Livin' Next Door to Alan # 6

If you haven't heard this yet, well, not to worry, it is right here:

Nas : NY State of Mind

Teengirl Fantasy

Good little tune from True Panther upcomers Teengirl Fantasy. If you Google them, they even come up before any...thing else. Now that is popular.

Teengirl Fantasy : Hoop Dreams

The Philosophy of Geography

Buckle up, arm chair pseudo-philosophy coming your way. First, an apology for the somewhat sporadic posting on this blog. Second, I was listening to 70s UK post-punk legends The Comsat Angels and their song Map of the World reminded me of a class I took way back when on 'The Philosophy of Geography' and I was surprised with how simply the song actually touches upon some of these issues. This is not, however, a debate on the philosophy of geography.



It does bring me to Titus Andronicus. Is it fair to say that these boys are just a shade too pretentious for their own good? I quite enjoyed their first album but any band that names themselves after a Shakespeare play and has song titles like 'Upon viewing Brueghel's Landscape With the fall of Icarus' and quotes Camus' The Outsider as lyrics and.. and.. and. Surely emotional weight was gained with more than just idle quotation and direct referencing. Maybe I am wrong. If so, then let me swiftly rename this blog 'Crime and Punishment' and tell you all that my favourite book is Ulysses. Oh, if music were the food of love...

Titus Andronicus : Four Score Part One

Wild Beasts @ Koko // Livin next door to Alan #?

[art: Marcel Dzama]

Back to London and Wild Beasts are playing Koko for the second time in 2 weeks. More on that later. First up were MOTS favourites Esben and the Witch, currently riding an ever growing swell of hype and it is easy to see why. No more need for an introduction, just listen to the below:

Esben and the Witch : Marching Song

Next up, Everything Everything. The main problem with Everything Everything is that they encourage lazy journalism. Examples:

'Everything Everything sound like... everything.'
'Everything Everything would do better to just sound like... something.'
'Bands that Everything Everything sound like: Wild Beasts. Coldplay. Biffy Clyro. Animal Collective. Muse. Radiohead. The Futureheads. Bands that Everything Everything are better than: Coldplay.'

Being lazy, but not a journalist, Everything Everything were frustrating to watch. Falsetto vocal harmonies, funky bass, the occasional guitar riff, electronic tweaks, staccato rhythm but all I could think was 'I don't like them but they are... solid'. So is MDF if you have enough layers.

Everything Everything : My Keys Your Boyfriend

Wild Beasts were Wild Beasts. 'Nuff said.



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I have to point out, at this point, that Alan's Records is not a great place to pick up hip hop records. I did, however, stumble across this little gem which I first heard on a Rawkus sampler.

Scout Niblett // Live in Montreal

I knew nothing of Scout Niblett. I also knew little of Montreal audiences. It seems they are a forgiving bunch. First thing often coming first, Scout Niblett's style is not something I would usually pick up, but being perennially 'down for whatevs', live music will often impress where the studio falls short. Not. The. Case. Scout lacked stage presence - long passages went by while technical issues were sorted and we were left to natter. Even during the set proper, there was little audience interaction which, far from being enigmatic, merely appeared disinterested. Still, everyone clapped and cheered and slowly migrated to the bar next door.

A lot better was the preceding Molly Sweeney, whose beautiful but sometimes-violin-screech vocals drew applause and cheers and nothing else.

Scout Niblett : Calcination

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In a poll of one, here are a few tips for who is on the up-and-up. You never know, they might even be good too:

Zola Jesus : I Can't Stand
Xeno and Oaklander : Sentinelle
Cold Cave : Life Magazine

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And finally, today's homework. I watched 'Blow Up' recently and instead of pondering the existential angst (alright, maybe just a little), all I could think was that there must be a song which perfectly fits the crowd sequence and explodes in some sort of monster climax just as he throws the broken guitar. Suggestions?

Besnard Lakes // Live in Montreal

As if to confirm the irrepressible rise of the girl-pop group, Friday night opened with The Sunday Sinners. The thing about girl pop groups is, however, that despite the fact that they don't really sound the same, they are often thrown into the same category. Usually by me. Looks like I might need to retake those feminism courses. Still, those girls rocked. Or popped. I forget.

Besnard Lakes almost made up for the Grizzly Bear/Beach House gig back in London. Which, all things considered, was a pretty good effort. The big question of the night though: should smoke machines be the exclusive reserve of the wedding disco? Suggestion: perhaps.

The Besnard Lakes : Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 1: The Innocent
The Sunday Sinners : So Lonely

Islands

Compared to the current controversy surrounding sovereignty over the Falklands' deep sea oil reserves, these Islands are a far less divisive bunch. Their excellent third record Vapours was released last year to an understated reception , well-reviewed but with none of the fanfare which accompanied many of 2009's major releases.

Unjustly so, I feel. It was a superbly crafted piece of synth-esque pop, catchy and sweet and melodic. Arm's Way is also a fantastic under-rated record.

Well I've got news for all you haters out there. Islands are in town - catch them at Cargo on 24th March. Sadly I'm not going to be around for that, but am tempted to nip up to Leeds on April 2nd to get my fill.

Dare I say it - music on the sea, literally.

Islands: Vapours

Disarming the Car Bomb

Heartbeat

Stag and Dagger // Line Up

Stag and Dagger line up is announced to include the following:

THE BUG
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS
WILD BEASTS
SIAN ALICE GROUP
JOKER
FRANKIE & THE HEARTSTRINGS
DJANGO DJANGO
COOLY G
ONEMAN
FILTHY DUKES
THE RADIO DEPT.

Wild Beasts : We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues
The Radio Dept. : Heavens on Fire
Django Django : Love's Dart
The Bug : Freak Freak

Get excited. And get tickets here. Friday May 21st.

Start the Week // Al Downing

The sun is shining, times are good and London is warming up. Get that walk to work on with a little soul...

Al Downing : I'll Be Holding On

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OK, for those wanting a little new music, London's The C90s 10:01 has an awesome remix by Belgium's VillA. Bounce to work instead.

The C90s : 10:01 (VillA remix)

Livin' Next Door To Alan #4

To one of my favourite songs of all time; I first heard this back as an early teenager and played it pretty much on a loop for 12 months. One of the absolute greats. It is sad to hear news of Guru suffering a heart attack - heal up soon, hip hop needs you.

Gang Starr : Moment of Truth

Errors // Live @ Scala

I underestimated Errors. I wasn't crazy about their first album but listening to these boys live is something else. Highly recommended. New album Come Down With Me, presumably thought of before Come Dine With Me came out, came out on Monday. Buy it here.

Errors : Pump
Errors : Bridge or Cloud? (Twilight Sad Remix)

It's Bullion, dummy

I was listening to the excellent Dummy Mix by We Have Band (here) and on popped the excellent Bullion. So remember, get that record while it's hot.

Supporting the XX RIGHT NOW/3 March (you may be a touch late), you can still catch him either 17 March at the Social or 9 April (in London).

Bullion : Time for us to love
Amadou and Mariam : C'est ne pas bon (Bullion remix)
We Have Band : Honeytrap (Co-Pilots Flying High Edit)

[art : ali lomas]

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That We Have Band remix made me want some more dancey stuff. I think that's what they call it these days.

TEEN : Sugar

Livin' next door to Alan #3

Racial tensions. From great strife comes great art. And great puns.

Organized Konfusion : Hate

Juggaknots : Clear Blue Skies

What ever happened to...

...Brent DiCrescenzo?

Much derided critic of the pre-saccharine Pitchfork(media), legend to few, Brent DiCrescenzo was the most interesting thing to happen music criticism since... forever. Now, this is no criticism to Pitchfork, which remains a source of excellent music and has spawned an entire generation of slowly circling blog-hawks (ourselves included) that seek to feed off the scraps... but, and there is always a but, there was a time when the writing had a little more veracity. And that, primarily, was due to Brent DiCrescenzo.

At the time of his libellous To The 5 Boroughs review (now edited - you can read the original here), for which Pitchfork was subsequently pursued with legal action, Brent DiCrescenzo was the subject of a lot hate articles (eg the above and, for example), especially in relation to the fact that the article contained false (hence libellous) information and was not a conventional album review.

Well, fuck all that. This guy was one of the only writers (and it wasn't just him) who was able to make you actually feel the record. Know what it was like. You know, show, don't tell. If metaphor as a linguistic device is acceptable for critique in literature, then I don't really see why it can't be so in music criticism. OK, he wasn't perfect but the boy has charisma.

I used to read those reviews for fun. And now, if I am honest, I can't really remember the last time I read every word of a Pitchfork review. One of my favourites was actually by Nick Sylvester but please tell me if these don't tell you exactly how these records sound.

Nick Sylvester : Audioslave - Out of Exile
Brent DiCrescenzo : Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Way way back in January 2006, he wrote an article predicting the rise and rise of 60s girl pop. Ahead-of-the-curve. So, we (and I assume Ben is with me) the few, salute you. Oh, and check these Best Coast/Dum Dum Girls/Vivian Girls tracks, they are SWEEEEET!

Best Coast : Something in the Way
Dum Dum Girls : Jail La La
Vivian Girls : He's Gone