Young Fathers, And a failed attempt at not mentioning De La Soul
on Nov 20, 2009 in Super Funky 80's/90's actual brilliance Some bands entirely define their time, however brief their reign or their time may be. De La Soul was one such band, and Three Feet High And Rising is so 1989 the CD may as well be sold in a day-glo hi-top trainer. The logical culmination of a decade...

Jakwob - Where Kangaroo Testicles and Rampant Egos Collide!
on Nov 19, 2009 in stupidly bangin' CHOOOON vastness Did you know that NASA found water on the moon? And not just a drop, but gallons of the stuff? Nope, me neither. Isn't this mass ignorance a bit... odd?Even a Luddite like me knows that water=life, and yet the papers here are more concerned with whi...

Joy Orbison: Flavor Flav Was Wrong!
on Nov 19, 2009 in Now CHOOOON Everyone's yapping about him. Joy Orbison has the blessing and curse of hype. Hype in itself is enough to rule out listening to any band that is suspiciously soaked in the stuff - a standpoint which is both flawed and infantile, true, but has served...

The Narrator: Deader than Disco
on Nov 18, 2009 in slightly mournful happy happy joy joy already split up Today's band is from the 'Wait - Haven't They Already Split Up?' file, because, indeed, The Narrator have already split up. Months ago, in fact. So they're not so much of a new band as a an ex-new band, which might indeed make them post-new. I don't...

I Come To Shanghai, The Fall, and The Mark E. Smith Fingers/Pies Interface
on Nov 16, 2009 in singalong crafty sleepy As well as watching the Worst Band Ever, last week I also finally managed to catch The Fall, the finest grumpy band in the world. Singer Mark E Smith has been puzzling, delighting and be-grumpifying audiences for decades now, armed only with a percu...

Ugly Megan, and Alexandra Burke's Sincerity Vaccuum
on Nov 13, 2009 in sex HATE HATE HATE boy/girl duo Over two nights, I've seen two awful gigs. This will not do. The first band I will not name; they were young and new, and will surely improve.But in the meantime, I will offer this nugget of advice: it's fine to swagger about the stage like Ian Brown...

Ribbons, Brooklyn's Mysterious Proliferation and Deeeeep Green
on Nov 12, 2009 in simple sounds chiming 80's This is getting silly. Half of the bands I review now are from Brooklyn. Perhaps it's a lot bigger place than I thought - or maybe there really is a raft of great new bands all emerging at once. I hope it's the latter.Ribbons are the latest Brooklyni...

I Was A King, Attempts At Miserablism and Fjords
on Nov 11, 2009 in slightly mournful fuzzbox frenzy Best whispering melodies Norway: a country of intense natural beauty, endless sunshine and the highest standards of living in the world. No wonder that I Was A King make music that's so happy the songs themselves are fit to burst, right?Well, kind of. I get the feeling that...

Wild Palms, Terrorism and Haircuts
on Nov 10, 2009 in actual brilliance deranged 80's A few years ago, a frankly bizarre incident involving avant-garde noise-troubadours Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a confused petrol station clerk, and a crack FBI team who swooped to arrest them. Why was Oklahoma's finest called into handcuff-clicking...

Etienne Jaumet, and Paul McCartney's Unusually Chestnut Brown Hair
on Nov 9, 2009 in relaxed muscle Lust for glory I am calm I recently read an article claiming that Paul "L'Oreal Chestnut Brown Tint For Men" McCartney wrote The Long And Winding Road for Tom Jones, who then turned it down. Doubtlessly he was too busy struggling in and out of his tight trousers and brushin...