent that these were rich and languid epics increasingly-far removed from their metal past. Read the rest of this entry »
I had to pinch myself once or twice when I saw that New Jersey’s finest Dalek were to play in London’s most famous hip-hop venue, erm, The Borderline. While I was ordering my pre-show Courvoisier, I noticed a few mementos behind the bar celebrating visits by a load of other leading rappers - The Wonderstuff, Suzi Quattro et al. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite being a fan of theirs for many a year, you may recall that Jackie-O Motherfucker, or in particular Jackie-O Motherfucker’s smoking-ban-flouting, support-band-disrespecting and all-round bit-of-an-arsehole-on-the-night Tom Greenwood, got up my nose a bit at a recent gig. So much so that I may have been blinded (as Dave pointed out in the comments) to the quality of the music they were producing. Not being keen to add another name to my lengthy list of grudges borne, I made the point of seeking out a copy of their first studio album in a couple of years, Valley of Fire, and to attempt some sort of objective review. Which was easier than I thought it would be, as he record is strong enough to blow away the stench of any lingering ill-will. Read the rest of this entry »
I must confess that I didn’t think I would enjoy this. As someone whose exposure to the Kompakt label doesn’t extend much further than last year’s raved-about-by-millions-most-probably-including-you album by The Field, I decided to base my misgivings on much more tenuous grounds. You see, I figured that I’m just a bit too bitter, too cynical, too irritable, to be amused by anything with the word “pop” in the title. Read the rest of this entry »
As this second release on the label comes out almost a full year since the first (the rather excellent Jasper TX album A Darkness), it is probably fair to say that Lidar Productions aren’t exactly out to flood the market with product. I’m sure they would say that they are concentrating on quality, not quantity, but so does every lazy fucker who can’t be bothered to put in a day of hard graft down the mill, me included. (”Quality, not quantity!”. “Umm, no, that is one grain of wheat. A good grain, granted, but I’d rather not starve, so I’ll have the loaf of bread”). However, records as delicious as the Jasper TX and this new self-titled Bersarin Quartett (sic, whatever that means) one don’t come around that often, so maybe, just maybe, they’ve got a point. Read the rest of this entry »
As you may know, I’m a big fan of Taylor Deupree’s 12k, that most fastidious of labels. Obsessed always with the qualities of sound itself, its environment is a hermetic one populated only by the most minimal yet most fascinating of electronics. The new release by UK-based artist Autistici keeps within their keenly-patrolled quality control thresholds. Read the rest of this entry »
Regular readers who have grown understandably tired of my overuse of poor sea and water-related metaphors will no doubt be delighted to hear of the delights Santa brought me this year. Not only am I now the owner of this new recording of the wonderfully-watery Sinking Of The Titanic, but also of Peter Ackroyd’s new book of meanderings on the subject of that most gloriously-filthy river - Thames: Sacred River. I’ve only just begun to dip my toes into the book’s black and fast-flowing depths. I’m pretty sure I will get sucked in soon, read half of the thing in one sitting, but then inexplicably forget to return to it i.e. like I do with all books. I can glance across at a pile of started-but-not-yet-finisheds which features – just above the Koran - Will Self’s Book Of Dave on top. I met him once, he scared me by barking like a dog, so he is lucky I bought the damned thing at all, never mind read it.
Just back from my festive galumph around the country, and I’ve already resumed position at my desk, staring at my computer like it is the most obscenely advanced piece of technology I’ve come across in my life. I feel like one of the villagers in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years Of Solitude who has just been shown a magnet or a block of ice for the first time. What is this? It does what? Can I give you some of these gourds in exchange for it? Anyway, perhaps as a result of my pre-xmas list-building frenzy of over-consumption, on my travels I really didn’t listen to a great deal of music. Apart from this. Although its 43 tracks felt like more than enough. Read the rest of this entry »
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