Jingle All The Dayer

Hello! I'm not dead, honest: things have just been going on.

Anyway, for all the Leeds people out there, tomorrow I will helping run this:



It's going to be loads of fun! Full details can be found at The Deku Tree's myspace. I'll probably be wearing a Santa hat. That's gotta be worth coming to see, right?

Videodrone #2: Elliott Smith

Something a bit different with this one. Last Sunday was the fourth anniversary of Elliott Smith's death. I'll refrain from making any tributes or trying to write anything, as many people have done so already and in ways I couldn't hope to approach.

So here, instead, are some lovely videos:

"Lucky Three"


This is a short film made by Jem Cohen, who is best known (at least in music circles) for making Fugazi's Instrument film. Tracks featured are "Between The Bars" and "Angeles" from 1997's Either/Or LP, and a cover of Big Star's "Thirteen". I don't feel the need to say any more: the film speaks for itself.

Elliott Smith - Son of Sam


Promotional video for "Son of Sam", from 2000's Figure 8 LP. The building he walks into at the end is the same as on the LP's front cover. It looks quite a bit different now.

Elliott Smith - Say Yes (Live 19/09/2003)


Recorded at his last ever show, and apparently the last song of his that he played in the set.

Elliott Smith - Waltz #2 (XO)


Live performance of "Waltz #2 (XO)" from 1998's XO and a short interview, from Swedish TV.

If you don't have any Elliott Smith LPs, I suggest you buy some. They're all great, although I'd recommend either 1997's Either/Or or 1998's XO as good starting points.

links: sweetadeline.net

Turbo Fruits

So who has be your own PET's self-titled debut album of last year? It's pretty good, isn't it? Anyone see them tear up Reds at the Thurston Moore-curated ATP last December? Pretty awesome, right? Have you listened to the self-titled album so many times now, you're getting a bit kinda bored with it?

If you've answered "yes" to these questions, you're probably quite looking forward to their new record, which is due out early next year. Oh, unless you answered "yes" to the last one, in which case you're a) wrong, that record doesn't get boring and b) NOT MY FRIEND.

Whatever you answered, you could do worse than to check out Turbo Fruits, the side project/other band of BYOP's Jonas Stein (guitar) and John Eatherly (drums). Their self-titled debut album came out through the wonderful Ecstatic Peace! label in the US and a label called Ark Recordings here this past summer.



I actually really love that front cover.

It's, as you would expect, very BYOP in tone - essentially, slightly crude and kinda sludgy garage rock played with bucketloads of velocity and enthusiasm and a tremendous sense of fun. It never quite achieves the breakneck velocities of their day job, but the band seem aware that without a frontperson of the calibre of BYOP's Jemina that could end up as something of a folly. But, hey, it's still a fun listen full of it's own charm, and they're after catching them in the afternoon heat at Reading this year they're a good live prospect as well.

And, hell, if nothing else it should tide you over until that elusive new Pet record arrives.

mp3: Turbo Fruits - Pocket Full of Thistles
mp3: Turbo Fruits - Tennessee, Baby

links: turbo fruits @ myspace | esctatic peace! website | ark recordings @ myspace

Dirty Projectors - Rise Above

Anyone who's been keeping a keen eye over what people on the internets are chattering about can't fail to have notice the hubba building around Dirty Projector's new release, Rise Above (out this week through Rough Trade, I believe - I'd check the press release but it's gone AWOL somewhere between here and my old flat). If you're not up to speed, I shall get you there:

Dirty Projectors is the musical project of maverick writer/arranger/producer/multi-instrumentalist/'musical director' Dave Longstreth. He's been making records under this name in his own, idiosyncratic little way since 2001. Previous releases include 2003's The Glad Fact, which includes songs about finches and cars, and 2005' The Getty Address, a concept album about about Don Henley. Y'know, Don Henley From The Eagles Don Henley.



Which brings us nicely to their new record, the aforementioned Rise Above. The audacious project this time (at least, as far as the press release goes - believe it as much as you will, I guess) is that Longstreth attempted to remake/reimagine Black Flag's seminal 1981 Damaged LP entirely from scratch, despite the fact that he hadn't heard it since he was in high school (I'm not sure of his age, I think mid/late 20s. Which is.. er.. a pretty audacious idea, you've got to dmit.

Anyway, I've had this record for a few weeks now and I've listened to it five or six times now and I genuinely have no idea what I think about it. Unnerving blogger honest there, eh? First things first, it sounds NOTHING like Black Flag. The only real touch points are the lyrics, and in it's own strange way the intensity of the songs. There's a real carryover there between the two, the way they're put together and the performances here really lend themselves to the crushing paranoia and coldness of the original material. When Longstreth sings "i tell them to go get fucked / they put me away" in 'Police Story' it is, in it's own way, as tense as when Henry Rollins first roared the same words 25 years ago, even though Longstreth is doing it over some plucked acoustic guitar. The female vocals singing the chorus on 'Six Pack' have the same sarcastic tone as the original. Longstreth vocals are, in their own way, as tortured/torturing as Rollins were.

And, I guess, by reinventing this using their own musical palette (acoustic guitar, horns, big arrangements) it's a damn sight more 'punk' than an album of straight-up covers could have ever been.

But still, it confounds me. Do I actually like it? At this stage, I'm just not sure. What I will say, though, is this: I'm actually happy with this situation. It's clearly not a record that you'll 'get' straight away, it's one that I think will reward perseverance and repeated listens and actually paying attention. Much like Black Flag's original, really. Hell, what do I know anyway? I didn't like OK Computer the first time I listened to it. OBLIGATORY RADIOHEAD REFERENCE!!!!!

Anyway, to coincide with the release, Dirty Projectors are in the UK for a week of shows, including one with The Blow and a bunch with "puzzle pop" (OH DEAR NME) titans Battles. Those'll be fun.

mp3: Dirty Projectors - Depression
mp3: Dirty Projectors - Police Story

links: Dirty Projectors @ Myspace | Dirty Projectors @ Wikipedia

Videodrone #1 : week ending 12th October 2007

Look, another supposedly-regular feature that I'll probably be really lazy in doing. I do want to try this time though, promise.

Anyway, here's some video fun I've come across this week.

They Came From The Stars, I Saw Them - (It's Always) Boomtime, Part One


Let's get one thing out of the way first of all: They Came From The Stars, I Saw Them are probably the most fun live band in London. I've seen them twice now, and they're just wonderful - a big mess of people making huge, joyous music. If you get a chance, go and see them. I MEAN THIS. Anyway, this is their new video, and it's, predictably, a whole lot of fun from start to finish. Think Flaming Lips, think Polyphonic Spree, think acid-fried mentalists dancing and singing about... hell, I dunno, but I want some.

Also, something tells me they don't like The Rakes.


Animal Collective - #1 (Live on Late Night With Conan O'Brian)


OK, so Conan O'Brian is known for booking more 'alternative' acts onto his show (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Le Tigre etc) but I'm really curious who on his staff thought Animal Collective were a good choice. As, clearly, do some of the viewers - sample quote (from here: "The show ended with a performance by mood rockers, Animal Collective. There was lots of singing, but no words. You would get the same effect if you played a Gregorian chant under water, or listened to U-2 with oatmeal in your ears. They gave me a Radioheadache." Still, it's a wonderful performance (the original can be found on their recent Strawberry Jam LP out on Domino) and is exceedingly welcome in a week where everyone is raving about a past-his-prime estate agent and his gang of chancers topping the UK Top 40. Given such circumstances, it's nice to see something that actually encapsulates the spirit of doing whatever-the-hell-you-want being broadcast into millions of homes across the United States.


Pagan Wanderer Lu - The Tree Of Knowledge


Pagan Wanderer Lu is pretty DIY. He's released more music over the past five years on handmade CDRs than most bands with major label big bucks contracts manage in twice that time. He's also bloody good - last year's The Independent Scrutineer was a great little slice of intelligent, literate pop and follow up Perfection R.I.P. (from which this is taken, out next month on Brainlove Records) looks to continue this trend. Accordingly, and from the mouth of the man himself, this video had a budget of £20, which was "...spent entirely on buying coffee for the people who appeared in it". And it's great.


Scout Niblett - Kiss (feat. Will Oldham)


This video leaves me feeling slightly unsettled, and I can't work out why. It's a feeling of unease, of being slightly on edge, but for no tangible reason. Incidentally, this is what a lot of Scout Niblett's music does to me, so I suppose it's only fitting. Taken from her forthcoming This Fool Can Die Now LP (out Monday on Too Pure!), it features Will Oldham and portrays possibly the creepiest date ever. Still, don't they look cute running around on that beach and doing handstands? Er, kinda..

links: they came from the stars, i saw them @ myspace | animal collective @ myspace | domino recording company official site | pagan wanderer lu @ myspace | brainlove records @ myspace | scout niblett official site | too pure official site | will oldham @ wikipedia