REPEAT AFTER ME ok
I, BOTTLE ROCKET i bottle rocket
DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR do solemnly swear
THAT, NOW THAT that, now that
THE SUBCITY HIATUS HAS CONCLUDED the subcity hiatus has concluded
I WILL RETURN TO THE AIRWAVES i will return to the airwaves
NEXT THURSDAY next thursday
AT MIDDAY at midday
WITHOUT FAIL without fail
i'm sorry SORRY SCHMORRY, JUST BE THERE OK
x
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
review: the primitives @ stereo, 22nd april
“That’s a blast from the past, eh?” notes the glass-cased ticket-seller. “Met her a few years back - was training to be a hairdresser…”. Apocryphal or genuine, the exchange highlights a peculiarity of reunion gigs, a peculiarity that lumbers bands like The Primitives with an additional hurdle. They’re asking to recommence the game eighteen years after they called a time out, when everyone, including them, appears to have moved on. Only the most committed acolyte would say aye without an ounce of reservation…
One hour later, commitments have been reaffirmed. Tracy and co seem to relish re-airing the soppy-sweet sugar-rush likes of Thru The Flowers and the infectiously bouncy Secrets, while Crash is predictably well-received. If this tour proves the extent of their renewed vows, it will at least remind people there’s far more to their ‘blonde pop’ than Dumb and Dumber soundtrack cuts. Or hair cuts, for that matter.
One hour later, commitments have been reaffirmed. Tracy and co seem to relish re-airing the soppy-sweet sugar-rush likes of Thru The Flowers and the infectiously bouncy Secrets, while Crash is predictably well-received. If this tour proves the extent of their renewed vows, it will at least remind people there’s far more to their ‘blonde pop’ than Dumb and Dumber soundtrack cuts. Or hair cuts, for that matter.
Thursday, 22 April 2010
give me an R! give me an A! give me a D! give me an etc...
so subcity is back up and running as of this week... but i can't make my show today (doh). so i'll absolutely onehundredandfiftyTHOUSANDpercent be resuming broadcast next thursday at midday.
honest.
x
honest.
x
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Sunday, 18 April 2010
april playlist!
we played aaaaaaaall of these!
1. the national - bloodbuzz ohio
2. vampire weekend - giving up the gun
3. dent may and his magnificent ukulele - you can't force a dance party
4. desmond dekker - 007
5. team band - you put your arms around me
6. everybody was in the french resistence...now - g. i. r. l. f. r. e. n.
7. hole - jennifer's body
8. nirvana - on a plain
9. frightened rabbit - be less rude
10. she and him - don't look back
11. dananananaykroyd - black wax
12. iron maiden - run to the hills
13. teardrop explodes - traison
14. magazine - shot from both sides
15. rem - can't get there from here
16. von bondies - pale bride
17. ceremony - some day
18. mgmt - flash delirium
19. rachel sweet - b-a-b-y
20. genesis - illegal alien
21. lloyd cole - jennifer she said
22. the aislers set - long division
23. manhattan love suicides - clusterfuck
24. japanthers - no one's listening
25. css - alala
26. passion pit - little secrets
27. pet shop boys - it's a sin
28. bruce springsteen - thunder road
29. the slits - i heard it through the grapevine
30. madonna - vogue
31. en vogue - don't let go
32. fleetwood mac - go your own way
33. talking heads - and she was
34. the clean - tally ho
35. magnetic fields - desert island
36. teenage fanclub - neil jung
37. the drums - best friend
38. modern lovers - she cracked
39. arcade fire - power out
40. cyndi lauper - goonies r good enough
41. the primitives - way behind me
42. abba - voulez vouz
43. roxy music - love is the drug
44. devo - girl u want
45. prince - raspberry beret
46. david bowie - young americans
47. fleetwood mac - little lies
48. belle and sebastian - white collar boy
49. the cure - pictures of you
50. squeeze - up the junction
51. the coasters - down in mexico
52. little eva - locomotion
53. omd - electricity
54. kim wilde - chequered love
55. the beatles - paperback writer
56. april march - chick habit
57. the smiths - started something i couldn't finish
58. the clash - train in vain
59. the lemonheads - mrs robinson
60. altered images - happy birthday
61. the spaniels - goodnight sweetheart goodnight
1. the national - bloodbuzz ohio
2. vampire weekend - giving up the gun
3. dent may and his magnificent ukulele - you can't force a dance party
4. desmond dekker - 007
5. team band - you put your arms around me
6. everybody was in the french resistence...now - g. i. r. l. f. r. e. n.
7. hole - jennifer's body
8. nirvana - on a plain
9. frightened rabbit - be less rude
10. she and him - don't look back
11. dananananaykroyd - black wax
12. iron maiden - run to the hills
13. teardrop explodes - traison
14. magazine - shot from both sides
15. rem - can't get there from here
16. von bondies - pale bride
17. ceremony - some day
18. mgmt - flash delirium
19. rachel sweet - b-a-b-y
20. genesis - illegal alien
21. lloyd cole - jennifer she said
22. the aislers set - long division
23. manhattan love suicides - clusterfuck
24. japanthers - no one's listening
25. css - alala
26. passion pit - little secrets
27. pet shop boys - it's a sin
28. bruce springsteen - thunder road
29. the slits - i heard it through the grapevine
30. madonna - vogue
31. en vogue - don't let go
32. fleetwood mac - go your own way
33. talking heads - and she was
34. the clean - tally ho
35. magnetic fields - desert island
36. teenage fanclub - neil jung
37. the drums - best friend
38. modern lovers - she cracked
39. arcade fire - power out
40. cyndi lauper - goonies r good enough
41. the primitives - way behind me
42. abba - voulez vouz
43. roxy music - love is the drug
44. devo - girl u want
45. prince - raspberry beret
46. david bowie - young americans
47. fleetwood mac - little lies
48. belle and sebastian - white collar boy
49. the cure - pictures of you
50. squeeze - up the junction
51. the coasters - down in mexico
52. little eva - locomotion
53. omd - electricity
54. kim wilde - chequered love
55. the beatles - paperback writer
56. april march - chick habit
57. the smiths - started something i couldn't finish
58. the clash - train in vain
59. the lemonheads - mrs robinson
60. altered images - happy birthday
61. the spaniels - goodnight sweetheart goodnight
Thursday, 15 April 2010
radi-no
so, as feared, the radio show's hiatus has extended another week. sad face.
still, should mean there's plenty to talk about next week, right? assuming, of course, that the show is on next week. if it isn't, well that should mean there's plenty to talk about the week after that, right? and so on.
x
still, should mean there's plenty to talk about next week, right? assuming, of course, that the show is on next week. if it isn't, well that should mean there's plenty to talk about the week after that, right? and so on.
x
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
reviews: the futureheads, woodenbox with a fistful of fivers, vacuum spasm babies
The Futureheads - The Chaos (****)
“Art”, novelist John Cheever reckoned, “is the triumph over chaos.” With a title track that lyrically rails against political apathy and uncertainty (“the Chaos/ It’s everywhere but what’s it got to do with us?” goes its refrain, led with a trademark ‘whoah’), it’s tempting to consider The Chaos as The Futureheads’ fire-in-the-belly manifesto, a politically-charged distillation of their ‘art’. And then you hear them slip in a brief Orville the Duck impression and remind yourself to stop being so bloody pompous. The Sunderland mob’s fourth album contains their freshest, fiercest, most playful set of songs since their debut – less frenetic than their introductory set, but refined to punk-rock purity. Heartbeat Song is a taut pop gem, while The Sun Goes Down showcases a new moodiness. It’s a tad exhausting, but their zealous pace is easily forgivable. Regardless of whether it constitutes ‘art’ or not, it’s certainly a triumph.
Out 26th April
Woodenbox With A Fistful of Fivers - Home and the Wild Hunt (****)
It seems lazy to automatically align any act with prominent brass and a Celtic swing with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, but sometimes knee-jerk comparisons are revealing. Ali Downey, a.k.a. Woodenbox, is the band’s Kevin Rowlands figure; guiding Home and the Wildhunt through its wind-swept prairie/barn dance blues aesthetic -- though only time will tell if he shares Rowland’s craving for reinvention. Along with a motley bunch of young soul rebels named the Fistful of Fivers – their moniker’s Morricone homage echoed in Nothing To Nobody’s plaintive harmonica and Hang the Noose’s mariachi parping – they project a laddish swagger on hoedowns like Besides the Point, but rein it in on their full band debut’s more sensitive numbers. It’s no insult to conclude their retro passions pale slightly next to Dexy’s best work, but there’s plenty to savour in the likes of Draw A Line’s whistling coda or the upbeat bounce of the closing My Mule.
Out Now
Vacuum Spasm Babies - Science EP (***)
While music journalists aren’t inherently mischievous (honest), it’s hard to shake the feeling that Vaccum Spasm Babies – led by the former editor of Sun Zoom Spark - have their tongues squashed firmly in their cheeks on Science. Aside from MHz (which first appeared on last year’s Whipping Clowns LP), these tracks sound more like krautrock pastiche than a naturally-occurring style – Flight of the Kraftwerk, replete with mannequins on the cover and bleeps, blips and deadpan monologues in the mix. But give them the benefit of the doubt and you may get satisfaction from the cool strut of Chemical Burns and cranked riff of Science Division, with the robust instrumental Mhz suggesting irreverence isn’t their only setting.
Out Now
Monday, 12 April 2010
reviews: she and him, woodpigeon, slarrafenland
here are another three of my skinny reviews to read carefully multiple times while taking notes:
She and Him - Volume 2 (****)
While adjustments have been made, She & Him’s sophomore release is very much an extension of their first. A choir of merrily chirruping Zooeys and a Shangri-Las-stomp make Don’t Look Back their finest three minutes yet, while a cover of Ridin’ In My Car sees M. Ward duet with Deschanel’s honeyed tones to produce a splendid slice of winsomely romantic country-and-western confectionary. Volume 2 is a sugary concoction that’ll prove too sweet for some taste buds, but criticising She & Him for lacking bite would be like critiquing Elf (to pluck a film from She’s filmography) for not having enough gore; it’s simply the wrong yardstick to gauge by. Their laid-back Americana could be poured in ears all summer long without growing tiresome, their chicly simple formula light and airy enough to make this second helping more than palatable - in fact, a few more servings wouldn’t go amiss either.
Out Now
Woodpigeon - Die Stadt Muzikanten (****)
Written in Berlin, contemplating the lives of his Austrian/German grandparents with one eye on his former home of Edinburgh, Canadian songwriter Mark Hamilton draws intercontinental inspiration on Die Stadt Muzikanten, a “look back at the things I left unresolved in all the cities I’ve found myself”. It’s an eclectic and wide-ranging endeavour that sprawls over sixteen tracks but successfully keeps the hits outweighing the misses. A low-key saloon piano intro melts into a crackling Mercury Rev-style coda; a collaboration with Edinburgh’s own Eagleowl hints musically and lyrically at Tom Petty; while Empty-Hall Sing-Along has a chorus you’ll think you’ve heard a dozen times before yet can’t wait to hear again. And that’s only the first three tracks; rummaging fans of Elliot Smith and Teenage Fanclub will uncover plenty more delights with every listen. It’s a tad too uneven to guarantee widespread adoration, but it would be well-deserved should it arrive.
Out 19th April
Slaraffenland - We're On Your Side (***)
What Sigur Rós are to Iceland, Efterklang have become to Denmark; the critical darlings through whose prism outsider eyes are prone to viewing – and often judging – everything else that ventures forth from the country. With Slaraffenland the connection is a natural one, the two Danish troupes having fused in the past to produce a mashed-up behemoth by the name of Slaraffenklang. Decoupled from their kooky brethren, Slaraffenland remain enchanting: a quintet of sonic explorers who pack their compositions with multiple complementary refrains that crackle with quiet energy. But it lacks the spark needed to fully ignite these ideas, to kick up the pleasantries into enlivened flames. This is only their second release to feature vocals, and We’re On Your Side might have benefited from continued muteness, their chants often distracting rather than adding to the atmosphere. But this nonetheless remains an impressive reminder that there’s more to Denmark than Parades.
Out today.
She and Him - Volume 2 (****)
While adjustments have been made, She & Him’s sophomore release is very much an extension of their first. A choir of merrily chirruping Zooeys and a Shangri-Las-stomp make Don’t Look Back their finest three minutes yet, while a cover of Ridin’ In My Car sees M. Ward duet with Deschanel’s honeyed tones to produce a splendid slice of winsomely romantic country-and-western confectionary. Volume 2 is a sugary concoction that’ll prove too sweet for some taste buds, but criticising She & Him for lacking bite would be like critiquing Elf (to pluck a film from She’s filmography) for not having enough gore; it’s simply the wrong yardstick to gauge by. Their laid-back Americana could be poured in ears all summer long without growing tiresome, their chicly simple formula light and airy enough to make this second helping more than palatable - in fact, a few more servings wouldn’t go amiss either.
Out Now
Woodpigeon - Die Stadt Muzikanten (****)Written in Berlin, contemplating the lives of his Austrian/German grandparents with one eye on his former home of Edinburgh, Canadian songwriter Mark Hamilton draws intercontinental inspiration on Die Stadt Muzikanten, a “look back at the things I left unresolved in all the cities I’ve found myself”. It’s an eclectic and wide-ranging endeavour that sprawls over sixteen tracks but successfully keeps the hits outweighing the misses. A low-key saloon piano intro melts into a crackling Mercury Rev-style coda; a collaboration with Edinburgh’s own Eagleowl hints musically and lyrically at Tom Petty; while Empty-Hall Sing-Along has a chorus you’ll think you’ve heard a dozen times before yet can’t wait to hear again. And that’s only the first three tracks; rummaging fans of Elliot Smith and Teenage Fanclub will uncover plenty more delights with every listen. It’s a tad too uneven to guarantee widespread adoration, but it would be well-deserved should it arrive.
Out 19th April
Slaraffenland - We're On Your Side (***)
What Sigur Rós are to Iceland, Efterklang have become to Denmark; the critical darlings through whose prism outsider eyes are prone to viewing – and often judging – everything else that ventures forth from the country. With Slaraffenland the connection is a natural one, the two Danish troupes having fused in the past to produce a mashed-up behemoth by the name of Slaraffenklang. Decoupled from their kooky brethren, Slaraffenland remain enchanting: a quintet of sonic explorers who pack their compositions with multiple complementary refrains that crackle with quiet energy. But it lacks the spark needed to fully ignite these ideas, to kick up the pleasantries into enlivened flames. This is only their second release to feature vocals, and We’re On Your Side might have benefited from continued muteness, their chants often distracting rather than adding to the atmosphere. But this nonetheless remains an impressive reminder that there’s more to Denmark than Parades.
Out today.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
radi-doh
once again, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to bottle rocket radio... apparently the booth might be built soon, so there may well be a radio show for y'all to listen to on thursday. then again there might not... it's too close to call kids.
click here on thursday anyway, can't do no harm now can it?
click here on thursday anyway, can't do no harm now can it?
Friday, 9 April 2010
dvd review: the greatest
here's another film review penned for the skinny... these might crop up more and more frequently, so thank you in advance for indulging me...
The Greatest (Shana Feste, 2009) (***)
When titular champ Bennett Brewer (Aaron Johnson) dies in a car accident, his family – including the high-school sweetheart carrying his unborn child – struggle to reconcile their sorrow. With a legacy-bearing baby in the mix, a dash-to-the-maternity-ward climax is inevitable: unfortunately, the journey leading there feels similarly routine. Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan impress as the grieving parents – the former distraught, the latter attempting stoicism while he falls apart inside – but their roles are familiar, Sarandon in particular echoing Midnight Mile and In The Valley of Elah. Each gets a scene of showy catharsis (tears, anguish, shouting), as does Johnny Simmons as the underachiever kid brother and Carey Mulligan as the expectant mother. The latter proves to be the film’s trump card: while Sarandon and Brosnan get top-billing, the film is likely to benefit more from snowballing interest in the young Brit, whose charming performance overcomes the character’s clichés and in the process affirms her burgeoning talent.
The Greatest (Shana Feste, 2009) (***)
When titular champ Bennett Brewer (Aaron Johnson) dies in a car accident, his family – including the high-school sweetheart carrying his unborn child – struggle to reconcile their sorrow. With a legacy-bearing baby in the mix, a dash-to-the-maternity-ward climax is inevitable: unfortunately, the journey leading there feels similarly routine. Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan impress as the grieving parents – the former distraught, the latter attempting stoicism while he falls apart inside – but their roles are familiar, Sarandon in particular echoing Midnight Mile and In The Valley of Elah. Each gets a scene of showy catharsis (tears, anguish, shouting), as does Johnny Simmons as the underachiever kid brother and Carey Mulligan as the expectant mother. The latter proves to be the film’s trump card: while Sarandon and Brosnan get top-billing, the film is likely to benefit more from snowballing interest in the young Brit, whose charming performance overcomes the character’s clichés and in the process affirms her burgeoning talent.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
april skinny
new skinny is everywhere (if your reading this from scotland), so pick up a copy if you wanna read interviews with broken bells, meursault, jonsi from sigur ros, efterklang, why? and, er, cypress hill...
it's got this chap on the cover
as part of a feature on RSA new contemporaries 2010 (the above creation the work of one jamie fitzpatrick).
but enough about other people! what did i write i hear you cry! this:
- benni hemm hemm 'realiate' ep review
- burnt island 'music and maths' ep review
- josiah wolf 'jet lag' album review
- woodpigeon 'die stadt muzikanten' album review
- white belt yellow tag 'methods' album review
- the tallest man on earth 'the wild hunt' album review
- woodenbox with a fistful of fivers 'home and the wildhunt' album review
- slarrafenland 'we're on your side' album review
- autechre live review
- thee silver mt zion memorial orchestra live review
- 'the greatest' dvd review
- 'double take' film review
most of it's up on the blog already, and i'll have the rest up there in the next few days.
it's got this chap on the cover
as part of a feature on RSA new contemporaries 2010 (the above creation the work of one jamie fitzpatrick).but enough about other people! what did i write i hear you cry! this:
- benni hemm hemm 'realiate' ep review
- burnt island 'music and maths' ep review
- josiah wolf 'jet lag' album review
- woodpigeon 'die stadt muzikanten' album review
- white belt yellow tag 'methods' album review
- the tallest man on earth 'the wild hunt' album review
- woodenbox with a fistful of fivers 'home and the wildhunt' album review
- slarrafenland 'we're on your side' album review
- autechre live review
- thee silver mt zion memorial orchestra live review
- 'the greatest' dvd review
- 'double take' film review
most of it's up on the blog already, and i'll have the rest up there in the next few days.
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