cloud floating

in the middle of a weekly blog rummage and condensing session, my dream from the night before stared me in the face in a prophesy of what i could write. so i'll start by backtracking a few years...

when music blogs were first popularised by the use of hype machine and other such aggregate functions, i was introduced to i guess i'm floating- an american music blog headed by connor and nathaniel. this time in my musical journeys i was very much in love with elliott smith, sufjan stevens and general american indie saddle creek types. IGIF pretty much accurately matched up with my tastes, and so I followed it religiously to be on top of what direction i could be going in next. i became so used and reliant on the two lads in charge that they pretty much shaped all my tastes for the next couple of years and any other blog i tried to peruse over just never seemed good enough, especially, for this matter, british blogs, which just seemed too bent upon exposing the kooks and any other band that referenced the kooks. the layout of IGIF is neat and easy, which sharp, witty and succinct music journalism and a constant flow of 'save target as' downloads to explain their points. they are ahead of the game and are great at predicting trends without falling out of love with all their favourites just because others have become cooler.

i weened my way off the blog in later years, although i still check it every few weeks. but last night i dreamt that i met a girl in london who was in charge of the blog, and the two lads were people she hired from america to write about the american scene. it was such a ridiculous dream and i was being a massive suck up to her like "wow, you are so amazing for managing such an amazing blog" and "i always knew there would be a woman behind it somewhere" and other rubbish. but it wasn't real of course, and connor and nathaniel are real people who manage their own writings, but the dream definitely brought back home how important the blog has been to me in the last few years, more than any other music publication to be honest.

it was also through these guys that i heard a first demo of artic monkey's new release - crying lightning from an upcoming album humbug. although i somehow glided right through the artic hype without so much as a backward glance (see- american indie phase) this new release hit me instantly as a great track with much to come. i think all this somehow relates to my dream, i guess i'm floating, prophesies, and things to come. so there we go!

web: i guess i'm floating!

school of many wonders

School of Seven Bells, consisting of the sublime Deheza twins and their lynchpin guitarist Benjamin Curtis, are set to hit Britain by a magical tempest storm with their debut album Alpinisms. Their lucid-dream evoking sounds, created by the hauntingly beautiful voices of the twins, have had them touring with bands such as Prefuse 73 and currently Bat for Lashes, who’s almost sold-out tour is initiating them into the perfect British fan base.

Catching up with them before their 4th gig of the tour in Leeds, they seem pleased with how it’s gone so far. All they knew of Bat for Lashes (who they say is still “pretty underground in the US”) is “that song with the bicycles” – ‘What’s a Girl to do’ - which Alej insisted “blew her mind it was so good”. This little knowledge considered, it was a great fit for School of VII Bells to go before Bat for Lashes, and I was extremely deflated when after only half an hour they blew us away with their final song and modestly departed the stage.

When introducing School of VII Bells to an audience in the UK, you would expect there to be a good understanding of their shoe-gaze ambient pop, what with the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine’s perennial popularity. They agreed that these comparisons are often made about them, and with it usually comes a “… and I’m a hugee Cocteau Twins fan”, so the reference point is nearly always an encouraging hit. Ben talks of different sensibility in the U.S in more “base level” approaches to music, in contrast to the “appreciation of complexity” here; reactions which are different but equally good in both musical climates.

Both the twins and Benjamin were in previously successful groups before forming for this one, most notably the great cult band The Secret Machines of which guitarist Ben was a part of with his brother. The sound they have brought to SOVIIB is, however, remarkably different and has thus developed a fan base very much apart from their earlier projects. Ben admits that some SM fans “don’t understand the direction”, and most of their current bands don’t even know what their old stuff sounded like. When being determined to stay in the music industry, as they are, they realised that they had to challenge themselves. “Hearing the same music too long- you can fall into habits… when you want to be doing something for a really long time you have to develop your brain a bit more”.

They state that the dream-like atmosphere they invoke on record and in their live set is not a conscious effort; it is just a sum result of the three of them working together with a background in listening to psychedelic music. Hearing them on record, it is difficult to imagine just the three of them creating such an impressive sound. They say that playing live is “totally its own experience” but approached “with the same intention” hence it is just as good- or in my opinion- better.

Both Bat for Lashes and SOVIIB are headed by talented female artists; a fact which is unavoidably incongruous in an industry ever dominated by men. The twins smirk when we bring this up and explain it is something they are often reminded of. Alej passionately elaborates her views of the topic;

“I’m really surprised at how backwards things still are… Like when you’re at a venue and the engineer automatically bypasses the girl and asks the dude what’s going on. It starts there, but it can be anything from reading music press and girls’ voices are always “angelic”, or you’re “ethereal” or you’re a “banshee”. It feels like even if you’re singing with authority and in a very direct tone you’re still placed in the safe category”

As part of the music press, I can empathise with those who cannot help but describe their voices as ethereal, but there is also no doubt they are rifled with authority and blessed with a creativity that surpasses the uninventive mainstream sounds which are screamed down our airwaves. And with 69 more shows ahead of them, it seems that more people are actually tending to agree with this.



link me up: their myspace

internet thief

so i realise that my blog is likely to induce hyperventilating or similar illness shock reaction if some professional bloggers were to stumble across it, but i just need to put some good things up that have no relation to anything whatsoever.

e.g...

this is nice:
clouds appreciation

and this has more music than spotify:
grooooveshark (beware buffering)

and this article pretty much takes apart our economic system:
monbiot

and i have since found many new uses for tights as this beauty demonstrates:
fashion toast

and i don't care if this is cheesy/old news/staged/an advert IT IS INCREDIBLE


and that'll do for now before i start sounding like a guardian guide internet page without any theme. shit

chasing frightened rabbits

so most of wednesday was spent thinking of ways to break into a sold out gig in a castle which would undoubtedly be immense. why? because it was headlined by the glaswegian rockers frightened rabbit. this is a band who aren't afraid to sing with passion and experiment with the simplest of melodies for the most wonderful of results. after frustratingly listening to their myspace whilst fantasising about secret underground passageways, i stopped myself mid-track. i had to go to this gig. 30 seconds later i was metro-bound for the castle keep and practising my persuasive voice. it didn't take long to blag myself entry and breathe a sigh of relief.

the getinvolved team, normally based at the end bar in newcastle, had done a great job. to host a gig in a castle with a limitation on numbers and at high expense was an ambitious move, but they have proved that transgression often ends with success. in the depths of the dungeons, poised on a candlelit stairwell, the event commenced with richard dawson- a local genius of solo acoustic pop with a killer voice that could rip your insides out in one sharp note.

a few songs later we headed back upstairs, grabbed a getinvolved local bitter made for occasion, and waited for FR in tantalising anticipation- due the intoxicating affect the beer and location had on us. they opened their set in a fashion that complimented their surrounding magnificently, with the favourite 'keep yourself warm' blowing us away and making me miraculously forget i was very ill-dressed for an obviously freezing venue. the atmosphere they evoked throughout their short set was one that only be described by fact- this is, without a doubt, the best place on earth for a band like FR to play. facing an intensely dedicated audience, they directed at us their eloquent scottish-tinged harmonies and passionate rhythms, producing a sound which was nothing short of epic.

post-gig, we were all dizzy with the experience of witnessing something very special and getinvolved, with their music business heads firmly in place, had set up an after-party to cater for the inevitable winding down a gig like this demands. the horrible fight with cold weather was soothed by a great party at the end bar, hosted by ross clark and the scarfs go missing and we were promised jet packs. not the easiest names to remember but both will stick in my memory as good entertainment, and both making me aware that scottish voices are just a lot nicer in singing.

as a treat, FR played yet again at the end, making for another dizzy with delight ride home!



link me ups:
frightened rabbit myspace
we were promised jet packs myspace
ross clark and the scarfs go missing myspace
GET INVOLVED newcastle promoters

the music revolution

and no, this time i don't mean spotify. i carried out this interview before the release of mongrel's debut album with groundbreaking results!

John McClure of Reverend and The Makers is renowned for being anything but tame, and catching up with him to talk about his new ambitious collaboration, Mongrel, is an exhausting experience in itself. The passion and intensity he holds for the new projects he has been a part of is testament to the inevitability of the success of Saturday 7^th March in which their debut album, Better Than Heavy, will be distributed free with The Independent newspaper. The day is a product of the culminating revolution which started shaking long a go and which now, the strong-minded McClure believes, is about to explode in an epiphany of musical gritty reality.

“Music as you know it is dying”, he announces. “There is no way you can justify charging thirteen quid for summit that’s 50p”. Ever the voice of reason, his Yorkshire roots have proved to be swelled with antagonisms for the current apathy in the music scene, which in turn has made him ever the more enthusiastic to shake people up and beat the crowds. He talks a lot about the “former voices of rebellion”: - such as NME, punk bands and old Rock and Roll; all of which have merged into the docile establishment which, despite the masses of cultures, have insisted on ignoring most of them.

“Where is everyone?!” he asks with disbelief lacing every syllable. He waves a Palestine flag and gets ridiculed, he takes a risk and speaks his mind and gets chastised for being loud. In a sentence reminiscent of Marx, he states that “the moment you put making capital above the well-being of human beings and the integrity of journalistic investigation, is the moment you have to be removed”. Well if they say actions speak louder than words then McClure is screaming his way to changing the world.

“What’s rock music?” he probes me, in his idiosyncratic way which I soon see is embalmed in the depths of his soul. He wants to show the world that new music - passionate music - deserves a chance in the everyday world, instead of being confined to certain late hours on the radio. This is why at first glance, the collaborations with some of the best hip hop artists around perhaps seen incongruous for someone hailing from the Sheffield indie scene, but the results are too amazing to ignore. As the Independent on Saturday is thrust in our faces with the Debut of Mongrel, the diverse talent of Britain is thrown along with it and the impact is intense, exciting new music.

The new album is not only about producing fresh music, it is also embedded in the greater atmosphere of rebellion. The Independent newspaper is thus the perfect form of distribution, as McClure makes clear that Mongrel are “not afraid of telling the truth”- just as The Independent voices rebellious opinions and won’t stand short of contention. Is this new teaming of media the beginning of the end of music as we know it? With the credit crunch now in full steam ahead, collaborations such as this don’t seem too daft an idea at all.

See wearemongrel for tour dates and download info.

See instigatedebate.com and find your voice of contention.

re: shantel

yeah so the video at the bottom of the last post has been lauded music vid of the year by the popular eastern european blog ostblog- which is a pretty clear comment on the diar quality of eastern europe's music promotion industry, if that quite horrendous video came out on top. (i kind of want to let him off though- i just found out shantel was THE pioneering dj to introduce balkan into an electronic set... pretty influential guy really!)

insomnia, and the likes

i'm not normally a drafter, but i admit for this blog there are odd remnants of posts which lack the ability to grow into anything substantial. so this very late post is a blossoming to accumulate the dregs of my blogging, and also pay homage to my FIRST FOLLOWER, wow, it feels good (who cares if i know her, and well at that?!)

music wise, i'll highlight some things which have been drifting my way recently.



resonance 104.4 FM - the London based, community run art radio station is yet to really filter up north, but i got involved just before christmas and wish to spread the news. when i realised its massive scope for interesting shows, the huge array of music it offers, and the positive ethics behind the running of it, i knew i was on it something- not to mention the shows by great independent mags such as the wire, artrocker and art monthly. so i picked a few podcasts at random and found many very impressive; they worked as a reminder of my deep-seated love for radio with a purpose- and that excludes commercial purpose.

particular good shows/podcasts are
'rhythm incursions' - they vaguely define themselves as covering hiphop, dubstep and electronica likes, but i would say it's far more encompassing, as one of my favourites so far under them has been carlo's mix; a canadian dj with influences roaming from boards of canada to flea-markets to graphic violence; oddly enough which come through in the music he puts together (by 'feel' rather than beat or rhythm). slightly annoying is the fact that he purposefully doesn't provide track-listing, as some are just amazing and impossible to find.
another is-
'turntable: radio' - a show dedicated to scratching and turntablism (if those squeaky notes aren't for you, don't click the link), normally it has some great mash-ups, especially the famous xmas mix which i had on for my xmas party at one point; it was insanely apt!

i'm still only part way through my journey into resonance, but it's impossible not to find great things from a radio station with the ambitions it holds and the support it gets.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
travel part 1.

on the slightly different note of music venues, i've spent time in a couple of UK cities recently which i haven't been to before. edinburgh- i visited once but not properly- i went to a while ago to support my friends who were opening a set at cabaret voltaire, which was such a good venue almost mimicking edinburgh caves but in a club atmosphere. and brighton- of which i attended the amazing balkanesca night at komedia. i'll talk more about UK cities after this weekend where i'm returning to the southern realms of bristol, but to briefly mention- the balkan night managed to live up to the berlin set expectations, somehow. i was more than impressed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so a while a go i was battling with insomnia, giving me about 5 hours total kip when i should have had at least 25, but as ever, this leads me on to endless exploration into the wonderweb, and an effort to try and narrow my focus on a life plan. probably not the best state to be writing cover letters, but it seems to be conducive to good internety finds.

when when my meandering began and i found a world of creative genius' contained in record labels. my favourite so far has had to be fatcat records, the masters representing amongst others...

hauschka (or the less hip - volker bertelmann): a german experimental, ambient composer who uses delicate piano sounds to create yann tierson style masterpieces.

mum: icelandic group taking electronic tinkling to a whole new level

animal collective: 'nuff said

no age: kings of cool the smell LA club rockers

and basically, many more great artists. please hire me in easter yes?

the real reason fatcat records hit me however, is the way their website is overwhelmed by an independent ethic buzz which is alive only in these types of record labels where faceless corporate music is about as far away in ideals as iran is to the USA (owch, poor metaphor). its just so different and wonderful. the browsing resulted in many political blogs and indie zines recommended whole-heartedly by the team, and i really felt in that website, caught up in a community phenomenon of creative backlashers (talking of which, i went to starbucks at the weekend oh gosh, but ate a pack-up in their faces, ker-chung!)

another musicy thing: SPOTIFY, the new medium for playing music, a itunes-esque streamer with no buffering, completely legal, and so much available! get invited here: CLICK! you won't be disappointed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ill leave with a video (check the 'arty' use of fish-eye cam lense!):



that's all folks. E