Merry Christmas, Get Hype!

just one more thing...




Merry Christmas, Get Hype!

Math Head - Get Hype


Math Head on Myspace

we should go down to the mall, look at people, judge them all. judge them before they judge us and leave there feeling bad.

hahahaaaaaaaa i nearly just did a wee.

oooh, mercy. i've got one of those rather nice hangovers where everything is a little bit wonky, and i have nothing i really need to do so i'm quite enjoying it :) plus i had some proper coffee wot made me go a bit strange :S

my brother showed me the following on youtube, and i laughed so very hard i thought i might have needed some Tena Lady.

merry crimbles everyone, i'm having a gay old time swanning about my hometown being merry and drinking lovely cider.

i drank too much last night and now my teeth feel soft. whoops!

i'm getting in the festive mood this morning by listening to music really loud and singing (badly) - at this very moment in time my sister is listening to the mighty Take That, which is grand but that's not what i wanted to share with everyone.

what has been creeping into my psyche and becoming part of my brain is something quite different; a band called The Organ.

imagine if The Cure and The Smiths were one superband...and they were all girls. Haunting, tender, uplifting, sad, gorgeous, penetrating, ace ace ace. That's the only way i can describe The Organ.

the band are an all female fourpiece from Vancouver who, sadly, don't exist anymore. They released Grab That Gun in 2004 and broke up in 2006...(although they released an EP earlier on in the year, as a kind of goodbye)...
although there is a lack of back cat to get excited about and collect, and no new material to look forward to, this means that they will never get old, change/dilute their sound or go a bit crap. they are immortalised in this album.

i'll let you decide for yourself, but this band are my best. i bless Ben Parry for letting me know about this band. he said to me "you can live inside this album"...and i do.

arrrgh i can't choose which track to upload! they're all great - hmmm...
>...>>....>>...>>>..>>>>..>>>>>.>>>...>.......>>>..... - some people who follow The L Word might recognise "Brother"

The Organ - Brother

The Organ - Basement Band Song

i'm going to post a link to the whole album, as the record in it's entirety is magic...and the guys at Let's Share Music are doing a great thing by letting people download it.

The Organ - Grab That Gun LP (from the letssharemusic blog)

Heroes

So Heroes has reached the mid-point of season 3 and the end of ‘Volume 3’. It was definitely a vast improvement on the malaise of the previous series and seems to have got some direction back, but where do we go from here?
Personally I think it has reached cross-roads where it can either choose to kill-off characters and expand the plot or carry on along the road of characters seemingly dying but always returning. I am a big fan of the show (so much so that I don’t download it in chunks as I like to enjoy it every Wednesday night as ‘event’ television) but I do fear that it may just become a parody of itself and go down the same road of utter nonsense as Lost, a show which must surely be the most garbled, directionless tosh ever screened. With the ending of Volume 3 seeing Nathan Petrelli going ‘overground’ to the President of the US (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Barack Obama – did they shoot the scene with a John McCain lookalike too?) it is an opportunity to expand the horizons of the show. Since it started the characters and plotlines have always been very introspective, concentrating on the ‘heroes’ relationships with each other and the battles with the ‘villains’. This has served them well for the most part as it is their battle to save themselves and stop the manipulation of their powers that is the core of the programme – they ARE the story so it is right to concentrate on them. However I think now is the time to ramp it up to the next level – bring them into the open, kill off characters that have run their course and most of all be brave with the writing. I avoid spoilers as much as possible so I don’t know, maybe this is what is going to happen...I sure hope so.


One thing I do really believe should be done is to wave goodbye to Sylar. It remains a constant source of annoyance to me that a show that can attract actors of the calibre of Malcolm McDowall and Christopher Eccleston has Zachory Quinto as it’s main villain. During season 3 the writers have worked to add layers to the character of Syler and create an awkward empathy with a man who has been manipulated and shaped by the actions of others. This is an act for which they should be commended, the problem is that Quinto does not have the acting ability that is needed to make Sylar a truly legendry screen villain. With him seemingly dead it would be an ideal time for the writers to move on to new storylines and characters, casting better actors as they do it. Unfortunately it is unthinkable that he will not return for Volume 4, especially with Angela Petrelli yet to reveal the true identity of his parents. But this is my point, Heroes can forever regurgitate it’s characters and I get the idea that this is what it will do – play it safe by never killing anyone off. Am I really the only one who doesn’t mind a culling of key characters every now and then?


That said Heroes has been one of the television highlights of the year for me and I can’t wait for the start of Volume 4...may it be all that I hope for.
I’ll try and get the track-listing for the Winter Warmer up before Christmas Day but if I don’t, here’s to lots of merry-making and festive fun!

“It’s just like Woodstock ’99 but without the gang rape.” Neil Hamburger, ATP 2008.

Recovery is almost complete and the haze is lifting off the weekend where Mike Patton and The Melvins thrust their favourite bands and musicians through my face and jammed them noisily in my cerebral cortex. I have mulled over the best way to report my musings on the festival for some time now and it's a near impossible task. There is danger everywhere in trying to translate the happenings of such a weekend into a readable bloggy chunk. This problem is probably why I don't write professionally. Anywho, here is an attempt to put some structure to the bubbles popping out of my brain by writing down some facts I have learned.

The Melvins play the scariest version of My Generation I have ever heard.

Israel has a very interesting band that plays on the crowd rather than in front of it. (Monotonix)

Lead singer of the Butthole Surfers is not averse to slapping a woman when being told to leave an eatery at 4 in the morning after passing out with a bottle of JD.

Gypsy folk bands can cause more moshing than Mastadon.

Tron style suits look very cool on stage.

81 was the age of the oldest performer. And his name sounded like an Italian cheese, Bernard Parmegiani. Mmmmm Parmegiani.

It doesn't matter how much you plan you will never see all the acts you want or intend to see.

More festivals should feature metal, hip hop, country, folk and electronica.

King Buzzo from The Melvins allegedly inspired Side Show Bob's haircut.

I can sleep standing up for several minutes before collapse or being woken up.

A waterpistol shaped like a penis is not a good toy to give to a drunk.

Kool Keith is insane. Not in a nice, "wow, he's crazy," kind of way, more of a, "wow, where is his carer?" kind of way. Yet is still amazing, until he freestyles, then not so good.

Rahzel has actually got some new parts to his set and they’re good.

It is possible to fuse Jazz and Grindcore and make it listenable.

Air hockey is better than table football.

I realise there was not much in the way of saying which bands tickled my fancy or which bands

were a wet fart three miles from home. So for those who want to know, check out if you haven't already - Fennez, The Melvins, Fantomas, Kool Keith (particularly his Dr Octogon stuff), Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, White Noise, The Locust, Junior Brown. I was not overly impressed with Mugisen, Isis, Kill Me Tomorrow and Farmers Market. But then what do I know?

My biggest recommendation is that if you haven't gone to an ATP festival make a considered effort to do so. Regardless of who is hosting it and who is playing they are a treat worth savouring. Enjoy watching bands you've never heard of, enjoy the beach, enjoy sleeping in a bed and having a chalet with toilet. The ATPs I have been to have shown me that I love listening to music live, it doesn't matter what type and can enjoy music that I would never buy when put on stage. Actually that's rubbish, there is loads of tossy music I would never listen to just because it's live. I'm not going start a music hate rant now but I was just trying to make the point or be a bit misty eyed about the whole thing. It would probably be better to say that there is a whole load of great music nestled in genres that I would normally avoid.

Mmmm, Minehead

There are two more taking place in May, one hosted by The Breeders and one with the bands picked by the ticket buyers. Go, stop reading this and book tickets. Now.

There are not many things in life more annoying than having your hopes built up only to see them knocked down within an instant. I feel cheated. Whilst starting to jot down a few ideas for this 'ere blog I was listening to Vampire Weekend, their eponymous album has been a contender for my 'album of the year' since it's release in January. Having missed their first British tour and their sold-out second tour I was extremely excited to see that they had pencilled in a few dates for early 2009. Upon discovering this I made a point of informing everyone I could think of in an overly-excited manner, only to have egg-on-my-face a few moments later on discovering that the dates I'd 'discovered' were in fact for 2008 not 2009. Like I said, very annoying - why would you put the dates of shows for January 2008 directly under dates for December 2009 as if they are following on. Grrr.

However, I cannot stay mad for long because it is fair to say that I have not been hooked on an album this much since my teenage years. I know they have been all over blogs for a year now, but this is only my second post so I'm going to add my two-pennies-worth.

Similarly to Belle and Sebastien they make the type of music that should be labelled 'pop', if only that phrase hadn't been hijacked over the years by majors out to make big-bucks with branded pop-stars. But that is an argument for another day.

When I first read about VW I thought their mixture of indie and African pop sounded like it could be disastrous. But these guys have obviously listened to a lot of old West-African records and are doing it for the love, rather than lazily shoe-horning it into their sound for effect. Indeed, some of the tracks are free of the clean guitar, perky keyboard and tapped-out rhythms and sound more like Is This It-era Strokes. However, it is this African influence which stands them apart, leaving Vampire Weekend with that rare quality of having an instantly recognisable sound, as well as a record of near-perfect pop sensibilities. I know I may be a bit late with this lamenting of them, but I wanted to give them a mention before 2008 was out. Now if only it could start again so I could get those tickets...

ladytrump

I went to see Ladytron on Monday.
Having always liked their music, I've never really rated them as a live band, although this was the third time I've seen them, as they supported the almighty Nine Inch Nails on their last UK tour... I always felt a bit cheated.

Their wicked electropop is bangin' enough to create a really energetic atmoshpere live, yet it never quite does...there seems to be a Kraftwerk-style seriousness to them. Maybe that's what happens when bands use lots of vintage [expensive] synths that just can't be knocked or kicked or prodded with too much gusto...

As a result of their lack of energy on stage, the audience never really gets going either.
Now, maybe this is just me - but if i pay £13 to see an act for ONE hour, I want the chance to really get some exercise and dance about and generally Git Daooown...

The played for just under an hour, which included the three-song encore. They didn't play ANYTHING from 604 [my fave album] ...How rubbish is that?

I did dance, and I did enjoy myself, I'm impressed by their new stuff and will get their new album, and the sound quality was really good...

it just wasn't as good as The Faint gig last Wednesday.

If you're going to financially support this band, I'd spend your money on their music [like, buy it rather than download for free] instead of going to their gigs...unless you want to gaze at their beauty [sponsored my MAC] in the flesh, which I admit is actually quite good fun. :)

Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch


look! they don't really move - and this was their Big Tune!

Eddie Izzard & Finders Keepers

First things first: IF ANYONE HAS TICKETS FOR STEVE COOGAN'S TOUR BURN THEM NOW AND SAVE YOURSELF THE BOTHER.


Well, where to start? I suppose the only place to begin, seeing as I have spent probably 75% of my 'music kitty' on their products is Finders Keepers Records. In the past 12 months I've become hooked to their glorious re-issues of psych, funk, prog, folk, avant-garde and whacked-out movie soundtracks. Like Trunk Records, you not only get the music but also an exhaustive biog of the band / artist and the record in question...always a treat and something that oher labels of similar ilk overlook. They are singularly responsible for opening my ears up to a whole new world of music and I plan to share some of the gems I have found along the way in future mixes.

Take a trip to their online shop where you will discover 'Japanese choreography records, space-age Turkish protest songs, Czechoslovakian vampire soundtracks, Welsh rare-beats, bubblegum folk, drugsploitation operatics, banned British crime thrillers and celebrity Gallic Martini adverts'...amongst other things. If that doesn't at least intrigue you enough to pop in and cock an ear than I give up!


As you may have realised by now Miss Kaboom and I come from two different spheres as far our musical tastes are concerned. One (of many) things we do share a love of though is Mr Eddie Izzard. Despite his Stripped residency at London's Lyric Theatre selling-out months in advance I was lucky enough to obtain tickets for one of a handful of warm-up shows he performed last week. Now, I was a little sceptical as to whether the 2008 model would stand-up favourably next to his cross-dressing vintage. However, I can honestly say that his wild flights of fancy and vivid imagination are still as fantastically entertaining as they always were. Less a comedy show and more of an abstract and fanciful lecture, how you wish all your teachers at school had presented the wonders of the world to you.


Whilst some may regard him as narcissistic and self-aggrandising, this is part of what makes him special. Admittedly, speaking latin, french, german etc at various points during the show can seem a little like showing-off. But beneath it is a gift for personalising his chosen subjects with great affection...and it is hard to play out his gag about the latin language (one of the highlights of the show) without actually speaking it!

In a world in which the brain-dead, negative stereotyping of Little Britain exists I for one will always forgive Izzard a little vanity for the enchanting positivity of his stand-up routines. All-in-all, I think that Stripped is a fantastic show and am delighted the (not so) big man has still got it.

jam faint gun of bass

Well well well... it's been rather an exciting few weeks for me.

November has been simply chock full of lots and lots of good music.

The first weekend of November was drunkenly taken over by The Electrode Warehouse Party.

A resounding success, and a great venue that we're hoping to use again once they've obtained a proper music license.

 

After that, the Bass Gun night at Jabez Clegg saw the very best in UK underground electro 

{Synapse, Paul Blackford, Smashback, Darkmode, Bass Junkie, DJ 3000} congregate under one roof to teach people the meaning of a snappy snare.  The place wasn't as busy as it should have been, but by jove the place rocked.  The in house soundsystem in there is pretty damn fine - i'm glad to see some venues in manchester note the importance of a kickin' rig :)

Then, earlier this week i went to see one of my faaaaave bands; The Faint!

Yes mate.  

Due to a streaming nose and pounding head I thought it best to lay off the sauce for the week - and i'm glad I did to witness this fine band [Because for once, i remember the whole gig!].  

I love them...i mean, sure, i'm not really that enamored with the new stuff on wax (The Geeks Were Right and Forever Growing Centipedes are pretty cool though...) but their body of work is just brilliant.  Check out Blank-Wave Arcade and Danse Macabre for your first tastes if you haven't already.

My fave tune at present>>>> [zshare]

The Faint - Take Me To The Hospital

The night was filled with catchy synth-pop songs and hooks, Duran Duran tendencies, banging, techno-inspired jacking, rock-outweirdness fronted by a nu-skool Willy Wonka begoggled lead singer in a labcoat.  

I was in heaven.  I bought a tshirt.  I smiled all the way to Sale.  I took a video of Dropkick The Punks with my crap phone.

Here it is.

Tonight I very eagerly await ATOMIC JAM.

3o-something of my friends from Manchester are to pile onto a private hire coach to be carted to Birmingham for one of the most overdue and exciting nights of all time (?)  - 

Atomic Jam's return to The Q-Club *squeal*

I used to make the quarterly techno pilgrimage from the age of 17 until the place finally shut down in 2003 - The Jam was never really the same in venues like the Medicine Bar or Air...

So five years down the line - we're going back to our roots.  Huzzah!

Not only do we get to have a right old thrash about to some amazing 4/4 techno, but dirty boy WARLOCK [Rag & Bone] is playing in the breaks room! 

Anyone who hasn't heard his sinful poisonous brew of bassfuck breakstep should get themselves learned right here.

In preparation for the weekend i've made a mix - hopefully to listen to on the bus - but mainly just to bang it out in my room - to give my jacking arm a warm-up.

roadtoatomicjam>>>>>>>>>>>>>201108

***right click and save***
Teutonic Kaboom - roadtoatomicjam 201108

rustie - zig zag
mazulla - traaaance bitch
female - cally 1
zomba - strange fruit
hemingway - machine
teutonic kaboom - sito
n-ter - runner
sol_dat - speed demon (mazulla rmx)
? - work
smashback - push me harder (ardisson rmx) [tk edit]
babylon soundsystem & noah d - examination of time
dst - csillag
debasser - fat girls (teutonic kaboom rmx)
oliver $ & gantman - zds edit
go hiyama - geometric
luke's anger - war
clarke - new year storm
goth trad - electrical
trode - keep going
mark hawkins - 13 years of raving

Another thing floating my musical boat***********************

Amanda Palmer in general... and her new video for Leeds United. 

I want her jacket. 

That's probably enough garbage for one post, innit.  Roll on the Jam!

Does Disco Dubstep Exist?

I've been trying to find Disco Dubstep...trying to make it too.  I reckon that in this ever-evolving dubstepmania there MUST be room to marry two of my favourite genres. 

Trawling through the blogs earlier i found this amaaaazing track called Machine by Hemingway [thanks www.discoworkout.com] that, upon hearing the first few seconds I was sure my search was over.  

Turns out it's not, but this tune is brilliant anyway.  Dark, punchy, steppy rhythms with spatterings of slap bass and disco tinged synths.  Phwoar.

Hemingway - Machine

When I played this to Dave, he said "That bit of slap bass 47 seconds in sounds weeeellll like a bit of this song..."

"In the year 2525, If man is still alive, If woman can survive, They may find..."
Great future-paranoid disco.

The Twins -
In The Year 2525

So yeah...the quest goes on.  Anyone got any discodubstep?