The Runout Groove

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchindananda (1970)

2011-02-26T02:11:00.006+00:00

This record (her fourth solo LP and maybe the best) seems to be getting more and more geek love as the years go by, and as more and more people are realising Alice should in no way be completely in John's shadow. It's got the ever mighty Pharoah Sanders pushing out some of his best work alongside her, plus it's very accessible whilst also being a real revelation to people who aren't really into this sort of thing. Totally a gateway record. Oh and of course Caribou sampled it on last year's exceptional Swim. Sweet cover too.

Buy

Hi Kids

2011-02-26T02:00:00.006+00:00

Hey folks. Who knows how long i'll keep this going for (seem to have less and less time nowadays for things like this), but I decided to do some more blogging on here. Not as non-stop as in this blog's heyday, but just to use it as a place to highlight whatever music i'm listening to (plus maybe some film stuff too).

As I just moved into a new flat and have very little money to spend on records, I decided that I'd listen to my entire record collection and filter out some of the crap and refamiliarise myself with some stuff I've ignored for a while. As part of that I might possibly do some Prindle/Christgau style mini album reviews on here too. But as I said, don't expect consistency!

For now, as part of the Reeling In The Years feature on Sweeping The Nation I recently did a playlist focusing on music from 1971 so check that out here as it's pretty ace and features some great Bill Fay (him up there ^).

Afghan Whigs Rarities muxtape + stuff

2008-08-11T21:31:00.003+00:00

Hi all, long time no type. As you might have guessed from my lengthy lengthy absence, i've got far less time to devote to blogging nowadays. I'm working full time in the music 'biz' for totally amazing promoters All Tomorrow's Parties, and so what with spending most of my day doing music stuff in front of the PC it's hard to devote time to this place.

However i'll still be on every now and then to stick some stuff up. Tonight i've got a link to a muxtape of rare Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers covers for you, including some ace Kate Bush, My Bloody Valentine, Prince and PJ Harvey tunes. So click here for that, if you're interested.

I'll sign off with a quick jag for ATP. We've got the following stuff coming up (mostly in London) and you'd be a fool to miss any of it! Full details at http://www.atpfestival.com/!

Gigs

28/8: BIG STAR + ROBYN HITCHCOCK - SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
11/10: CALEXICO - FORUM
15/10: INDIAN JEWELRY + GENTLE FRIENDLY - LUMINAIRE
23/10: MOGWAI + FUCK BUTTONS + ERRORS - MANCHESTER ACADEMY
24/10: MOGWAI + FUCK BUTTONS + ERRORS - HAMMERSMITH APOLLO
30/10: RELEASE THE BATS - SHELLAC, LES SAVY FAV, OM, WOODEN SHJIPS, PISSED JEANS, LIGHTNING BOLT + DJ Andy Weatherall - LONDON FORUM
31/10: RELEASE THE BATS - LONDON FORUM (SOLD OUT)
1/11: RELEASE THE BATS - SHELLAC, OM, WOODEN SHJIPS, PISSED JEANS, LIGHTNING BOLT + DJ Andy Weatherall - BIRMINGHAM CUSTARD FACTORY
4/11: BUILT TO SPILL perform 'Perfect From Now On' + DISCO DOOM - KOKO
19/11: LOW: A Christmas Concert - KOKO

Festivals

ATP NEW YORK - CURATED BY ATP & MY BLOODY VALENTINE
19-21st September. Kutsher Country Club, Monticello, New York

Lineup so far:

MY BLOODY VALENTINE / BUILT TO SPILL performing PERFECT FROM NOW ON / MEAT PUPPETS performing MEAT PUPPETS II / TORTOISE performing MILLIONS NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE / THURSTON MOORE performing PSYCHIC HEARTS / BARDO POND performing LAPSED / FUCK BUTTONS / POLVO / LOW / EDAN WITH GUEST DAGHA / MOGWAI / THE DRONES / WOODEN SHJIPS / SHELLAC / YO LA TENGO / THEE SILVER MOUNT ZION ORCHESTRA / DINOSAUR JR / MERCURY REV / HARMONIA / LILYS / GROWING / YO LA TENGO / OM / LE VOLUME COURBE / APSE / LES SAVY FAV / BOB MOULD / GEMMA HAYES / SPECTRUM / THE WOUNDED KNEES / ALEXANDER TUCKER / LIGHTNING BOLT / ROBIN GUTHRIE / BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE / EPMD

+ COMEDY CURATED BY AND FEATURING PATTON OSWALT
+ CINEMA CURATED BY CRITERION
+ GAMES ROOM WITH STEVE ALBINI AT THE CARDS TABLE

ATP NIGHTMARE BEFORE XMAS 2008 curated by MELVINS & MIKE PATTON
5th-7th December. Butlins Holiday Centre, Minehead, England.

Lineup so far:

MELVINS / ISIS / NEIL HAMBURGER / DäLEK / BIG BUSINESS / THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION / TORCHE / KILL ME TOMORROW / J.G. THIRLWELL's MANOREXIA / THE DIRTBOMBS / FANTôMAS PERFORM THE DIRECTOR'S CUT / THE LOCUST / ZU / BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE / MASTODON / FARMERS MARKET / BUTTHOLE SURFERS / SQUAREPUSHER

APPEAL: STOOGES GEAR STOLEN

2008-08-05T15:20:00.001+00:00

if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!

IGGY AND THE STOOGES
EQUIPMENT STOLEN ON AUGUST 4, 2008
OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL
208 SAINT ANTOINE OUEST,
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA

all equipment was in a rented penske 15 foot yellow truck
with u.s. (michigan) license plate number AC46493
and the theft had to have happened in the morning, between 6:30 and 7:30 am

there's a web page at:

http://www.hootpage.com/stoogesstolenstuff/stoogesstolenstuff.html
that will soon have pictures and updates to more stuff found missing

Item, Country of Origin, Serial Number

Red roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Red Gibson 1963 EB-3 bass (this is mike watt's bass!) USA
No serial number

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Reverend Flying V guitar - Volcano black USA #08001

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Reverend Orange guitar USA 03416 ZSL7

Black fibre case containing: USA No serial number
Gibson red SG short scale bass USA No serial number

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0926-2 RoHS

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0927-2 RoHS

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #1 Slant:
M-2007-05-0149-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #2 Straight:
M-2006-49-0380-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #3 Slant:
M-2007-05-0150-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #4 Straight:
M-2006-49-0381-0

Orange Calzone road case containing:
Guitar pedal board and pedals USA/Japan No serial number
Assorted leads USA/UK No serial number
2x mic stands Germany No serial number
Assorted strings and spares USA No serial number
plus:
2x Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss CH1 Super Chorus
Fulltone OCD Overdrive
Crybaby Wah
Peterson Strobo-Stomp Tuner Pedal
Whirlwind A/B Boxes
Whirlwind Cable Tester
and many many instrument cables
various tools ( screwdrivers, soldering iron, pliers, etc... )
tambourine and maracas

Cardboard box containing:
Assorted replacement drum heads USA No serial number
Gretsch Silver Sparkle Catalina drum kit USA No serial number
26" Kick Drum No serial number
13" Rack Tom No serial number
18" Floor Tom No serial number
4x Cymbal Stands No serial number
1x Snare Stand No serial number
1x Hi Hat Stand No serial number
1x Drum Throne No serial number

Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5001

Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5002

Cardboard box containing:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0601E5115

Cardboard box contaning:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0507E5033

Floor Fan CHINA No serial number

Green clamshell suitcase containing:
Yamaha snare drum JAPAN No serial number
Yahama kick pedal JAPAN No serial number
Zildjian Mega Bell cymbal USA No serial number
Zildjian 15" Hi-Hats USA No serial number
3x Zildjian 18" 19" 20" crash medium cymbals USA No serial number

Brown Epiphone guitar case:
Black Epiphone EB3 short scale bass KOREA F300503

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!

if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907

Muxtape from Me to You

2008-04-01T17:31:00.001+00:00

Hi folks, here's a little pressie: a mixtape of 12 songs, using the excellent new Muxtape site.

Wolf Eyes & Andrew WK - Fortune Dove EP (2000)

2008-03-09T18:44:00.003+00:00

Hi folks. Sorry for the massive break in posting. I moved to London a few weeks back and had trouble getting my internet connected (deja vu), and what with having a new job it looks like i'm not going to have quite as much spare time as I used to to post on here. So i'll try my best to stick up exciting stuff every now and then, but don't expect it to be as regular as it used to be!

Today's mp3s come from Wolf Eyes and Andrew WK. It's a little known fact that a few years before his major label debut I Get Wet, Andrew WK was releasing tracks on noise labels like Bulb and playing shows with artists like To Live And Shave In LA, Wolf Eyes and others of their ilk. Indeed many live reviews from the late 90s/early 2000s on Blastitude often mention him as a highly charged supporting act on many noise bills. Now that he's expanding his activity into session work and production (working with Sightings, Current 93, Baby Dee), I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the early part of his career. The four tracks on this EP are from a split 12". Side one, the first three tracks, is credited to Wolf Eyes. Side two is just one song, credited to Wolf Eyes remixed by AWK, but is quite clearly just Andrew himself with a self penned tribute to the act he shares the release with. It rulez.

Wolf Eyes - 01 Fortune Dove
Wolf Eyes - 02 Skull and Bone
Wolf Eyes - 03 My Recipe is Lust
Wolf Eyes w/ Andrew WK - 04 Wolf Eyes Rules

Truckers Of Husk - Physical Education EP

2008-02-16T18:38:00.003+00:00

Now this is mightily good fun. I think you can always tell (and i've probably said this on here before) whether a band is good or not if they arrive on the scene at the same time that lots of other slightly similar bands are ploughing the same metaphorical musical fields, and yet they still sound good. So Truckers Of Husk gain points for being a post-rockish Tortoisey band that don't bore me (hi Foals!) and also because their name reminds me of Archers Of Loaf. Which I hope it's meant to. They're a four piece based in Wales (and probably Welsh I expect, though their press-release won't confirm or deny that). This track is from their debut EP, which is a 5 track affair on My Kung Fu. More info on the band is available at their official site. Enjoy!

Truckers Of Husk - This Odd Modern

Note to promo people: Moving house!

2008-02-15T12:22:00.000+00:00

This is a quick note to people at promo companies and record companies that I will be moving from Chichester to London in a week, so don't send any more stuff to my old address or it'll be a waste of your time and money. Email me if you want a new address. Cheers!

MIT - Coda

2008-02-10T19:20:00.000+00:00

Now this is a great LP. For those of you who've been loving the neu-Kraut sounds of Holy Fuck, and enjoy mixing your analogue with your digital and your disco with your punk and all of that modern rubbish, this is your mothers milk. In fact you could use all those descriptors for a lot of stuff thats around at the moment, so let me make it clear that this stuff is the real deal; heavy heavy vibes, Eno-like ambience, Motorik drums, a nice 70s disco vibe and all the rest. This is MIT's debut album, and its coming out on the 17th March on Half Machine. They're a three piece from Berlin and Cologne and I featured one of their singles (Good Book) a few months back (ooh get me). They're doing three London gigs from the 23rd-26th February, and I'd assume from this album that they'd be well worth anyone's time. More info on their myspace or official site.

MIT - Beispiel
MIT - Park

Lack of updates

2008-02-04T21:35:00.000+00:00

Hi folks, sorry about the lack of updates, i've been busy dealing with:

Moving house
New job
Someone smashing into my car

I'll try to be a better person and blogger in the next few days!

Willie Nelson - Phases and Stages

2008-01-28T22:51:00.000+00:00

I'd say that this is probably my favourite Nelson studio album by a fair bit. I'm not quite sure why, considering the albums that surround it are just about as good (those are Shotgun Willie and Red Headed Stranger if you like the songs below and want more), and when I say good I mean great, it's just that this one is so succinct (30 minutes), every song is a stormer and it's just a very fine pop record with few flaws. It's a concept album of sorts, telling the story of a marriage breaking down. so on the first half we have the woman's story, and on the second we have Willie's. It's all self written compositions, the production is sweet and clean without sounding too Nashville-sound cheese and putting off those of us used to more 'alt' sounds. I'd just like the mention actually how irritating I find the alt-country genre name nowadays. A lot of the time it just seems to be a name for people to use if they're too cool for school to properly dig country, and for bands to use when they can't write catchy enough songs. This is proper country, and it's a great piece of work, the Jerry Wexler production just right for this point in Nelson's career. Perfect hungover/summers day country haze.

Willie Nelson - Bloody Mary Morning
Willie Nelson - I Still Can't Believe You're Gone
Willie Nelson - Pretend I Never Happened

Amon Düül II - Yeti

2008-01-24T20:06:00.000+00:00

In recent years a number of the more prominent exponents of the constructed Kraut-rock genre have received a lot of attention, with most of the platitudes being reserved for Neu!, Can and of course Kraftwerk. Amon Düül II however seem to have been bypassed slightly; maybe it's the slightly unweildy band name or the fact that the II part is confusing, or maybe it's because they've had a longer history and so aren't as defined as say Neu!, who only released a few records. I think that actually it could be put down to the fact that their sound was so multi-faceted and dense that nobody has been able to rip them off in a commercial enough way to inspire the critical name-checking. Their second LP, 1970's Yeti, is a double set featuring one record of constructed studio pieces and one record of improvisations. See if you can spot the difference. Each track is a charging, psychedelic brainstorm of imagination which for its time blew away every contemporary in the head-fuck stakes. King Crimson were still only just getting going in a convincing way (don't get me wrong, Crimson King is a beautiful LP, but it aint Yeti), and Pink Floyd never gelled in an organic enough way to reach the same heights, there's always a hint of struggle even in their best pieces. Yeti is the seminal krautrock record; without this the genre wouldn't have sounded at all the same, and so it's no wonder that Julian Cope chose to reproduce its cover for the jacket of his excellent Krautrocksampler many years later. Here are a few tracks, the first from the studio lp, the other from the improv. Enjoy.

Amon Düül II - Eye-Shaking King
Amon Düül II - Sandoz In The Rain (Improvisation)

Matana Roberts Quartet - The Chicago Project

2008-01-20T16:45:00.000+00:00

Jazz, like country or 'classical', is one of those genres that takes a shitload of work to get into. It's basically a world away from your regular rock and roll genre conventions, with its own terminology, sub-genres, etc. Unfortunately due to growing up with rock based forms i've been kind of slow getting into jazz, the main reason being that I know what I like when I hear it, but i'd have no way to work out which specific style that was. Luckily however I listen to enough stuff to stumble upon things I do like very now and then, and this new release from Matana Roberts is one of them.

Matana is a composer and live performer from New York who performs as a saxophonist, and who describes her work as being heavily rooted in ancient African American musical traditions, whilst it also incorporates intense lyrical improvisatory elements, and to my ears recalls the no-holds-barred passion of Sun Ra and those influenced by him. This new cd features Jeff Parker of Tortoise as well as other Chicago jazz and jazz influenced luminaries, and is extra extra enjoyable. It's out in February on the excellent Central Control label, who were also responsible for the rather good debut from Strings of Consciousness last year and have also released the last few LPs by Barry Adamson. Listen and buy.

Matana Roberts Quartet - Love Call
Matana Roberts Quartet - Birdhouse 2

Stardeath And White Dwarfs - Toast & Marmalade For Tea

2008-01-17T18:55:00.000+00:00

You always have to be careful when considering new bands who've probably come to fame/being signed in some part down to the fact that they have a famous relative. For every...um...i'm struggling here...for every good band formed by a relative of someone in a good band, there's a Julian Lennon or a...whatever John Bonham's son is called. He's in Foreigner you know? Anyway, Stardeath And White Dwarfs, despite the horrific lack of the word 'Dwarves' from their name, are pretty interesting sounding. Vocalist and guitarist Dennis Coyne is the nephew of The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, and his band are set to release the single below on Half Machine in March. The first track here, with its Beatlesy melodies and string samples actually reminds me a little of Eels, or Grandaddy, or even Sparklehorse: a slow, summery alt-pop strum. The second track is a little more out there, a sort of building looped psych jam. So, both worth a listen, and neither of them too obviously Flaming Lipsy. See what you think. More info available at their myspace.

Stardeath And White Dwarfs - Toast & Marmalade For Tea
Stardeath And White Dwarfs - Chemical

Jawbreaker - Dear You

2008-01-13T17:31:00.000+00:00

Jawbreaker are one of those bands who inhabit(ed) a rather predictable and (even when they were around) tired genre, and yet through the passion of the performances and the edgy, interesting nature of the compositions managed to exceed the achievements of the majority of their contemporaries. Indeed records like 1994's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy and the one I've got music from today, the following year's Dear You became, for better or worse, major influences on the more poppy denizens of the late 90s and early 00's emo(thats the old emo folks) / powerpop scene. It was in fact their fourth and final album, and their only major release to come out on DGC, a major they had moved to in the wake of the mid 90s Green Day inspired buying spree that mirrored the PR invasion of Seattle a few years before (an excellent article on this trend was featured five years or so ago in Punk Planet and is well worth seeking out for punk history nerds). They did this to try to expand their audience, and although the inevitable cries of sell-out (fuelled by support slots for Nirvana) bothered them, it was actually tension between band members and a feeling that they couldn't develop further that led to their split a year later. If you like the songs below, all of their catalogue follows similar paths and is worth seeking out. Enjoy!

Jawbreaker - Bad Scene, Everyones Fault
Jawbreaker - Save Your Generation
Jawbreaker - I Love You So Much Its Killing Us Both

Peel Session: Herman Düne (2000)

2008-01-09T21:12:00.000+00:00

I'll have to admit to being pretty slow when it comes to Herman Düne. The French anti-folk (damn i hate that 'genre') duo have released about 7 or 8 records now, the first in 2000, and yet it seems to have taken me years to get around to really listen to them despite rather a lot of airplay and sessions from the man Peel. Indeed the band recorded six sessions for the Peel show from 2000 to 2004, pretty impressive work even compared to other Peel big shots like the Fall or the Weddoes. This was their first, recorded September 2000 around the time of the bands Turn Off The Light LP, and I believe it contains a few unreleased tracks. Enjoy!

Herman Düne - 01 Numbers Three (Peel session)
Herman Düne - 02 Don't Look Too Deep Into My Eyes (Peel session)
Herman Düne - 03 How Things Slide (Peel session)
Herman Düne - 04 Stealing The Bride Pt.1 (Peel session)
Herman Düne - 05 Lazy Boys Don't Stand A Chance (Peel session)

Free live music, London, this saturday afternoon...

2008-01-07T23:33:00.000+00:00

Just a quick post tonight to say that if you're able, you should definitely come to the FREE gig described in the flyer above, which as well as featuring three excellent bands under the Small Town America label's new Public Service Broadcast Club banner, will also feature yours truly spinning some records between bands. How could you miss it?

Mansun Discography Part Six: Attack Of The Grey Lantern

2008-01-06T16:35:00.000+00:00

Finally! After five increasingly good EPs, Mansun's debut album was relesed on the 17th February 1997. Ten years ago. I am old. It went straight into the UK album charts at number one, the first number one placing for any release by the band on a national pop chart. I think its a great if flawed (in hindsight; when it came out i was utterly obsessed) record that for some reason reminds me of a 90s Kinks album, featuring as it does a loose narrative connecting the bizarre inhabitants of an English village/town. I say loose because this was indeed the band's intention, but sequencing priorities and time pressures meant that it doesn't really have a concept or story as such; there's just a feeling that inhabitants the piece and makes it feel a little more fun and less just a bunch of songs chucked out to fill up a record.

We open with Chad Who Loved Me, which of course namechecks the bands guitarist, and starts out with a really nice John Barry-like orchestral theme that creates a nice mood of expectancy and drama to proceedings. The band launch into it after a few minutes, and from the get-go it's great stuff. Lovely distorted vocal, psych guitar arpeggios, slashing string sections, etc. The 'You're a desperate icon' was commandeered for many a Manics fan-style DIY tshirt (Mansun fans did indeed crossover a bit with the Manics obsessives fanbase wise). Chad... is mighty stuff, a great start. Mansun's Only Love Song is just as good, as the name suggests its a bit more ballady, but its too loud to ever get boring; Chad's guitar tone is joyous. I'm not too keen on the atmospheric faux-dance stuff in the last minute though. Badness. Taxloss is up next; a decent song though the video was always better, it's probably actually my least favourite early singles of theirs. They sound too much like scousers. To be more accurate it sounds like horrific britpop chancers Space. It also does NOT need to last for seven bloody minutes. You, Who Do You Hate? is better, very underrated actually. Mostly acoustic, then launches into a chorus that for some reason reminds me of Ten era Pearl Jam. Must be the guitar tone. Very nice vocals throughout. Wide Open Space next; perfect as ever, then Stripper Vicar, which brings the pace up a bit and gets the momentum going at the mid-point.

Disgusting is rather an odd one. Pink Floydy guitar drones, odd Adam Ant-esque drum beats, muffled vocal, then into a clean higher vocaled chorus. Rather eighties, but the tone is moody enough to get away with it. Nose Bleeds follows, then the super super good Naked Twister, which is far better than the silly title suggests. A little long, but it doesnt matter when Egg Shaped Fred follows it and brings the tempo up again. The final track proper is Dark Mavis, which seems to share the string section from the album opener, and is a rather good end to the faux-narrative. One of those 'time to go to sleep' end of film album closers, with a final bit of anthemic melodrama and a bunch of resigned melancholia. Which leads us to an A Day In The Life-ish orchestral blasty fade out bit. A few minutes later and we get a re-release of the sublime Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter, which (if you'd been trying to work out some sort of narrative in the lyrics), reminds you that 'the lyrics mean nothing'. Those silly Mansun men. Overall? A great album, slightly dated, but a lot more listenable and exciting than albums by more successful indie bands of the time (Charlatans, post-good Verve).

Mansun - Chad Who Loved Me
Mansun - Disgusting

Gossamer Albatross - Self Titled EP

2008-01-03T21:02:00.000+00:00

I can't help but like this EP (despite my misgivings about some of it) for its sheer youthful exuberance. Gossamer Albatross are a three piece with an average age of 17 (don't you just hate them already?) who are producing a rather nice blend of nu-folk influenced, they say, by artists such as Final Fantasy and Neutral Milk Hotel. At first it sounded slightly stilted and nervous, but as things went on I realise that there was an ambitiousness to the songwriting that outweighs the efforts of most of their peers and even those far older. Some bits don't work, the vocals still sound a little hesitant and certain parts would benefiit from a bit more instrumental ambition, but overall I was left feeling pretty impressed by the scope of the EP. It's awfully twee in places, but at the same time there's a rather epic Pentangle style Brit folk adventurishness to things that makes it stand out and seem more interesting than you'd initially expect. The EP is out now on Monosound Recordings, and you can get more info on the band on their myspace.

Gossamer Albatross - Held Hands
Gossamer Albatross - Lake Laiture

Cymbient - Out On The Waves

2008-01-02T22:05:00.000+00:00

Cymbient are one of those bands that sat in my 'to listen to' pile for quite a while before I actually got around to hearing them; mostly because as much as I enjoyed their record, the artwork really stunk. Which is silly, obviously, but then so are they. It turns out that Out On The Waves, the second LP from this Cardiff based five piece (I've used the front of their first LP above, which is far more relaxing), is a rather enjoyable mellow 60s style folk/psych piece that owes a debt to early Moody Blues, a little bit of Syd Barrett, and probably a healthy dose of Love and Beach Boys. The laziest, easiest comparison to make would be to fellow now defunct Welshsters Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, but Cymbient work on a more relaxed, lazy 70s California vibe that sets them apart and makes for a rather nice listening experience. Here are a few tracks, and you can get more info on their myspace. Enjoy.

Cymbient - December Song
Cymbient - Why Are You Still Sleeping

Hüsker Dü - Metal Circus

2007-12-30T16:56:00.000+00:00

A bit of classic hardcore then to ease me back into my blogging seat. Released in 1983, Metal Circus was the perfect (mini)record to link the earlier, thrashier hardcore sound of the Du with the developing super-songwriting wonders that would be revealed a year later on the incomparably perfect Zen Arcade, which is probably the only double album of traditional songs I can sit through in one listen and not get bored (I say traditional because something like GYBE's Lift works okay, but they're not being forced to write hooks!). It's (we're back to non-tangent talk now) a short one, just seven songs lasting a snappy 19 minutes or so, but there's a lot of great stuff there. You get the first hints of Grant Hart's beatlesy melodic songwriting on Funny Anymore and the rather morbid Diane (later covered slightly badly by Irish greats Therapy?), as well as some five prime Mould numbers. Speaking of old Bob, he'll be performing in London on the 21st January at the Roundhouse Studio. Go!

Hüsker Dü - Its Not Funny Anymore
Hüsker Dü - First Of The Last Calls
Hüsker Dü - Diane

Email change

2007-12-30T13:07:00.000+00:00

Ello! I'm back from the blog-accessless wasteland that was south London, where I've spent the last eight days or so. Just thought I'd post a quick note to tell all friends / associates / record company PR folks / bands that contact me that the email address for this blog is now...

mail @ runoutgroove.net (remove the spaces obviously)

I'll do a proper update later, with music of course. On another note: this is my 600th post! Wow!

My Top Records of 2007

2007-12-21T22:35:00.000+00:00

I'm drunk and feeling lazy, and thus there will be no flashy graphics to excite you during this forthcoming list of my favourite records of 2007. A bumper year indeed, although isn't every year? People who say it's been a shit year (and there are some every year) just haven't been looking hard enough. Here's what you should have been listening to:

An unsorted top twenty:

A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers
Battles - Mirrored
Bjork - Volta
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Electrelane- No Shouts No calls
Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
Jeffrey Lewis - 12 Crass Songs
Liars - Liars
Low - Drums And Guns
Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
The National - Boxer
New Lou Reeds - Moonshine 'n' Miracles
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Oxbow - The Narcotic Story
Pissed Jeans - Hope For Men
Wooden Shjips - Wooden Shjips
Throbbing Gristle - Part 2: The Endless Not
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera

Wonderful runners up:

Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Besnard Lakes - Are The Dark Horse
Burial - Untrue
Dinosaur Jr- Beyond
Earth - Hibernaculum
High On Fire - Death Is This Communion
Mekons - Natural
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
MV + EE and the Golden Road - Gettin' Gone
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Om - Pilgrimage
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound
The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
Sunn O))) & Boris - Altar
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy
Trans Am - Sex Change
Various Artists - I'm Not There (original soundtrack)

And lest we forget...

Apartment - The Dreamer Evasive
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
Blonde Redhead - 23
Gui Boratto - Chromaphobia
Buck 65 - Situation
Dungen - Tio Bitar
Fiery Furnaces - Widow City
Forget Cassettes - Salt
Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck
Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Jetplane Landing - Backlash Cop
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
Meat Puppets - Rise To Your Knees
Ministry - The Last Sucker
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
No Age - Weirdo Rippers
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Pony Up - Make Love To The Judges With Your Eyes
Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus!
Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

2007-12-20T21:16:00.000+00:00

Just a quicky tonight; i'm busy wrapping presents and other such festivr things. Heretic Pride is The Mountain Goats' fourth album for 4AD and about their (or his, because if we're honest the project is best described as a way for John Darnielle to not be a solo artist, as such) 15th album total. I mention the 4AD connection because it does seem that since that connection was made, Darnielle seems to be making better records, and people seem to be listening to them more. Maybe i'm just an uncool type but it was indeed 2005's mucho acclaimed Sunset Tree set that really made me listen more intently where previously i'd not been that interested. Heretic Pride continues the run of good works, and is also probably a more fun record than the last few; more fantasy/narrative based than autobiographical, but not sacrificing the passion. Let's hope these mp3s stay up for more than a few hours. The record's out on the 19th February. Enjoy.

The Mountain Goats - In The Craters Of The Moon
The Mountain Goats - So Desperate

Dawn Kinnard - Devil's Flame

2007-12-15T14:56:00.000+00:00

Dawn Kinnard is apparently the daughter of a Pennsylvanian Baptist preacher, which would probably automatically make me think she'd be better than most English folkies just by how cool it sounds. I'm not personally a fan of many Sunderland based daughters of Anglican vicars. Thankfully her music matches the coolness of her origins; it's a woozy mixture of light pysche folk with a countryish twang and enough amateurish stumble to it to make it sound fo' real rather than a quick bucks AOR cashin on the current semi-popularity of nu-folk. The two songs here are from her forthcoming debut Pearl which will be out next year on KensalTown; a label she signed to after moving from Nashville to London to record. I prefer Devil's Flame out of the two tracks here, but there's a nice relaxed Cat Power soul feel to the other one, so i'll look forward to hearing some more stuff from her. More info on her myspace. Enjoy.

Dawn Kinnard - Devil's Flame
Dawn Kinnard - Fortuneteller