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

The Besnard Lakes LIVE @ Cargo

photo taken from Brooklyn Vegan

Cargo is a funny one for gigs, it's a beautiful bar under a tunnel so a bit of an acoustics nightmare but at the same time really intimate- you can basically stroke the band while they play if you want.

Luckily I positioned myself right in front of the smoke machine which The Besnard's are not shy of using... A sense of dread crept over me with every atmospheric build up, shortly followed by a gobful of carbon dioxide. Nice. The overall effect was great though, dream-like vocals with grungey bass and fuzzy guitars enveloped in smoke is a winning combo. The set was pretty trippy and very distortiony, the lead singer has an alter boys range, hitting notes I didn't think were even possible. They totally rocked out at the end, with Hendrix-inspired guitar solos. There was also an awesome song which belonged on a Tarantino soundtrack, I can't remember the song names hot dang but both albums are up on Spotify.

The crowd was packed tight with hardcore TBL fans, I've never seen a more devoted following... hanging on every note and baying for more. It was kind of fitting that the lead singer looked like a demented Jesus- he had long flowing golden hair, Brian Jonestown Massacre sunglasses, a cowboy shirt, regulation black M&S worker style trousers and sensible black shoes. The trousers were the most unsettling... His wife, who sings and plays guitar, looked like Alanis Morrissette/Mary (mother of God) with long black hair to her navel and a wrappy dress thing and the drummer had this immense beard (it was very impressive, definitely in the top 3  beards I've ever seen).

As it was the last date of the tour, they had a pretty odd picture moment where they brought the support band up (Wolf People- don't look them up they're not great...) and got the audience to take pictures and then gave their email address to send them to. Then the singer referred to himself as a child molester. Very odd.

All in all a great gig though. Go check them out if you get a chance.

Songs for the Drunk

I don't know about you but there's nothing I enjoy more than having a few too many and heading home to sit on the kitchen floor to shout (I don't think you could actually qualify it as singing) songs at my friends.

Entirely different from going out and dancing like a maniac whilst screaming your head off (that's a whole other playlist), the magic is you can recline in a heap, preferably with candles and a guitar, horrible (delicious) warm cans or leftover neat spirits and copious amounts of cigarettes.
This method also works wonderfully on a beach with tinnies in the leftover hours of night- watching the sun rise afterwards gives you an enormous sense of accomplishment.

Older songs take precedence- this is a time for nostalgia, plus everyone knows the words. If you don't have a geetar, someone's gonna have to sing the riffs. The songs will come randomly into your drunk little head but I've tried to include a playlist of some of my favourites.

Before you listen: STOP, go get drunk then find a guitar and enjoy. :)

... I got a little carried away when I started this. Also Spotify don't have Beatles or Pink Floyd, wah.

Lola-The Kinks
Heart-Shaped Box-Nirvana
Where is my mind?- Pixies
All along the watchtower-Jimi Hendrix Experience (yesssssss)
Drinking in LA- Bran Van 3000
Golden Brown- The Stranglers
Under the bridge- Chili Peppers
Karma Police- Radiohead (you could pick loads, but this is great for shouting)
The Drugs don't work- The Verve
Maps- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Every Morning- Sugar Ray (classic)
Butterfly- Crazy Town (don't lie, you know you know ALL the words)
Gatekeeper- Feist (for quiet refrain)
Lover's Spit- Broken Social Scene
Everlong- Foo Fighters (teenage youf)
Sleepyhead- Passion Pit (works well acoustically, surprising but GREAT)
Senorita- Justin Timberlake
Jumpin', Jumpin'- Destiny's Child (might be a girls only one)
Music When the lights go out- The Libertines
Shiny Happy People- R.E.M (:D)
Roxanne- The Police (PUT ON THE RED LIIIGHT)
The Chain- Fleetwood Mac (I can still hear you sayyyyy)
White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane (helps to have an Emily present to dance shapes at you)
Like A Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan (I would have so many better choices for this (Corrina, Corrina; It's all over now baby blue; One more cup of coffe) but Spotify cannot supply.... boooooo)
My, My, Hey, Hey- Neil Young
Light my Fire- The Doors
Hallelujah- Cohen
Skinny Love- Bon Iver
Molly's Chambers- Kings of Leon
Trouble- Coldplay (coldplay goes down well with everyone, as much as people slate them great first two albums)
Boy with a coin- Iron & Wine
The Blower's Daughter- Damien Rice
This Charming Man- The Smiths
There is a light that never goes out- The Smiths (mmmm)
Lovecats- The Cure
Someone Great- LCD Soundsystem (great end to a great night)

Here's a handy spotify playlist: Drink and Shout