D_RRADIO "Parts" (Distraction Records)
RELEASED? 2nd August
SOUNDS LIKE? Ambience. Imagine chilling out was an instrument. Imagine you could capture moods and turn them into sounds. Imagine you could distil how it feels to walk with only your heartbeat for company, the breath in your lungs, the blood flowing from your head to your toes. Imagine the music life would play if it wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
IS IT ANY GOOD? I’m a living, breathing creature that finds solace in silence and can happily spend hours meditating on the movement of summer leaves stirred by a warm breeze, so I enjoy this. I really do. I also like the sounds a city makes at it slumbers, the aural soundscapes of a million air conditioning units thrumming a chorus of white noise, the combined sound of a million people mumbling in their sleep heard from above the clouds. Now, if your not into that and find any music that doesn’t contain a beat, some teenager warbling about relationships or a twat noodling on a guitar bought by parents who hope it’s just a phase, then this is not for you. But once you’ve had enough comedowns you’ll love this shit for its unobtrusive and calming nature. A splendid release from D-rradio that expands on an already formidably delicate oeuvre. Enjoy slowly.
WHERE IS IT? www.distractionrecords.com
THE OUTDOOR TYPES "All Aboard That’s Coming Aboard" (I Blame The Parents Records)
RELEASED? 2nd August
SOUND LIKE? A rollicking good time. Folk type
rock played with heart and soul that will get your
limbs twitching, your feet stomping and your head
spinning. Dashes of country, hard rock and good
ole barnstorming mix together to create a
soundtrack to drinking, loving and simple living.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Some smart man said that “if
this doesn’t get you swinging you’re dead, or at the
very least sober” and I can’t help but agree.I Blame
The Parents is a music label which continues to
drag fantastically talented bands out of nowhere for
your listening and dancing pleasure, and The
Outdoor Types are no exception. With witty lyrics,
deceptively simple arrangements and the voice of
Luke- a man who sounds like a cross between
Patrick Wolf and The Lone Ranger, you are taken
on a wild ride that feels like being spun in a tumble
dryer filled with harmonicas, guitars and fiddles. A
disorientating ride of pure joy that will ring in your head long after the last track has rocked to a close.
WHERE IS IT? www.iblametheparentsrecords.com
THE TAMBORINES ‘Camera and Tremor’ (Beat-Mo)
RELEASED?
SOUNDS LIKE? The Dandy Warhols stopped taking heroine and started trying to make music that can’t be played on mobile phone adverts. Fuzzy and loud slices of three minute pop magic that manages to keep hold of the lost ability to sound fresh and genuine.
IS IT ANY GOOD? You spend your days driving around in your car with your friends singing in the back. You’ve got nothing to do and nowhere to go, your summer is mainly drinking, festivals and a whole lot of doing nothing that makes sense to those with more bills than days off. If you’re not cringing at the prospect then this album will make sense to you. Shoegazing lo-fi rock with less attitude than aptitude, recorded in a home made studio with the passion lost on those who stick to genres and formulas. A great way to slack off while everyone else does the hard work.
WHERE IS IT? www.thetamborines.com
BEING 747 ‘Amoeba to Zebra’ (Wrath Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? A school presentation with a rock opera
soundtrack, which is exactly what it is.
IS IT ANY GOOD? I don’t know what I’m doing with this CD.
It’s obviously an educational tool. These guys play schools
and community centres where they are loved by teachers
because they can spend an hour having a fag and slagging off
the more ‘disruptive’ pupils whilst the children get to spend an
hour not writing anything down. The story of the planet is told
from its very gaseous beginnings up to the present day in the
frame of a year. If you are twelve years old this is amazing,
absolute genius, like The Mighty Boosh without the surreal
pretensions (or a murderous hitcher with a polo on his eye) or
The Chuckle Brothers if they formed Queen and stopped trying to form a removals company. For the rest of us, it’s just some guy talking about educational stuff in between formulaic and mildly entertaining songs. Imagine Frank Zappa went into teaching and had never done drugs, I know, awful, but kids would love it.
WHERE IS IT? www.being747.co.uk
I ALEXANDER “A Little Bit of Epic” (Super Happy Records)
RELEASED? 9th August.
SOUNDS LIKE? A twat swallowed a
vocoder and then vomited 90’s pop
clichés into your face for his own
amusement.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Fuck no. I feel like
my ears have been used as toilet
paper. Drum machines, synthesiser
and a massive over use of vocoder
make you feel like you’ve been raped
by a hormonal, teenage robot. About as emotional as a wet burlap sack. This is just awful. It sounds like Blue trying to be edgy whilst being made up of a boy with a xylophone chest where he should have abs, the most annoying voice since Pee Wee Herman (who, by the way, is thought by many to be a child fancier- so not a good thing to be thinking when listening to a pop record) and the worst song writing since Paul Mcartney ditched drugs and thought it would be a great idea to sing some shit about frogs. I get the feeling that Alex Larkman is trying to hit the tweenage Twilight market, but even tweenage girls would tell him to fuck off with his bag of sweets, hit their panic button and get their older brothers to beat the shit out of him for being a potential rapist. There has to be some kind of register we can put this guy on to get him banned from making music forever. Answers on a postcard, please.
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/ialexandermusic
ALBUMS
REVIEWED BY
CHRIS WATSON
WHY
NOT?
SOMEONE
ACTUALLY
LISTENS TO ENTIRE ALBUMS?
TOWER OF DUDES "Earl" (Dovetail Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Fast paced folk punk straight from the backwoods.
IS IT ANY GOOD? The name Tower Of Dudes does put me in mind of a
pyramid made
up of
bodybuilders
telling each other
how buff they
are, but this is
probably more to
do with my
imagination than
the band
themselves. The
first track
‘Hibernation’
sounds a bit like
an early sub-
Green Day track
with a touch of
accordion, but it
gets better. In places the lead singer manages to sound like a slightly upbeat Nick cave whilst the band is a raucous barn-thrash that cracks a pace throughout. Think Gogol Bordello and Devotchka drinking moonshine and swinging girls over their heads. Also, they list an egg as one of their instruments. Maybe I’m missing something, but I have no idea how you play an egg, but if that’s how they managed to sound like they do then they should get a dozen in there because it’s fun and surprising all the way through, even when it descends into side show carnival territory on track ‘The State I’m In’. Great drinking music.
WHERE IS IT? www.tod.cz
COLD SEEDS “Cold Seeds” (Song, By Toad)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Brightly atmospheric folk that twists and twirls like smoke from a cigarette clinging to lips tightly closed in concentration.
IS IT ANY GOOD? A collaboration between King Creosote, Frances Donnelly and Pete Harvey that manages to transcend the sounds these three are known for in their solo guises to leave you breathless. Each song is lovingly crafted from the heart and played with the kind of understated skill that only comes from those who are dedicated to their craft. I was transported beyond the sounds to a world of mist and ghostly voices that whisper of life beyond city blocks and potholed tarmac. A soundtrack to dreams, a reality all of its own. Highly recommended to anyone who has an attention span and a love of songwriting. Frances Donnelly’s ethereal voice snakes around the delicate guitar work, whilst Pete Harvey’s cello gives a sombre mood that never descends into melancholy. An album which will definitely be finding its way onto my permanent playlist.
WHERE IS IT? www.songbytoad.com
MELONHEADMAN “The Good and The Bad” (Savage Acts Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? It’s like Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t die in that plane crash. Wait, am I thinking of someone else? Anyway, add in bluegrass, southern boogie sensibilities and a complete lack of originality and you have these guys.
IS IT ANY GOOD? I always come down hard on guys like these. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I like my music to sound like it was made by people who want to make their own music rather than being one vague step away from being a covers band. Or maybe it’s because I’m instantly going to rip into any band that the press release describes as “boogalizing”. I guess you could have a good time with these guys, just get down on the sawdust and let your shit kickers do the talking, you could, it is possible, really. A pub/wedding band by any other name…
WHERE IS IT? www.myspace.com/melonheadman
SILENT FRONT “Dead Lake” (Art For Blind / Bigout / Rejuvenation / We Heart Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Angular
thrash fun soundtrack that
you can hit other like
minded individuals with for
hours. Like Glassjaw
without the over
production or a less
cellotaped up Kong.
Melodic, progressive and
loud.
IS IT ANY GOOD? How
can I not love band where the press release is hand typed and contains cellotaped in pictures of the vinyl release? These guys take the DIY mantle and crank it up to 11, doing what they want with energy, passion and a working sensibility that leaves most bands out there choking on the dust kicked up by the sweaty Silent Front van as it speeds off on another self promoted tour. The songs themselves come from a very distinct mould, and the lyrics could do with a bit of a polish (how many times can you hear the phrase ‘what is wrong with me?’ without shouting, “how the fuck should I know? I’m not your fucking therapist.”) but you can let that slide when you hear the way these guys play- loud and confident, sharp and distinct, each track takes you on a flailing journey that is hard to keep up with. Very sweaty indeed. But next time, I want more than just a picture of the gatefold vinyl.
WHERE IS IT? www.silentfront.co.uk
VARIOUS “Avon Calling 2” (Bristol Archive Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Back to 1979 again for more superb punk from the realms of Bristol.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Anyone who knows anything about the original punk movement of the late 70’s should know about “Avon Calling”, released on Heartbeat records it became the quintessential punk compilation, even being described by John Peel as “the compilation that all others should be judged by.” A hard act to follow, which is probably why it has taken thirty years to get part two out to you, and though some of the immediacy has been lost in the wait, this is a release which does no damage to the legacy of part one, and gives us a rare opportunity to see just how much of the music of today has been influenced by bands such as X-Certs, Joe Public, Private Dicks, Social Security, Apartment, Sneak Preview and many, many others (there are twenty tracks on this compilation- the sheer value for money should be enough for most) that made the late seventies one of the most exciting, and underrated, eras in British music. As with all the other Bristol Archive releases this album is worth its weight in sweat and blood and makes you wonder what the fuck happened? Oh yeah, it was the eighties.
WHERE IS IT? www.bristolarchiverecords.com
RICHARD HASWELL “Safety in Movement” (Amazon)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? A less pissed off Roger Waters singing over uplifting sub-rock and folky guitars with a little help from his friends.
Is it any good? It’s passable. One of those releases which doesn’t offend, yet slips out of your mind as fast as water through a colander. The production is cheap and fuzzy, and you would have thought one of his mates could play the drums rather than relying on whatever drum samples are on Garage Band. Richard has had over twenty releases in his time, you might know him from the monikers Rhubarb or G for Gnome, and then, you may not. Either way, it’s a great big shrug of the shoulders.
WHERE IS IT? www.richardhaswell.co.uk
So, this is the remix cd...
There is
no god
Man confronting cliche, discuss
I'm not your fucking therapist
Right...
d-rradio
Pushing the envelope with Alexander The Grate
BLUBA LU “Quadrotopia” (Blubalu Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? An eclectic mix of stoner rock, jazz, gospel, soul, jump up, chill out and everything else in between. It’s a journey that sounds like a compilation and keeps
you guessing and listening.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes. I think
so. It’s a mixed bag and for
someone like me who likes a
whole host of different musical
styles this is a fantastic
package that surprises and
delights as it moves through a
host of genres, never staying on
one sound too long, taking you
into a world all of their own
making. A joy to listen to and to
pick apart. There is a remix cd, but we’ll leave that alone as it’s a poor thing that drags on drum and bass, dubstep, house and trance without making you feel that any of these sounds are used as well as they could be. Back to the main disc, you can tell pick out the stamp of Andy Jackson, the sound engineer for Pink Floyd as the atmosphere is dense and unapologetic. A curious release which leaves you keeps you interested and engaged all the way through with each track worthy of repeat listens. I admit I made the mistake of listening to the remix disc first and was not looking forward to the main disc. My advice is ditch the second disc as it isn’t worth a comment, and I’ve wasted enough words on it without you having to go through the same ordeal, it just feels sloppy and unimaginative next to the excellent first disc.
WHERE IS IT? www.blubalu.net
