Giving Shoegaze the Boot

I'm not sure shoegaze is exactly what I mean with these bands but they are perfect for staring at things wistfully, k? Anyway, have a listen to the spotify playlist and you'll know what I mean. I have always been a fan of zone-out music when working or having those groundbreaking thoughts when you are walking in the rain and immediately forget when you take your earphones out... But goddarned it, along with old favourites Atlas Sound, Deerhunter and Blonde Redhead, with each passing day the Pitchfork and Hypemachine brigade are championing a new batch of sleepy-eyed, sluggish-melodied ditties with wistful, teen angst lyrics and it's getting a little old frankly...

I've rounded up the best of the bunch recently getting props to save yourself the embarrassment of falling for the Clarks of the shoegaze world and it's contemporaries ;)

Spotify Link: Shoegaze


BEST COAST

An overrated album by a bunch of stoners? There are some shining star tracks though; Boyfriend and The End are great schmoozy, sixties-inspired lullabies but the album can get a little repetitive as a whole. They have done a load of interviews where they just come across as Stoner Central and pretty dull really.

Watch this now:






REAL ESTATE

Beach Comber is a banging track, not on Spotify but worth a buysies. I like this. It even has one of those shaker things that looks like an egg, fucking love those. The guitar on Basement sounds like it's trying to snog itself. Surf poppy shoe gaze.


WASHED OUT

Ok so 'Feel It All Around' has pretty much been the soundtrack to my Summer. The bass is straight out of Human League- Don't You Want Me, smothered in glittery tinklings and a hazy finish. Delicious. The rest of the Life of Leisure EP ain't half bad either but no other song touches this one.


TORO Y MOI

An Eton Mess of sound. Whip 500ml of distorted, bendy guitar with a handful of mixed voices, top with a sprinkling of beepy things. Serve on drums.

CARIBOU

This is the livelier end of shoegaze, more like shoeshuffle, but I call the shots on this blog so it's going in also. Odessa is a stroke of pure genius and Swim is a phenomenal album.... Yeah, slightly off the shoegaze track but there are elements in there and it is FANTASTIC. Czech it out. 





GOLD PANDA

Lonely Owl is just beautiful...perfect wind down material. Just some flecks of shoegaze in here, lets call this one wallstare. Again a bit more trancey/ambience but a great wee EP on spotify, listen yes.

Arcade Fire- The Suburbs First Listen

Once again NPR come up trumps with their First Listen feature. New Arcade Fire album, getting some rave press reviews and a few lukewarm word-of-mouth ones.... Jury's out.

The Suburbs- First Listen

Local Natives on Blogotheque

Surfer Blood LIVE

Surfer Blood LIVE @ The Garage, Islington 12/05/2010

I managed to catch Surfer Blood earlier this year at Camden Crawl and was completely blown away. With drunken revellers packed tightly into the den of inequity that is The Underworld, their shambolic, energetic set captured the anarchic atmosphere of the setting perfectly. The gig ended fittingly with lead singer John Paul Pitts crowd surfing across the room and scrawling 'WE'RE ALL GAY' in permanent marker on the Gaymers sponsor wall.

And so with a smile of expectant anticipation, I entered the Garage in Islington. Everything seemed in good order, the crowd consisting of a healthy mix of buzz-followers and more seasoned music fans. The lights dimmed and the band walked on to Motley Crue's 'Girls, Girls, Girls' blasting with spotlights searching the crowd... Evidently they were as expectant of a 'to-be-remembered' show as I was.

They opened with Fast Jabroni, a good introduction to their sound: surf guitars with LOUD bass and wistful, slightly dark lyrics enhanced by Pitts' Casablancas-esque vocals; in all their songs there is a smooth fusion of Pavement and The Drums with a bit of a sixties surfer vibe thrown in for good measure. The highlights were 'Harmonix' where the bass reached out and slapped you round the ears and 'Anchorage' which escalated slowly into punky joy. They also treated us to an extended version of 'Swim' which dissolved into beautiful guitars reminiscent of the Chili Peppers.

Their stage presence is equally as confident, buzzing with the fizz of youth they joke comfortably with the crowd and each other. It's good to see a new band surrounded by so much hype still having fun instead of taking themselves too seriously too soon.

This show would have been perfect save one thing- the crowd. Despite the raw energy of the songs and enthusiasm of the band , the crowd were embarrassingly subdued. The Blood had obviously planned to do an encore but the lukewarm reception had them asking 'Should we even come back out?'. I think it's a classic example of a band riding on hype without taking the time to build a loyal fan base (this gig had to be downgraded from Heaven). It's a real shame because these boys can really put on a show!

Glastonbury 2010

Trudging onto site last Friday for my fourth Glastonbury with the sun beating down on my back, a wall of cider-clutching Rolf Harris fans blocking my rucksack-laden way, I couldn't have been happier. (Well... at least I was an hour later sat in the Jazzworld area with a good ole strawberry cider).

What ensued in those 3 days was magical (like every Glasto); a secret gig by Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, tartiflette and toulouse sausage, meeting a lion by a roaring firelog, the xx at nightfall, local natives and hypnotic brass ensemble in the sunshine, morris dancing, kangaroos, a covers band starting a Neighbours theme song singalong, the weird and wonderful Shrangri-La, back stage pints, the stone circle, freezing tents morphing into sweaty tents in an instant (horrible), lebanese mezze, the Pyramid crowd singing Lola with Ray Davies, radical poetry, watching The Middle East beside Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling, elderflower champagne, shit trapezists putting on a full scale pirate show.... agggggh!

On top of the beautiful weather, this year the Eavis' pulled out a stonking lineup to celebrate the festivals' 40th birthday. A far cry from where it all began with tickets selling at £1 (including a pint of milk, obvs) and T-Rex heading proceedings. The Park stage took the rosette for best new music this year, the line up was fantastic; highlights included Beach House, Villagers, Local Natives, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, the XX, Thom and Jonny's secret gig (setlist included versions of Street Spirit, Pyramid Song, Karma Police, Wierd Fishes and Idioteque)... and I'm sure Dirty Projectors, Broken Bells and Midlake would have been awesome as well, unfortunately I missed them.

Have a listen to the best of The Park acts on Spotify:The Park

My new bestest favourite thing in the world

Right now all I ever want to do is watch Warpaint videos.

These sirens are spellbinding... will-o-the-wisp, grungey guardians that make me feel safe and warm. If you imagine crossing Kurt Cobain with Susheela Raman and Cocorosie you've got half the story. Without their ethereal wails and sashaying hips the real world is a cold and dangerous place, so be warned before you get sucked into their delicious bass-y trippy trap. I think I love them...

Below is the video for 'Elephants', it's all wind and hair and lace accompanied by a hypnotic bass line interlaced with harp-like guitars and vocals to rival Cat Power that slowly works itself into a frenzy. Couldn't be more up my street. 




And for an even more trippy video look no further: backwards fireworks + little Warpaint nymphs running through woods and kissing and having sand fights = WIN




And if like me you still can't get enough, check out this fantastic song 'Billy Holiday' featuring lyrics from 'My Guy' by the Supremes. YES.

New stuff me likey

Here are some recent stonking albums that have been doing the rounds on my ipod, go get 'em!

The National- High Violet... please listen to this, it's eatable. Matt Berninger's lyrics are as smooth and deep as a great chocolate mousse. 'Sorrow' is achingly beautiful.

The Black Keys- Brothers.... I love the Black Keys, funky bluesy guitars and hankering after girls. I'll take it.

Surfer Blood- Astro Coast... Great wee album by the Floridians. You would struggle to put a decade on it, sounds like Pavement to The Drums via the Beach Boys whilst discovering punk. Nice. 'Anchorage' is fantastic.

Sleigh Bells- Treats... I saw them live at Brighton last week and they were pretty terrible but it's a great record. Sounds like a bit of an assault on the ears at first but give it a chance and you'll be wiggling your touche around your desk before you know it.

Foals- Total Life Forever... didn't think I would enjoy this as I wasn't mad on their last effort but the boys have done good, a lot poppier but definitely not the worse for it...Math rock is dead.

LCD Soundsystem- This is Happening. Great album, I need to listen to it more but love the aggressive break down (it's more of a break up) on Dance Yrself Clean.

Broken Social Scene- Forgiveness Rock Record. Need to listen to this more too but 'All to All' and 'Highway Slipper Jam' are fucking great. Saw them at Great Escape last week and they tore it up. 

A couple of other yummy things worth a looksie...

Middle East- Blood
http://www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast

Cults- The Curse
http://cults.bandcamp.com/

Warpaint
http://www.myspace.com/worldwartour