nearly 2010!

hello! hope y'all had a wonderful christmas! i did, but christmas is sooooo last week - it's all about new year now. which is why bottle rocket is gearing up for a whole day of celebrations tomorrow: first up, we'll be doing a SPECIAL TWO HOUR RADIO SHOW on subcity in the slightly later slot of 2pm till 4pm. the spectacularly imaginative theme is 'best of decade blah blah blah', and since there'll be THREE of us in the studio for a change, we'll go through each of the years offering one song choice each. our songs will then battle one another TO THE DEATH. should be fun. then, we'll be in nice n sleazys playing happytastic music in the upstairs bar from 9pm till 4am 2010 (well, a big chunk of that at least - we'll be splitting the time with sleazys regular/all-round nice bloke giles).

so whatever you've got planned for tomorrow night, we hope bottle rocket end up a part of it!



RADIO: subcity.org - 2pm till 4pm
SLEAZYS: upstairs, 9pm till 4am


x

album review: avalanche records alternative christmas

Compilations like Avalanche Records Alternative Christmas are vitally important. Their necessity will be emphasised repeatedly over the next few days: they will provide solstice-solace when even mordant irony can’t get you through looped Wizard and their dreams of eternal festivities; they’ll help salve the post-colonial guilt bruises caused by constant celeb-slapping; and they’ll sooth those caught idly humming Another Rock n' Roll Christmas then anxiously fretting about the Glitterism.

Alternatives are essential. Nothing from this collection will supplant Noddy and co from next year’s Christmas adverts, of course; fewer still will wind up sound-tracking office parties (though X-Lion Tamer’s Little Drum Machine Boy might sneak in at the end of a more liberal shindig). But they’re sure to find a place in many a heart, even post-yule when the tree stands naked and detinseled and the Quality Streets are reduced to wrappers.

In fact, the only real disappointment is that so many have ignored Half Man Half Biscuit’s sage advice (It’s Clichéd to Be Cynical At Christmas), choosing gloom over joy. But they sure do blue well: Frightened Rabbit donate 2007's (and 2008's) It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop, a majestic plea for goodwill that ends defeated with the cry “next day life goes back to its past self”; The Savings & Loan’s Christmastime In the Mountains’ maudlin moroseness is presumably not a tale of skiing in Aspen; Withered Hand’s It’s A Wonderful Lie (as in, “this used to be a holy day but now…”) turns its glum pun into a typically witty but self-deprecating waltz; while Meursault’s playful retitling of Phil Ochs’ No Christmas in Kentucky (rechristened Christmas in Kirkcaldy) is no less serious for its east coast relocation. Ballboy, Eagleowl and Broken Records, meanwhile, recycle existing material (some with a fairly tenuous tie to the holidays, truth be told), but when the tracks are as good as Shallow Footprints In The Snow, Sleep The Winter and All So Tired, frugal redistribution is nothing to fret over.

And it’s not all coal-in-stocking/turkey-dinner-for-one depression either: There Will Be Fireworks open with a characteristically panoramic swell which just manages to stay dry skating over the thin ice of Snow Patrol, while Zoey Van Goey’s spoken word In Scotland It Never Snowed, In Canada It Did engrosses with its simple tale of childhood rebellion. And at £5 with proceeds going to charity, it sure beats block-buying Rage Against the Machine.

christmas playlist

thank you thank you thank you if you were there on saturday - it was a really fun night for us! hope you enjoyed it to - here's what we played:

1. vampire weekend - horchata
2. frightened rabbit - it's christmas so we'll stop
3. grizzly bear - two weeks
4. belle and sebastian - me and the major
5. dirty projectors - stillness is the move
6. the hives vs. cyndi lauper - a christmas duel
7. the turtles - happy together
8. why - fatalist palmistry
9. roy orbison - i drove all night
10. neutral milk hotel - holland 1945
11. malcolm middleton - we're all going to die
12. julian casablancas - i wish it was christmas today
13. love ninjas - it's ok
14. the ronettes - rudolph the red nosed reindeer
15. aislers sets - hit the snow
16. abba - lay all your love on me
17. mary onettes - lost
18. yo la tengo - bean bag chair
19. talking heads - girlfriend is better
20. hidden cameras - ban marriage
21. mccarthy - should the bible be banned
22. the shins - australia
23. detroit cobras - hey sailor
24. blur - popscene
25. mariah carey - all i want for christmas is you
26. elvis costello - oliver's army
27. marvin gaye - i heard it through the grapevine
28. bruce sprinsteen - thunder road
29. the raveonettes - the christmas song
30. the crystals - my boyfriend's back
31. bobby conn - united nations
32. idlewild - roseability
33. paper planes - doris day
34. chuck berry - roll over beethoven
35. the beach boys - little saint nick
36. modern lovers - modern world
37. franz ferdinand - matinee
38. orange juice - holiday hymn
39. pavement - cut your hair
40. aztec camera - pillar to post
41. allo darlin' - dear stephen hawking
42. asobi seksu - merry christmas (i don't want to fight tonight)
43. presidents of the united states of america - lump
44. the waitresses - christmas wrapping
45. jimmy eat world - last christmas
46. prince - when doves cry
47. pet shop boys - always on my mind
48. yeah yeah yeahs - soft shock
49. new order - all the way
50. andrew wk - party hard
51. twisted sister - i saw mommy kissing santa claus
52. le tigre - deceptecon
53. fleetwood mac - go your own way
54. the wedding present - step into christmas
55. the breeders - cannonball
56. the smiths - stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
57. madonna - holiday
58. pulp - disco 2000
59. the pogues - fairytale of new york

i reckon we were surprisingly restrained on the christmas front - certainly when compared to last year's festive onslaught. it was partly due to our efforts to squeeze in every request, apart from rage against the machine. it's all a bit silly isn't it? i mean, is killing in the name of really what people want to dance to at christmas? well we aint playing your 'counter cultural' game. especially when some people seem to be taking it Very Seriously: i still can't believe one girl reacted to my disinterest in the "campaign" with "so are you sincerely telling me that nice n sleazy's doesn't have an official position on this matter?", WITH A STRAIGHT FACE. lordy. although she also repeatedly insisted it had to be played before midnight despite it already being 12:20, so maybe the whole thing was a really really really clever and really really really funny joke...

shockingly, there are no photos this month due to lost cables and forgetful minds, but just look out your window! christmas is everywhere!

x

last radio show of 2009!

so yesterday's christmas show WON'T be the final bottle rocket radio of the year! on NYE, me and some fellow bottle rocketeers will be in the subcity studio from 2pm-4pm (that's right, a two hour show! whatever will we fill the time with). it'll be a preview of sorts for the evening's djing at nice n sleazys, so expect nowt but upbeat party songs - y'know, cyndi lauper, billy idol, that kinda thing. woop woop

x

listening to bottle rocket radio at home during christmas

dah dah! bottle rocket's christmas show is up at subcity.org to listen to now - i managed to play loooooads of songs (well, better that than me talking more...). sixteen in fact:

- fucked up - do they know it's christmas time?
- okkervil river - listening to otis redding at home during christmas
- the deer tracks - christmas fire
- the promise ring - b is for bethlehem
- fireflies - christmas song
- the ronettes - frosty the snowman
- summer cats - plastic christmas trees
- the joy formidable - my beer drunk soul is sadder than a hundred dead christmas trees
- hello saferide - ipod christmas
- wild billy childish and the musicians of the british empire - santa claus
- bright eyes - god rest ye merry gentlemen
- parenthetical girls - festive friends (forever)
- sufjan stevens - hey guys! it's christmas time!
- harry and the potters - christmas at hogwarts
- irene - christmas at the beach
- twisted sister - i saw mommy kissing santa claus

listen to it with a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie. that'd be nice i reckon.

x

raydeo past and future

it appears i never got round to updating the blog after last week's radio show - all tomorrow's parties had me a little preoccupied i guess... i had a fellow atp-goer in the studio, chit chatting about the impending festivities, but it wasn't all butlins-based build up - we, naturally, managed to squeeze in a couple of christmas songs... here's what we played:

- frightened rabbit - it's christmas so we'll stop
- alexander tucker - poltergeist's grazing
- tortoise - prepare your coffin
- afrirampo - nakimushikemushi good bye!
- dirty three - sister let them try and follow
- papa m - over jordan
- shellac - canaveral
- the breeders - happiness is a warm gun
- devendra banhart - 16th and valencia roxy music
- deerhoof - my diamond star car
- depeche mode - just can't get enough
- mariah carey - all i want for christmas is you

you can listen again to it here


moving on...

tomorrow's show will be very very very christmassy - the yulegates are open and the festivefloods are filling bottle rocket up to the brim. i haven't decided on a fixed playlist, but joy formidable's new christmas track will feature, as will something from the utterly ridiculous yet strangely loveable twisted sister 'a twisted christms' (which landed on my doorstep this morning). the only rule is i won't repeat anything from last year's christmas show, which is still available to stream here. but that still leaves plenty of cracking christmas music to rummage through - find out what makes the cut tomorrow at midday!

should auld acquaintance be forgot?

of course not! remember all yer auld acquaintances, ok? unless said acquaintances are total dicks, in which case lacuna the shit out of them.


anyway, this idiotic post was just to say that it looks like bottle rocket will be involved in nice n sleazy's hogmanay celebrations this year. exact details aren't confirmed, but it looks like we'll be upstairs for about half the night! yay!

more details when i get them - in the meantime, watch this. AND THEN WATCH IT AGAIN.

x

reviews: the clientele, eagleowl, father murphy

some more reviews:

The Clientele - Bonfires On the Heath (****)

When US tastemakers Pitchfork unveiled their list of the decade’s greatest albums, UK readers would have been excused for quizzically raising eyebrows at the incongruous appearance of The Clientele. Despite long-term stateside devotion, the London-based psych-pop troupe have reached only a minority of hearts at home, an inexplicable state of affairs that Bonfires On The Heath seems unlikely to alter. Not because it lacks quality – its woozy symphonies burst with sumptuous harmonies, and Alasdair Maclean’s husky croon is as seductive as ever – but because it’s so utterly at odds with any and every trend you care to mention. They sound both vintage and timeless, indebted to Love and Lambchop with an off-kilter sensibility that rewards immersion. As a rule, the more downbeat the better (unless bossanova rhythms are your bag) but in truth there isn’t a dud note to be found. It’s time to lower those eyebrows.

Out Now

Eagleowl - Sleep the Winter (****)

A song’s beauty can reside in the slightest of touches, the line separating a graceful composition from a shiver-inducing one sometimes as ephemeral as a single soft chord-change. Eagleowl’s aptitude for meticulously delicate, dewy-eyed alt-folk will be no secret to anyone with a copy of For the Thoughts You Never Had in their collection, yet Sleep the Winter’s gentle strings and appropriately chilly, under-the-breath vocals still manage to constitute an eye-opening step forward. And when the melody lifts midway through to usher in a chorus of sorts, the effect manages to be both understatedly subtle yet monumentally affecting.

Out Now

Father Murphy - And So He Told Us To Turn To the Sun (****)

Inspired by an unholy union of two of their native Italy’s most enduring exports – Catholicism and trashy horror – Father Murphy are a nightmare of tortured groans, discordant clatters and chilling chants, a black mass that would fit comfortably into Constellation’s galaxy of unorthodox oddities. Corrupted organ drones mix into haunted whispers, but lest this sound is too unsettling, the menace is paired with a knowing ridiculousness. Aware of their theatrical absurdity, the band inject welcome silliness to the penultimate At That Time I Guess We Misunderstood, before the closing In Their Graves revives the dread, its incessant beat giving way to a John Carpenter-esque dirge punctuated with eerie death rattles (well, drums). Their uncanny talent for evoking bad omens won’t appeal to all, but for those with the constitution for such things, Father Murphy’s unfamiliar atmospherics will provoke the right kind of shudders.

7th December

and where shall she go and what shall she do?

another radio show is up to listen again here.

the songs played henceforth herewithin include non-exclusively but entirely the following articles all told:

- vampire weekend - horchata
- animal collective - brother sport
- idlewild - idea track
- mogwai - sine wave
- the clientele - bonfires on the heath
- my bloody valentine - come in alone
- stephen malkmus and the jicks - pencil rot
- the mars volta - aberinkula
- mum - blessed brambles
- the pains of being pure at heart - everything with you
- the gothenburg address - from med to lay
- eels - christmas is going to the dogs

click here to read more on the skinny's scottish albums of the decade.

cheerio!

happy 1st of december!

here is the new christmas poster for you to have eye-fun with

album reviews: osso/sufjan stevens, loch lomond/the builders and the butchers, maxwell panther

i've been a little slow to add these of late: some recent reviews from theskinny.com. only positive ones though - i don't feel the need to repeat negative stuff. as my rhetorical mother used to say, if you can't say something nice, don't post your negative reviews on a blog. she had a saying for every situation...

Osso/Sufjan Stevens - Run Rabbit Run (***)

Enjoy Your Rabbit occupies a unique place in Sufjan Stevens’ discography due to its Chinese calendar (rather than US geography) theme and a glitchy electro-doodle (rather than winsome chamber-pop) sound. Run Rabbit Run pushes further away from the Sufjan ‘norm’ (the word is used relatively): ostensibly a cover album by string-quartet Osso, its baffling premise piques interest before the first note is heard. The translation’s instrumental contortions are frequently remarkable, and so consistently imaginative they sidestep charges of gimmickry. But it’s ultimately unsatisfying: an album for every state of the U S of A now seems quixotic, but at least one further entry would be more welcome than curious bric-a-brac such as this (or, indeed, last month’s multimedia The BQE). But that’s a complaint about what Run Rabbit Run isn’t rather than what it is - an enjoyably odd stylistic collision that works somewhat better than anyone might have reasonably expected.

Out Now

Loch Lomond/The Builders and the Butchers - Split 12" (****)

Demonstrating Scottish label Song By Toad’s talent-spotting credentials, this 12” combines two acts plucked from Portland’s teeming music scene. Loch Lomond kick off in the vein of Sufjan Stevens, or perhaps a filled-out, full-band Final Fantasy. Multitasking strings lithely swirl and sharply punctuate while choral backing-vocals a la Silver Mt. Zion add drama to the mix, and the resulting splendour raises high hopes for a UK-released full-length in the future. Split releases practically demand reviewers compare acts Top Trumps-style and declare a victor, so it’s a delight to say that fellow PDX-ers The Builders & the Butchers don’t drop the ball. Nasal vocals and a theatrical bent draw comparisons to the Decemberists, but like Loch Lomond, the similarity is transient and inspired rather than reductive. Castanet chatters and mariachi horns in When It Rains add further flair, and, like their vinyl-mates, leave the listener hankering for more.

Out Now

Maxwell Panther - Do You Feel Different Yet (***)

What’s lower than lo-fi? No-fi still sounds daft. Belo-lo-fi? Whatever - when the genre-baptists decide upon a suitable candidate, Maxwell Panther can be their exemplar. On Do You Feel Different Yet? the sound quality varies from charmingly scuffed to distractingly distant, as if a phone-call and answering machine were the chief recording devices. Certain songs survive courtesy of their undiminished tunefulness - My Ex-Identity’s start-stop chorus is a dynamic opening, while Lost Soul On A Roll (That’s Me) drops the distortion for a Pete Doherty-esque ballad. Other, lesser material might have slipped by as congenial filler if the recording weren’t so darn irritating. But despite aesthetic barriers, there’s much to admire, not least an attitude that shrugs insouciantly and mutters take it or leave it (there are no pitches for the mainstream to say the least). For those with a particular attachment to DIY achievements, a potential cult favourite awaits.

Out Now

bottle rocket would look psychotic in a balaclava

last week's 'it-is-totally-time-for-christmas-music/it-is-so-not-time-for-christmas-music' quandry is over. the advent has (almost) begun, which means christmas music is a-ok! that said, the 25th is still a loooong time away, so i'll keep it to no more than one carefully selected song this week. otherwise yule only get annoyed (YULE! HARHARHAR)


you: "what else will i hear if i listen to the show on thursday? one christmas song does not a one hour radio show make!"

me: "very true. allow me to run through some other plans"

1. the skinny will have announced its top 10 albums of the year AND its top 10 scottish albums of the whole big fat decade by then so i'll play songs from both lists (including the number ones, but i aint telling you yet wot they is so don't even ask yeah?).

2. all tomorrow's parties will be almost close enough to touch with my mind-fingers, so i'll play associated acts like my bloody valentine, stephen malkmus and the mars volta.

3. some new stuff - vampire weekend alright sir/madam?

4. lotsa stuff from this week's live picks: like the gothenberg address, lightning dust and yeah yeah yeahs. AND THAT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING.