Snobs and Liars

I frequently get called, by my otherwise lovely girlfriend, a "music snob". Whilst I admit that nothing written on this blog does much to dispel that impression, I'd have to disagree. A music snob is, in my mind, the kind of person who will deride your music taste and then, when asked what they like, offer a very aloof answer like "Oh you won't know the kind of bands I like".
(An answer someone ACTUALLY GAVE once. Which would've been okay, had they not been referring to Mogwai. Y'know, Mogwai, that band that are super obscure, never heard-of, certainly not headlining the Manchester Academy and been critically acclaimed and respected for 15 years.)

I would like to think that rather enjoying being a fan of bands most people don't know, I endeavour to tell people about good bands so that they may become more well known, rather than keeping them to myself and bathing in indie kudos.

However, I found myself guilty of a snobbish blunder last week. I was on a "road trip" with a good uni friend and we were listening to some "tunes". We'd already worn out Thieving by Akira The Don so, in search for more tunes I checked my bag. In there, was Last Exit by Junior Boys- a lovely birthday present- and a new purchase, Sisterworld by Liars.

Here's where my snobbiness reared its undesirable head. My friend asked that I put it on, and I did, but in the back of my mind I was going "Oh dear, I don't think he'd like Liars. They are a bit too weird and experimental".

I know.

How awful.

In my defence, Liars have always been a band that I had ambivalent feelings about. "They Were Wrong, So We Drowned" and "Drum's Not Dead" are both great albums, once you accept that they have no problem with whetting your appetite with a nice drum beat or catchy synth warble and then cut it dead and go into ambient squawks for ages before coming back to the song's 'meat and potatoes'.

But my mind was changed on them after seeing them live (with Deerhunter supporting, great gig). It's there that there blend of delirious drums and guitar squeals 'n' rumbles make perfect sense.

So yes, whilst it was very bad of me to assume my friend wouldn't like them, it was based on my not being to convinced by them on my first listening.

Fortunately I needn't have worried as the new Liars album is amazing Opening track Scissor has eerie high pitched choral backing vocals and pounding out-of-nowhere guitar attacks- which have been Liars trademarks for ages- yet for some reason it is less abrasive and unbelievably more pop-minded and accessible whilst still remaining true to its weird roots. Something Radiohead have always been capable of, clearly Liars were taking note when they supported Thom Yorke's crew on their US tour.

So basically, don't assume that just because a band have an experimental and difficult past, that their new album won't impress your friends. And if a band release an album as good as Sisterworld, don't keep it to yourself, tell people about it.

To quote ATD, SHARING IS CARING!

Disconnect the Dots

Yeah, I quoted Of Montreal.

The music business is apparently dying because of illegal downloaders. Despite evidence showing that downloaders contribute more to the "biz" than those who don't, there is a very sinister final step about to be made against those internet varmits.

Essentially, if you download illegally, the government has the right to disconnect your internet for an undisclosed amount of time. I believe the going rate is if you illegally download 50 things.



What I have trouble with is not necessarily that this will involve MASSIVE MONITORING OF MY ONLINE ACTIVITIES but the fact that an awful lot of downloading could look to the ominous internet monitors to seem illegal when ethically sound (and what are laws if not applied ethics).

I shall give some examples.

I am an attempted/aspiring music writer. One particular thing I write for is Drunken Werewolf. Now as much as you should check out DW for yourself, I'll give you a brief rundown. It is an independent zine that is free. This is on the basis that music is a very important thing and the artists featured within are worthy of your attention (ie. worthy of whatever money you can spare to spend on music) and therefore it would be perverse to ask for money you could be spending on the bands within.

Simply put, the zine is not for profit neither me, a contributor, nor Tiff the editor expect to gain money from it. Because of this the "production costs" need to be kept to a minimum. This means that if we get a promo copy of an album, it is easier and cheaper for the album to be sent over the web and not through the post. But this means, when- as I did recently- I download the new Magnetic Fields album to review for the new issue of Drunken Werewolf, will the government take the time to ascertain that it is all above board? Because, you see, I've written for over 10 issues of Drunken Werewolf reviewing about 2 or 3 albums per issue. That means that, if the new bill was enforced I would be halfway towards getting my internet cut off. Great.

I also have a radio show for local bands. Because of this I ask a lot of local acts to send me mp3s. Recently, I read on Twitter and facebook that local band Well Wisher had recorded their EP (incidentally, it's very good and they were featured in an article in Drowned in Sound which is cool). So I spoke to the band, got myself a juicy link to download the EP to play on the show. worriedaboutsatan have also sent me an EP to use tracks from. And Borland. And The Lovely Eggs. And Fall Fan Dave and the Laptop Dancers. But yes, when I download these albums/EPs, will the government bother to find out that the artists I'm supposedly "stealing" from have SENT ME THE LINK.

And what about albums/mixtapes/bootlegs that are given away free anyway? the classic examples being QuoteUnQuote Records and the ever more relevantly named You Are Not Stealing Records. Will Virgin Media not see that I've been downloading large album sized chunks of data?

Seriously, there are so many holes that can be poked in this bill. However, what with people trying to urge the bill through without it even being put up to debate, it might not even be prodded.

Seriously, I'm a student and I'm actually considering writing to my MP, how's that for motivation. To bastardise a quote from internet legends don't be an apathetic hipster douchbag, learn about the world and find out how they're trying to take away your internet with little to no reason. Do that here.

Fun & Bass

Here's a song a I came across recently on The Daily Growl but is feeling very appropriate this morning.

Not Squares are an Irish three-piece who play bass, drums and bass (+ occasional synths) between them. Drum and bass bands can conjure up a number of images. From Death From Above's distort-everything-and-do-riffs approach, to Lightning Bolt's distort-everything-and-do-noise approach, to Dianogah's just-play-post-rock-and-people-might-not-notice-we-don't-have-guitars approach. Either way, those are the options and most subsequent bands have coloured firmly in the lines.

This it's why it's nice for Not Squares to show that if you don't have guitars, this doesn't mean you have to be very sweaty and serious (DFA are fun, but they took themselves very seriously). You can be sweaty and silly. Plus the basslines haven't gone through a million distortion pedals, which makes a refreshing change and gives their stuff- especially Asylum- an "Army of Tina Weymouths" feel. And anything that reminds me of Tina Weymouth is automatically great.

Indelicates and the Devil's music

So yes, I saw The Indelicates on Thursday night, and- as predicted- they were superb. Their drummer was apparently out of action, but as Julia Indelicate explained afterwards, their new material has a more lush, cabaret feel to it, meaning that, even without drums, the songs were still propulsive and interesting. In fact, you got the feeling that if there had been drums, you'd have lost the intimate atmosphere and it would have felt too much like a gig, rather than the "Evening of songs with the Indelicates" that it turned into.

I don't know if they'll be playing more gigs around the country, but what with their album Songs for Swinging Lovers being released next months, I'm sure a more complete tour will be on the cards soon. So yes, see them if or when you get the chance.

Now onto another band I've been meaning to blog about for a while. worriedaboutsatan are a very interesting band from Leeds. I first came across them when I saw them supporting at the always great Mad Ferret pub, on a bill with the amazing Spokes and Capulet- two of the best post rock bands in the North of England.

Seeing as post rock isn't a genre known for it's astounding musical variety, there was always a risk that having two classic-sounding post-rock bands on the same night could get samey, so having worriedaboutsatan was a stroke of genius. They take the typical post-rock elements (pretty, sparkling guitars and odd, spoken-word snippets) but layer them over tight, skittering techno "beats". Well, it's impossible to write beats without sounding like an out of touch 46 year old.

Anyway, they were superb when I saw them live, and now they have a rather brilliant single coming out imminently called Heart Monitor. The physical CD is limited to a sparse 100 copies, which is pretty much nothing. I intend to try and make it to their gig in Manchester on the 26th, in order to get one- it comes with a badge, hospital form and very pretty artwork.

The single can be streamed on soundcloud here. I really love it.

So yes, that might be the longest blog I have ever done that didn't turn into a rant. Expect more blogs soon as I have got most of university out of the way.

In-DELECTABLE!

Tomorrow night, I am going to see the rather amazing Indelicates at the lovely Ruby Lounge in Manchester. I'm pretty excited.

The Indelicates first came to my attention after a music blog, possibly the sadly no-longer-often-updated Stop Me If You Think You Heard This One Before, posted a link to the free mp3 demos on their website. What first attracted me to the band was, without a doubt, their song titles. "Waiting for Pete Doherty to Die"? Pure genius!

Needlessly to say, the mix of cynicism, rage and wit in the lyrics matched the titles and I was hooked. The band released debut album 'American Demo' in 2008 and was very hurriedly forgotten about, which is nigh on criminal. Not only because it contains the anthemic and amazing "New Art For The People" but also some of the best indie-on-indie lyrical commentary of all time with "If Jeff Buckley Had Lived". Now they're back with a new album. I thought you all needed to see the cover because it is GENIUS!


How awesome is that?

Interesting footnote, I interviewed Simon Indelicate in the tiny kitchen down the little Fire Exit corridor on that cover. Oh the life and times of an indie rock shmoozer.

I'll probably review the gig- though I don't expect it to be anything less than "very fun".

Fresh Princes

I've not blogged for a while. I would apologise but truthfully, the reason is because last week consisted almost exclusively of 21st celebrations and university getting heavy.

So what made me take to the internet again? DEVO did!


They may well be the most fun band of all time, in fact in College I made a point of bringing "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" to all the parties I was invited to, waiting for the CD player to become unmonitored and stick it on at full blast. The amount of parties I was invited to quickly decreased.

But yes, this post isn't intended to wax lyrical about how they are a band that everyone should love, it's intended to point out that they have a new song. And good lord is it good.

Listen to it NOW! You can stream it here, and you totally should.

Why does nobody rip off Devo? I know I'd moan if they did, but seriously, if it weren't for Clor or early Franz Ferdinand you'd think Devo never existed. Enough Joy Division/New Order copyists, Devo is an untapped source of plagiarism.

Free! To feel good.

I wrote a little article that may be featuring in the music section of our uni magazine. It's obviously aimed at students (who are such hip cats!) so it's written in an achingly chatty style. But either way, here it is, it's about free downloads. So yeah, this could now count as an MP3 blog, I guess.

You're a skint student, I'm a skint student, that's pretty much a given. But also what is pretty much assumed is that you want to listen to lots of music. So here we reach the problem of wanting to be able to fill the wee bland hours with good sounds, but not being able to afford a simple trip to HMV- or the superior Action Records on Church Street.

Now, far be it from me to sit here shaking my head sanctimoniously at you if your first thought was “I'll just do some sneaky downloading”, but it does stand to reason that, if you like a band, you should at least give them a little cash. However this is where the good part comes in! Some bands, singers and general noisemakers have decided that they don't need to eat and can give away albums and mixtapes for free. Here are some of the best ones available out there:

INDIE POP

Das Wanderlust~ Horses For Courses


Das Wanderlust are easily one of the best unsigned bands in the country. This album was released last year and available to buy at most Das W gigs- where I got a copy- but now they've apparently decided that everybody deserves a copy and you can now download Horses For Courses- along with a number of EPs and demos on their website. The band's sound centres around singer Laura's gentle and then yelling vocals and bouncy keyboards backed by breakneck drumming and distorted scattergun guitars. I should add that their website gives you the option of paying what you like, and a few quid will mean that they can finish off their next album, which is a good thing.

Download
Download if you like: The Slits, jumping around.

HIP HOP

Ratatat~ Ratatat Remixes Mixtape volumes 1 & 2


Even if you don't like hip hop, you should download both of these. Ratatat are an instrumental duo dealing in beats that seamlessly blend electronica and indie- like if Daft Punk used guitars instead of synths. Though they do have 3 very great albums out, they've received possibly more attention for their habit of finding well-known rap songs, taking the vocals and layering them over their own dense mix of riffs and drums. The end product is deliciously hypnotic and definitely puts a swagger in your step. “Fix Up Look Sharp” is stripped of its banging drums and given whirring keyboards and tense hi hats instead. Kanye West's “Diamonds” is placed over chiming harpsichords and chiming guitars. Easily one of the best collections of remixes ever.

Download from: Volume 1
Volume 2
Download if you like: Feeling like a pimp even though your clearly not.

FOLK

Laura Stevenson~ A Record



The blurb on the website sells this album better than I ever could: “After years of not having a record, Laura Stevenson is bucking the trend that she has set by having a record, Laura Stevenson: A Record.” For some reason, all the best girls making heartbreakingly pretty whilst also haunting and eerie folk music are called Laura. Laura Marling. Laura Groves. And those of you in the know will realise that comparing Miss Stevenson to those two is very high praise indeed. Whilst this is not something to listen to before a night out, as far as relaxing and atmospheric night time music goes, it rarely gets better than this.

Download
Download if you like: Laura Marling, antiques, haunted Victorian houses.

METAL

NHG~ Black Plaque


Metal purists, and I know a few of them, will probably maintain that this isn't strictly metal. Though I'll be damned if I can think of a better term for it. This album is an oddity. Made by three members of the mighty Dananananaykroyd (if you didn't see them at 53 last year then you lose) the album consists of 'Naykroyd guitarist David chugging and squealing out some ridiculously heavy riffs while Scotland's second best drummer (according to an online poll) James Hamilton- formerly of Dananananaykroyd, now in awesome electro group Errors- pounds out beats and fills so good you might need to be hospitalised after hearing them. What makes this album an oddity is the role of the band's third member, Calum, whose sole duty is to operate pedals and sound effects, meaning the guitar can change from a doom-y riff to sounding like a spaceship without a moments notice. Surreal.


Download
Download if you like: Electric Wizard, drums, headaches.