among the aisles

Brave Irene | Brown Recluse

2011-03-23T15:39:00.005+13:00

While the new Pains of Being Pure at Heart album seems to be hogging all the attention these days, new albums by Brave Irene and Brown Recluse seem to be in danger of being forgotten. This is something you should all be very concerned about since they are two of the best releases the label has put out ages.

After Rose Melberg's most recent solo album came out I remember hearing some of the predictable "I wish she would do new stuff more like Tiger Trap or Go Sailor" type moaning. When I first heard about Brave Irene I assumed it was something to appease these fans and was kinda disappointed. A few other bands have recently seemed determined to rediscover their glory days with kinda underwhelming results. But after hearing the record the enthusiasm behind her claim, "I want to be in a band. I want it to be loud. I want to use my electric guitar. I want to use my distortion pedal" comes through so clear. It's a really special record that, rather than trying to relive past glories, sits comfortably alongside her best work.

Brave Irene - No Fun by Slumberland Records

The words "Brown Recluse" are usually closely followed by "The Zombies" or "Os Mutantes", which is fine. But it would be a shame to have anyone think that they weren't creating their own inventive, exciting and playful pop songs. Their new LP is probably the best pysch pop record I've heard since the last Crayon Field album. Also anyone how has not downloading their mini-LP Panaptic Mirror Maze for free over on bandcamp should do so NOW.

As I Write 'Today' Ten Times

2011-01-11T09:12:00.008+13:00

Productivity is overrated. It feels like every time I come across a new band or musician I love they keep releasing new music at a rate I can't keep up with. Often I look at friends' Last.fm pages and am intimidated by the sheer volume of music they listen to. Or at this time of year see people's 'end of year' lists and wonder if they spent the whole year critically assessing music without finding time to enjoy it. On a regular day I usually listen to some songs on my iPod over the 20 minutes or so it takes me to get into work/university - then the same back - and then a record or two over the evening if I'm staying in. And I'm happy with that. I don't think I could really enjoy anymore.

This is basically a long winded way of saying The Andersen Tapes work at a pace I appreciate. The Andersen Tapes' first LP As I Write 'Today' Ten Times documents ten songs Amanda Aldervall wrote between 2005 and 2010. Three of the songs appeared on a 2008 Cloudberry single, and just as that release felt like a perfect 3" CD single Today is perfectly suited to it's format. I recently heard someone describe The Aislers Set's How I Learnt To Write Backwards as having the same feeling of a flawed masterpiece as The Beach Boys Friends. It's a comparison that I immediately identified with, and as someone who likes Friends more than Pet Sounds I don't see anything pegorative about describing an album as flawed. Records described as 'pop masterpieces' are usually pretty dull. Comparisons with How I Learnt to Write Backwards don't just apply in terms of spirit either, for whatever reason I've found myself listening to these two records back-to-back. Take from that what you want - but hopefully it's enough to get you to head over to the Fraction Discs page and the band's myspace to listen to the songs for yourself.

CUFFS

2010-11-10T06:31:00.006+13:00

Six months on and I'm sure everyone is still in at least some state of mourning over the break-up on Pants Yell! Of course there's only one thing that will cheer people up - Andrew holding his promises that PY were only being retired so he could work on new things. And he's doing just that. Head over to bandcamp and you can download a three song four-track demo EP for his new project CUFFS.

Teenage Fanclub in album cover shocker

2010-06-04T17:59:00.005+12:00

It's attractive!

Where is Heather?

2010-06-02T13:59:00.005+12:00

This week over at pitchfork you can watch the K recs documentary 'Shield Around the K'. As you would expect it is a doco on Calvin and Beat Happening as much as it is about the label. Mecca Normal and Lois Maffeo are the only other artists to get some decent coverage. Generally this is fine, but watching the seemingly endless stream of live footage of Calvin gyrating around the stage has left me wondering; how come no one ever seemed to film songs when Heather was singing. For me Heather's songs are the ones I keep going back to and listen to over and over, but I have never seen any footage of these played live. I understand why Calvin stage presence was such an important part of the band and must of been confrontational for many of the viewers. But it does the band a disservice to present them as just another primitive punk rock band with some charismatic dude up front.

Anyone out there with footage of BH playing 'Run Down Stair', 'Fortune Cookie Prize' or 'Godsend' the internet needs it!

A Theme's A Theme

2010-05-05T12:20:00.005+12:00

I can't remember the name Momus had for those who blindly nostalge over past movements like Scotland's Postcard Records - but whatever it is Alexis and I are going to be guilty of it this Friday...

J. Ogier's record collection

2010-04-29T20:11:00.007+12:00

The Real Groovy sales bins are pretty useful if you're looking to bolster your Springsteen or Carpenters back catalogue - but not much else these days. Back in "the day" I couldn't turn around in there without bumping into a copy of The Feelies Only Life, but that's long gone now. Last week, however, I was startled to see a copy of Felt guitarist Maurice Deebank's 1984 solo album Inner Thought Zone sitting there for $3. So I bought it - great stuff.

It sounds just as I kind of expected, like the first two Felt albums but without Lawrence. It's an obvious statement to make because that's what it is right? But what interested more was the previous owners sticker in the corner.

Based on this I can only assume J. Ogier's records are ordered autobiographically - so starting with the oldest record, through to the most recent. But I can't help but wonder when J. started numbering them - after the first record bought? 1430 is a fairly large collection, how many of the 1429 others (at the very least) are similarly numbered.

I've always had my records in a vague chronological/genre order, but for a long time I ordered my CDs autobiographically. It seemed to make sense since I had one of those annoying racks with a space for each individual CD. So the easiest thing to do is just add a new CD to the end each time I bought one. But it can only work so long. When Alexis and I moved in together it couldn't work any more. She doesn't care when I bought Pet Projects, just wants to hear 'Shyin' Away'. I guess that's a part of the appeal of the order - it makes no sense to anyone else. So maybe if I'd been a bachelor I would have ended up like J. - numbering each new record so they fit within my totally illogical order that no one else can hope to understand.

Auckland joys and Auckland woes

2010-02-28T12:25:00.003+13:00

Lawrence's new video recorder thingy has been a welcome addition to the Auckland popshow world in recent months. It's great for watching videos for brilliant shows I went to and not leaving me feeling like I'm on the wrong side of the world. When I'm spending a Saturday afternoon sitting in the park around the corner from my flat and watching The Bats things can seem pretty good. Thanks to Lawrence for proof.

I may nor may not be motivated to write about the Pobpah show from Wednesday, but let me assure you it was very different to the first time I saw them and L's blog post pretty clearly explains why (along with some great footage pre-moron takeover). Whether the aggressive crowd is an NZ thing or not is debatable - maybe it's just the inevitable associations of a band 'crossing over' - but whatever it is, the show didn't leave me with the same 'isn't the world a lovely place' feeling the Buffalo bar show two years previously had done.

my favourite band of 2009

2010-01-01T18:31:00.003+13:00

Last year I stated that it always takes me an extra twelve months to be certain of my favourite album(s) of any year. So I feel I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that my favourite albums of 2008 were The Gladeyes' Prospect Palace Tapes and Guy Blackman's Adult Baby

As for 2009, I feel pretty certain in twelve months time I'll still think Grass Widow's debut album is one of the coolest things in the world. With a debut like that, combined with a killer 12" single and host of incredible youtbe footage meant it's impossible for any other band to compete really. I've been putting off this post for a while as I don't really know how to explain why I find this band so exciting, maybe I don't need. Just imagine how people who actually get to see them must feel.

Grass Widow | NYC @ Brooklyn Museum | 07 Nov 2009 from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.

P.S. fav single of the year was Allo Darlin''s Polaroid Song download it for free here

Gladeyes album as great as you'd expect

2009-11-23T20:18:00.007+13:00

After a reported two years of tireless work The Gladeyes' debut album 'Psychosis of Love' is finally released. The album sits interestingly alongside previous last release - 'The Prospect Palace Tapes' CD-R. The two releases are largely made of the same songs, with Psychosis of Love adding only two new songs and re-recording two songs from their first EP 'Hearts-N-Amour'. Considering four of the songs from the Prospect Tapes were on their second EP 'A Heart Full of Love' it's pretty clear prolific songwriting is not The Gladeyes primary concern. I don't know how other people feel about this, but I think it's great. I love hearing up to three radically different recordings of these songs and hearing the songs played differently each time I see them. It's an approach to music making I sincerely wish more bands would consider.

As mentioned before Jade and Gwen spent two solid years working on 'Psychosis of Love' and basically it sounds like it. It's a big, lush sound that is constantly punctuated by unexpected twists and frills. That may not necessarily sound like a good thing, but trust me it works. In a way the meticulous arrangements seem to act out the themes of obsession and escape that dominate their records. Furthermore, it's radically different from the Prospect Palace Tapes - which was recorded in a single day, and sounds like they could have been done in a single take. So different trying to evaluate which I love more is near impossible to say. Probably the best thing to do is let you listen for yourself Monika is being released as their first 'single' and available for download - so give it a listen and compare with the Prospect version.

Monika

Monika (Prospect)

When you're done you can listen to more at their myspace. The song Psychosis of Love isn't included on the album and is radically different from anything else of their's of heard. Whether it's the sign of a new direction remains to be seen.

new pants yell! song

2009-09-25T20:07:00.002+12:00

At some point about 18 months ago you may have heard me say something along the lines of "Pants Yell!, they're nothing special". Then I suddenly got hooked and pretty much listened to nothing but them.

So now I can sit here in envy of all those lucky lucky people in Boston who get to go see them this weekend play with Still Flyin' and hear all the songs from their new record (which I thought was going to be called Jessica Griffin but isn't)

But at least while I'm sitting I can listen to 'Cold Hands' the first song to be streaming on their myspace. Get there

radio going live

2009-09-22T20:40:00.005+12:00

My neglect of this thing is likely to continue into the near future - well until I finish my uni stuff at the end of October. But in the mean time three exciting peices of news.

1) 'best band in the world' The Gladeyes are releasing their first "proper" album in November and doing a wee national tour.

2) everyone loves Wildwood Lights. After spending a forever on the top of bfm's top ten you can now listen to 'Town and Country' on their myspace. But you should buy the EP too.

3) and

Simply Thrilled is going 'live' in our first little club night. Don't know how the world feels about just stealing book covers to make posters, hopefully I won't be laughed at.

Simply Thrilled 01 Aug

2009-08-08T19:57:00.004+12:00

As I'm picking songs to play for this week's radio a show I should really post last weeks. This week's show will probably be the first time in a while I won't play anything from the Summer Cats' album. The internet seems to be suitably excited about it, which is entirely deserved - here's more info. But I should jet so here's a link to last week's show, and for those who simply want to critique I'll put the playlist in the comments.

Simply Thrilled 01.08.09

oh and everyone should buy the Wildwood Lights EP. They're just about the best thing ever - more on them later.

A Declaration

2009-08-03T18:06:00.004+12:00

General consensus seems to be that the Felt DVD A Declaration is terrible. For the most part I agree, filmed on a hand held camera from the balcony at ULU, with the sound just coming from the camera microphone it sits uncomfortably with the rest of Felt's back catalogue. It goes against so much of the image Lawrence went to such pains to manufacture I find it hard to believe he endorsed its release. Yet it's not the poor quality of the recording that interests me, it's the uneasy feeling that even if the recording was better quality, even if I was there, I still wouldn't enjoy it that much. They simply don't seem that good. For someone who spent of few of his teenage years and most of his adult years thinking Felt achieved a kind of untouchable perfection this is something of a revelation. Yet the feeling that Felt were just a band like any other fills me not with disillusionment but, rather, the optimistic feeling that all the new bands I love and follow are just as great as those of the eighties canon. Pedestals are boring and pointless and the more cultural artifacts I can find that demolish those bands aura of mystery and flawlessness the happier I'll be.

As an aside am I wrong to love this more than any other Felt video accompaniment I've seen.

I Wonder Who We Are

2009-08-01T18:31:00.004+12:00

There's something about 'I Wonder Who We Are', the first 'single' from the upcoming The Clientele album, that reminds me of Belle and Sebastian's 'Your Cover's Blown'. Well the beginning of it anyway. But then I remember when I first heard 'Your Cover's Blown' it somehow reminded me of 'Rip It Up'. Anyway it's great stuff. Happily The Clientele seem to have resisted any kind of career narrative, it doesn't seem to me like they're tied any kind of bland 'maturity' trajectory. Maybe they're not recording vocals through bass amps anymore, but they're certainly not aiming for any mainstream crossover; or if they are they're going the wrong way about it. Have a listen and see what you think. And admire the beautiful cover art, reminds me of the Marble Arch releases, maybe that's the point.

I Wonder Who We Are

Some Velvet Painting

2009-07-13T22:04:00.003+12:00

I've had a wealth of stuff to post about recently, but been struggling get myself to write about. So let me just say now The Cavalcade are great and so is the Liechtenstein album. They deserve more effort than this and hopefully I will do something soon. Although the most exciting thing of all has been Ed Cake's new album under the moniker Pie Warmer - hopefully this one gets promoted big time.

Speaking of promotion; my motivation for posting now is to mention that some friends and I now have a semi permanent radio show on Auckland's Fleet Fm on Saturday evening from 9 till 11, which I think is currently 10am-12pm Saturday morning in the UK. So you can listen online, or I will be posting a recording of most of the show each week here. So just click this to hear last week's one.

second hand bookshop's greatest hits

2009-05-31T14:22:00.006+12:00

Blogging on the job may feel mildly illicit, but when i'm trapped behind a counter all day it's one of the few things I can do.

So what's been playing in the shop today? Cause Co-Motion's Because Because Because is pretty much coolest record out right now, which is fairly predictable since Cause Co-Motion are pretty much the coolest band around right now. If only the rest of the world will work it out. Recorded in a single day at Gary Olsen's place it's much the same as their singles, which Slumberland lovingly compiled last year. The most obvious departure is the less frantic 'You Lose', which is the only song to extend over the two minute mark and is also available for free download from the Slumberland site. I'm guessing the band may start to face a little criticism for venturing down a bit of a stylistic dead end, but I think that's garbage. I imagine Beat Happening or The Pastels could have faced the same criticism twenty five years ago and I feel Cause Co-Motion not having an obvious "maturity" path set in front of them only makes it more exciting.

But its not really bookshop music is it? I gave it a blast when I opened up, but since the pace is picked up a bit I've been pretty much locked on The Castaway Stones lone album 'Make Love To You'. I'm on my fourth listen of the day and I can't believe that after years of loving both Pam Berry and The Saturday People I've never given this record much attention. Maybe its just for today and I won't feel the same tomorrow, but right now this sounds like the dreamiest, catchiest, mostly beautiful pop imaginable. Furthermore (oh god I've been writing too many essays recently), I think it's the best I've ever heard Pam's voice, and yeah I realise that's a pretty big claim. I also realise the album is out of print and pretty tough to find - so I may have to upload it when I get home.

Cheap Red and Cheap Radio

2009-04-08T15:02:00.004+12:00

Cheap Red seem to be the most talked about band of the last ten hours or so, why? The cynical answer is because it's basically Boyrace plus Kanda, so everyone's up to hear more from bands they already love. But I'm not the cynical type, so I'm going to say it's because the songs streaming on their myspace at the moment sound great - go listen now.

Not so great is my radio show. I still can't work any of the equipment and never know what to say on air - but if you fancy it you can have a listen here - I really need to think of a name for the show now that it's semi permanent. I'm afraid not a lot of thought really goes into the play lists, so for the most it's always the same old songs - not too much new or obscure stuff.

radio on!

2009-04-07T11:58:00.003+12:00

So in a couple of weeks I'm putting on a Jonathan Richman themed club night. It should be a lot of fun and a welcome distraction from an endless pile of reading. I decided to put this on after seeing he was touring UK to alleviate the disappointment of being on the wrong side of the world. I was lucky enough to be able to see him in May last year and it was truly amazing - I spent pretty much the whole time unable to believe it was him standing up there on stage. He didn't play any of my favourite songs, but it hardly seemed to matter. He just does whatever he feels like and that suits me fine.

If anybody knows of great Modern Lovers and/or Jonathan Richman covers let me know.

stuck to a sheep's bottom

2009-03-30T20:46:00.002+13:00

Debates about "twee" seem to have been a pretty permanent feature of the internet for as long as I can remember. So it's pretty interesting to read a defense of twee that has nothing at all to do with music. Maybe the world doesn't revolve around indiepop after all?

I haven't been writing in here much at all these days as life seems to be pretty dominated by uni - and unless I wanna start posting about New Zealand's movement from "Greater Britain" to "Better Britain" it's likely to stay that way.

my favourite radio friendly wednesday afternoon

2009-03-11T16:30:00.002+13:00

If you've ever wondered how I spend a wednesday afternoon, wonder no longer. Here's a link to a recording of the radio show I do with my friend Alex, and more recently Kris from Heaven Is Above Your Head. It's actually only the last 40 minutes or so - so you don't have to listen to the loooong Fall song I played (but you do have to listen to the looooooong Felt song Alex played).

http://audio.substep.com/fleetfm/tuesday311.mp3

Alley Oop!

2009-02-18T00:26:00.011+13:00

So my first proper trip to Wellington in years ended up being far more profitable than I imagined. I assumed it would be full of over sized coffees and funk rock, but instead it was amazing Tex Mex food and the best record shop in New Zealand. I expected Slow Boat to be a bit better than Auckland's Real Groovy, but really it put us to shame. I ended up leaving with as good a haul as I could afford and sadly had to leave a fair bit behind. Best find? Three issues of Alley Oop; pretty much the best fanzine I've ever read.

I can't really find any information on Alley Oop, I'd only seen an issue once before when a workmate from the library brought one in he'd borrowed off someone else. But that brief look was enough to let me know this was something I needed to track down. Published around 1988 and seemingly lead by Bruce Russell (guitarist in Dead C and founder of Xpressway). It's a near perfect document of an exciting and important period in music history (to me anyway). It's fascinating to read contemporary and often critical accounts of "classic records", partically Russell's muted review of The Bats' Daddy's Highway. Although it's not all Flying Nun and what was to become Xpressway bands. There's a great review of Miles Davis' NZ tour and record reviews of any internation albums considered worthwhile. Almost all the writing could be held up as perfect examples of how to capture the excitement of music, but also combined with a critical confidence which reflects immense knowledge and wisdom. I'm considering scanning the whole thing and posting it up somewhere, but for now we can make do with a review of the last ever Look Blue Go Purple show. Memorize it and pretend you were there!!

cd revival

2009-02-03T10:12:00.003+13:00

You know when your dad says to you; "I've got a cd player I got off trademe* for $5 you can have, I don't need it anymore" the universe is almost certainly about to explode. Although I suppose dads are always instinctively drawn to cut price technology. Anyway, I have a cd player and I'm having the best time looking through boxes of old cds and being able to play them without going on my computer. Great.

So I present to you my improved, if slightly cumbersome stereo:

*kinda like New Zealand's ebay, only more informal.

Invisible bands

2009-01-25T11:05:00.008+13:00

I imagine most people have records they love, by bands they know nothing about. I guess the internet should end this phenomena, but there are a few records I know and love where everything I know about the band is deduced by looking at the cover. So basically it's all made up, I'll look at the band photo (if there is one) and think "oh those two look like they hate each other" or "I bet they're a couple".

So what records fall into this category for me? Well these days it International Airport and The Bristols. Both bands are fairly recent, but seemed to have petered out by the time I got into them. They are also remarkable for having amazing sounding records. International Airport's Nothing We Can Control just sounds so perfectly balanced. Chief band dude Tom Crossley seemed/seems to be loosely linked to The Pastels and there's clearly a similar sound to Pastels circa Mobile Safari. Only I think they manage the sound better than The Pastels do, each layer delicately stacked on another until you're left with no so much a wall of sound as a forest of sound. I wish I'd bought up more of their stuff when I was in Monorail last year, but I just didn't expect to become so obsessed when I rediscovered the record.

The garage rock revival of c2001 didn't really interest me too much at the time. Although now I think if the bands had sounded more like The Bristols and less like The Von Bondies it would have been very different. Their record In Tune With The Bristols is an absolute blast. I remember I bought it a couple years ago, but never really gave it much of chance. But since arriving back in New Zealand it hasn't left my 'currently listening' shelf. It's suitably recorded at the famous Toe Rag studios in London and is probably the best example I've heard of what that studio represents. It's analogue and vintage equipment used not out of nostalgia, but out of a recognition of quality. Liam Watson who ran the studio also seemed to run The Bristols, so it's hardly a surprise I guess. To me The Bristols interpretation 60s garage rock doesn't feel 'retro', rather just the natural way the songs and the band sound.

happy new year and all that

2009-01-06T15:33:00.006+13:00

Like a lot of people I find end of year lists both absurd and irresistible. There's no such thing as the 'Best Album of 2008' and I tend to assume anyone who says there is is trying to sell me something. But then they're fun and interesting and all that, so I should probably stop complaining right? Of course it's great to have people telling the world what record hasn't left their record player/mp3 player/car stereo over the past year. Provided that album isn't by Fleet Foxes of course.

Plus, when I think about it I realise I've stayed remarkably quiet about most of my favourite records. Crystal Stilt's self titled EP, The Motifs compilation and The Andersen Tapes Cloudberry single have been suitably gushed over; but Minisnap's Bounce Around has been kind of ignored and I haven't engaged in Vivian Girl's debate much (for the record I love them, think they sound nothing like The Shop Assistants and think people label them sound a likes are mildly sexist/stupid). Plus, I've also avoided writing about No Age for some reason, so I'll say now Nouns is an absolute killer and about as exciting as I imagine music can be. I was a bit disappointed when I saw them at ATP, but hopefully their Auckland show with Jay Retard will make up for it.

Then there's been The Gladeye's 'album' The Prospect Palace Practice Tapes. Recorded in one day with Tim Guy on bass and chief Ruby Sun Ryan McPhun on drum it has all the spontaneity and excitement that makes seeing bands live worthwhile. I'm in danger of becoming a bit of a joke if I keep gushing over these guys so I'll I'm just going to say I think they're the best lo-fi pop band around (and that includes Times New Viking) and mention the CDs only NZ$15 (which is like the equivalent in price of a packet of crisps in most countries) and you can buy it from here.

Oh, and I feel I have enough distance now to say Pants Yell!'s Allison Statton is my favourite album of 2007. So maybe check back in twelve months time for a more confident review of 2008.

The Bats!

2008-12-12T19:29:00.002+13:00

The Bats! They've got a new album out! And I'm going to see them tonight!

The Bats are would be pretty good contenders for my most listened to band of this year. For whatever reason I seem to have gone from being a casual fan to ranking them as probably my favourite Flying Nun related band. So I'm very, very excited about seeing them - and the prospect of the new album. Although I'll probably hold out on buying it tonight as Little Teddy will be releasing it on vinyl soonish.

Can't Wait!!

Record Fair!

2008-11-30T09:49:00.004+13:00

So apparently something's wrong with the economy or something. I can't even pretend to understand any of it, and as long as it doesn't effect libraries or second hand bookstore I guess I don't have to worry, but bugger me if records aren't getting expensive. The New Zealand dollar used to be worth almost 80 US cents, and now it's just a little over 50. And to make matters worse everybody seems to be releasing amazing records; as well as the Crystal Stilts and caUSE co-MOTION lps Slumberland keep releasing an irresponsible number of great singles, then Comet Gain have got their new album and single (I don't think the world needs me to rant about their video too, but lets just say I disapprove), and there's the cute little Vivian Girls package. It's almost enough to make me get a real job. Almost.

So maybe I should just stick to New Zealand record shops right? Problem is Real Groovy (which pretty much is New Zealand record shops) have gone into receivership and haven't been buying new stock for a few months now. So you can imagine when I saw flyer for a record fair I was pretty excited. Records! I love those things. And it's just a short walk from my flat. Unfortunately, it was mostly classic rock stuff - but I managed to leave with a half decent haul....

The real find is that 'Folk Music At Moller's', which was actually picked up by my girlfriend. It's a selection of recordings from the Auckland Folk Music Festival in Oratia in 1978. I think she bought it just because she liked the cover, but it's genuinely really great. I've been meaning to convert it to mp3 so I can share some of the songs around, but lets just say for now that Amazing Hoggett are perhaps my new favourite band.

Living Room Dancing

2008-11-25T18:23:00.007+13:00

In my last post I made brief mention to one of life's great pastimes, bedroom dancing. However, the truth is I've recently made the leap from thebedroom to living room dancing. One perk of moving back to Auckland is I can have a place of my own, which means I can freely dance around the living room without bumbing in to flatmates or their crap. So what's been my most danced to record of late? Moejadkatebarry!

I don't quite get what why this is officially a Moe Tucker record, rather than being Jad Fair, Kaye Messer or Barry Stock, but that's hardly important. The album's an absolute blast; quickly recorded, with all the enthusiasm and joy you would expect from anything to do with Jad Fair. I bought it quite a while ago and it never excited me too much before, but now it just seems perfect. Plus to make things even more exciting I've recently worked out how to covert vinyl to mp3. It's pretty terrible sound quality but who cares, I've always been more interested in song quality.

So here's Jad Is A Fink, it's basically just a groove rattled along for a minute and a half - but I damn good one.

Moe Tucker fans should also pop over to Fire Escape Talking for an mp3 of Moe and Jonathan Richman playing, 'I'm Sticking With You'.

Mysterious Records

2008-10-30T12:18:00.015+13:00

Anyone listening to Auckland's Fleet FM at some point last week may have had the pleasure of hearing me say something along the lines of "okay I'm going to play an great song by Crystal Stilts, which is either called 'The Sinking' or 'Shattered Shine', I'm not really sure." Then later on I say I'm about to play 'Backwards' by The Motifs, only to play 'Yours & Mine' instead. Then do it all over again when I played Henry Dress' 'Zero Zero Zero' instead of 'Hey Allison'. In the space of one radio show I was foiled by three different mysterious records.

My definition of a mysterious record is one whereby it's impossible, or at least difficult, to know side a from side b. The Crystal Stilts has three tracks on each side and there's nothing on the label to tell you which side is which. So I get to know one side as the side with writing on it, and the other as the one with the Woodsist logo - but I've no clue how that relates to the track. Okay so the sides are etched on that bit inbetween the label and the vinyl where hip labels like to leave little messages, but it took me a while to notice that.

The Motif's record has completely blank labels and no etching at all, so they only way to tell side a from b is to count the tracks - 12 on side a, and 11 on b - but who can be bothered counting that high.
But Henry Dress' lone LP 'Bust 'Em Green' is the most confusing of all. On side has 'Stop' on it and the other 'Go' - and despite what you may think the album starts with 'Stop'. But then the track listing is listed in just one big block of text with nothing to distuigish tracks, let along sides. So unless you have some prior knowledge of the songs (from mix tapes and the like) it's truly impossible to work out which side is which.

This is probably also a good time to point out the Crystal Stilts EP and the Motifs LP are two of the best records I've heard this year. The Motifs LP compiles some older singles they've recentyl released, as well as a bunch of new stuff too. There's only 200 being pressed so, if it hasn't sold out already, get to Knock Yr Socks Off's myspace to order yourself a copy. The Crystal Stilts LP has just been released by Slumberland and is pretty awesome, though I think I still prefer this EP. They keep getting compared to New Zealand bands, mostly just because Hamish Kilgour "discovered" them, but that doesn't mke much sense to me. To me they sound like early Felt, only much more dancable - that's bedroom dancing, not the silly club type.

On Returning

2008-09-21T14:16:00.017+12:00

So I've been away from here for a good few months now. After moving back to New Zealand I've been largely without the internet and kind of forgot about its world. So I've probably missed a ton of great new releases, but this has been more than made up for by rediscovering all my favourite old records.

Top of this pile has been Sneaky Feelings' first album, Send You. I find it pretty hard to think about Sneaky Feelings without taking Matthew Bannister's book 'Positively George Street' into consideration. The basic gist of the book is Sneaky Feelings were the best band on the Flying Nun roster and that they were held back simply because Roger Shepherd and Chris Knox didn't like them. Based on their contribution to the Dunedin Double EP this sentiment would seem pretty deluded. The Chills and The Verlaines blow them out of the water, and then they follow it up with singles like 'Pink Frost' and 'Death and the Maiden'. But then, in my opinion, neither of those bands released an album as strong as Send You, or even it's follow up Sentimental Education. Bannister and David Pine songwriting was far more direct than Dunedin's resident "poets" Graham Downes and Martin Phillips, but numbers like 'Not To Take Sides' and 'P.I.T. Song' easily challenge their very best - and then you've got songs like 'Won't Change' and 'Someone Else's Eyes', which show a pretty significant Elvis Costello (after whom the band was named) influence.

Sneakies are getting a fair amount of recognition these days which is, of course, great. They may not have got championed by the label the way some of the other Flying Nun bands did, but it seems these days there's no shortage of the love they never felt when they were together. Maybe it's changing tastes or something I don't know; but their heart on sleeves sentiment and an unabashed love of POP! music is perhaps considered a bit more acceptable these days. Either way they were a great band and if someone could just make the Flying Nun back catalogue a little bit less deleted I'm sure there are hoardes of potential fans.

Hopefully this is the start of me writing in this thing more often again - I've got some serious Crystal Stilts gushing to do.

War On Drugs

2008-08-14T04:13:00.002+12:00

I can't comment on their recorded material (I haven't heard much), but based on their show on Monday I feel pretty confident in saying War On Drugs are a pretty amazing band.

Doris

2008-08-04T23:44:00.009+12:00

My introduction to Doris came counrtesy of the Anorak Forum's mixchange earlier in the year. Her song 'Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby' stood out because, as well as being totally ace, it's bloody HUGE. Big powerful production, complete with a bigger, more powerful voice, it's the kind of track that's about as easy to ignore as a Celine Dion belter - only good. So, as you can imagine, I was thrilled to find a copy of her sole album Did You Give The World Some Love Today Baby on a trip to Crouch End's Flashback this weekend. Coming out of Sweden in 1970 it comes across to me as a fascinating outsider's perspective on all forms of American pop from the previous twenty years.

I took it home just expecting a solid collection of soul pop, I had Dusty in Memphis in mind; but was totally shocked to hear the variation and musical range on offer. 'Don't' is fairly similar to the title track and the kind of thing I was expecting, but then other songs like 'You Never Come Closer' and a cover of The Band's 'Whispering Pine' are something else entirely. The fireworks are help back and sound like the work of a completely different artist. The male vocals on 'Whispering Pine' may sound a bit constipated, but that doesn't stop it from being a perfectly tasteful bit of folk pop. But then how do I explain dark, unsettling 'You Never Come Closer'? I guess I'll just let you have a listen for yourself.

You Never Come Closer

and here are some others for good measure

Whispering Pine

Don't

In what may be viewed as being an attempt to fully transport myself to Sweden year 1970, Lee Hazlewood's Cowboy in Sweden is currently stuck on my record player too. And before you ask Lee Hazlewood didn't play any part in recording the Doris album, even if it does share the same mix of lounge, country, psychedelia and pop. If I was fancy enough to be able to upload vinyl onto my computer I could post of mp3 of 'Hey Cowboy', but instead you'll have to make do with a video of Jens Lekman singing the Swedish lullaby and Cowboy In Sweden closer 'Vem Kan Segla'. When I saw Jens in early 2006 he was playing this accompanied by an old recording the song being sung by a school choir Jens claimed to be a member of, therefore making it a duet with himself. Only I'm not too sure I believe him.

back from the dead

2008-07-31T23:43:00.005+12:00

As everyone else on the internet has been pointing out, details are out for a new Pains single and album to be released on Slumberland in the not too distant single. There are also a few new songs available to download from their myspace. While their London shows earlier in the year were impossibly brilliant, I do have to confess to being a touch non-fussed by their EP. I love 'Hey Paul' and 'Orchard Of My Eye', but I found the others a touch "theme songy". I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'm happy to find I really love all the new songs. My favourite thing about them is they don't show the fear of classic rock you in plenty of indie bands; just because something is delicate and sincere doesn't mean it can't have fat riffs and killer solos.

There are a number of reasons for my recent absence from this blog. One is that I have found myself listening to pretty much no new music recently. Currently stuck on my stereo is Lee Hazlewood's 'Trouble Is A Lonesome Town', Denim's 'Back In Denim' and The Clientele/Relict split 7". I hate when this happens, especially when I hear new stuff by Cause Co-Motion! and Crystal Stilts and hear what I'm depriving myself of. I know the best why to remedy this is to buy a bunch of new releases, but every time I'm about to I spy some record on ebay I should be saving my money for.

In less than two months I'm going to be moving back to New Zealand so I'm trying to make the most of the pop shows on before then. So it's Ballboy tonight, Sunny Day In Glasgow on Saturday and Love Is All / Je Suis Animal on Tuesday - phew. I was deeply disappointed to not be able to make Indietracks last weekend, but am doing my best to be happy to hear it was such a success.

[edit] I meant to post this yesterday, but forgot. So I can now confirm Ballboy were great last night. Although I have to say they were possibly upstaged by their supports: Pocketbooks and The Smittens. I wasn't that interested in Pocketbooks first time I saw them, but they just keep getting better.

closed week saviours

2008-07-02T23:54:00.005+12:00

"Librarians shelve to catchy romantic pop songs" may not be as catchy as "cows milk to Mozart", but based on my experience over the past week it's just as accurate. It seems that for me 'Closed Week' means a week of shelving and to get through this requires lots of music. After experimenting with loads of different music it seems the likes of The Bats, Pants Yell! and The Aislers Set are the best for getting me through it. Although, as well as these old favourites I've also been going for Boy Genius album 'Anchorage' a lot.

They've been written about fairly steadily throughout this year and seem to have already been compared to pretty much every band ever. Though of all the bands it seems REM and Pavement crop up the most, so maybe I'll just go with that. To me it's intersting these two bands get mentioned, as in my mind they seem slightly contradictory. When I think of Pavement the first thing that comes to mind is that label 'slacker rock' they had forced upon them, then with REM I always think of the frenzy that characterised their early albums. But I guess what makes Boy Genius interesting is that this makes sense, as they combine these two simultaneously and effortlessly. It's fun pop songs full of life and enthuasiasm, but cut with enough ennui to keep it worthwhile and interesting. A large chunk of the songs are streaming from their myspace, so if you're interested you can head there and make up your own mind.

London-As-Tokyo

2008-06-30T23:57:00.016+12:00

On Saturday Alexis and I went down to the Southbank hoping to catch Momus and his girlfriend Hisae Mizutani conduct their tour of Tokyo by the Thames. You would think a tal,l skinny, Scottish guy with an eye patch and a blond wig with a Japanese female, both wearing white aprons and carrying giant megaphones would stand out. However, we wandered around for about an hour before eventually spotting them. After finding them we had to follow (at a discreet distance) for a while before the finally stopped outside the famous Tsukiji fish market. In the photo here Momus is showing us a cross section of tuna divided up into sections, with each section representing a different meal - starting with the tail for breakfast and so on. Usefully located next to the fish market poster is a handy map of Tokyo.

On the map we could see that located not far from the fish market is the world's largest Muji where you can buy every no brand quality good you've ever needed to live a post-materialist society. Unlike the Mujis I've visited in London this Muji also contains a cafe where you can by clear, durable no brand food. The transparent potato apparently contains all the nutrients of a regular potato, only you don't have to pay a premium for the garish colour. You can also buy a flat pack house that you can conveniently assemble in your living room in an afternoon with the help of a friend.

Alexis filmed Momus discussion on the Japanese summer festival and as I don't have a clue how to edit videos you can also enjoy a short discussion on Japanese religion, life and death.

At Momus and Hisae's recommendation we stopped at a exotic English sandwich chain Eat, which happened to have a branch there in the middle of Japan. After a quick sandwich we searched the Southbank waiting to be taken back to Tokyo. However, Momus and Hisae wandered off somewhere and after about 45 minutes of trying to find them we got tired and bored and decided to head home for a afternoon nap.

El Perro Del Mar

2008-06-12T22:08:00.005+12:00

When I started this blog my main motivation was a desire to document great popshows that I would have otherwise forgotten about. However, in the end that hasn't really happened, other thank the Pains and Clientele shows I wrote about in my first post I don't think I've written about any shows at all. About a month ago saw Jonathan Richman, something I'd been dreaming about for years, yet felt no desire to write about it and I'm not really sure why.

Last night I went to the ICA to see El Perro Del Mar open for Lykke Li. When people are talking about El Perro the two things that seem to get mentioned most are that her arrangements are largely informed by 50s and 60s pop and that she is pretty miserable. These are both pretty true, although what I think makes he special is how these two elements interact. By playing with girl group motifs she has the rare affect of 'infecting' my record collection; to bring out all the melancholy and dejection that is hidden away in the background of The Ronettes or The Shirelles and bring it to the forefront. She manages to transform 'bebop bebop a loo la' from being either joyous or a meaningless placeholder to become a near perfect expression of despair. It's all in the delivery I guess, and it works similarly with her simple, repetitive lyrics. Usually just a basic chorus repeated over and over again with very short verses they reinforce the idea the more a word is repeated the more unstable it's meaning becomes. I do feel her records can sometimes creep into pastiche, but performing mostly solo last night with the sincerity an acoustic guitar affords it just all worked so much better than I expected. I hope she won over a few Lykke Li fans, though most people seemed more interested in hanging around the bar than watching.

I didn't stay for much of Lykke Li. I was looking forward to see her, but her performance seemed quite "flat". She seems to be promoted as the next Annie or Robyn, but somehow I just don't think it will work.

Waiting For The Now

2008-06-10T23:03:00.007+12:00

So I only ordered them last night and they're not being sent off for another week, yet I still excitedly checked my mail first thing when I got to work in the hope that some how, some way the 'Searching For The Now' volumes 3 and 4 would be sitting there waiting for me to take home and love. When I wrote about volumes 1 and 2 earlier in the year I was was decidedly un-gushing, although they grew on me more and more until it got to the point where I just couldn't wait for the next instalment. Plus what's not to be excited about with the new ones; Pains and Summer Cats and then A Sunny Day In Glasgow doing a Pastels cover and Sunny Street. Awesome. It's also given me a good chance to catch with a lot of their older releases to "save" on postage - so added 7"s by Glo-Worm and Bright Coloured Lights are also eagerly awaited.

As is usually the way the moment I've got a bunch of new releases I'm stuck on an old favourite and don't get a chance to give the new stuff a listen. So great new albums by El Perro Del Mar, Boy Genuis and Slow Down Tallahassee are currently unable to be fit around my current desire to endlessly listen to The Go-Betweens. This resurgence of interest is due to two factors; 'discovery' of the delightful live bonus disk that came with 'Oceans Apart' and getting tickets to see Robert Forster in September. So hopefully it's just a matter of time before those albums above get a good listen (maybe seeing El Perro tomorrow will do the trick), but in the mean time it's just Robert and Grant over and over again - could be a lot worse.

New Bubblegum Lemonade and sold out Vivian Girls

2008-06-03T08:57:00.015+12:00

Earlier the year I wrote about the excellent Bubblegum Lemonade EP 'Ten Years Younger', well I'm extremely happy to discover there's another one on the way already and an album should be released by the end of the year. I've been listening to 'Ten Years Younger' pretty much nonstop since it was release and don't know if I'm ready for even new releases yet, but I'll gladly take them. So the EP's called 'Susan's In The Sky' and the songs are already streaming on his myspace and on his 'overspill myspace'. The Jesus and Mary Chain influence seems less prominent of this bunch of songs and the cover of Big Star's 'Holocaust' is excellent. But don't bother listening to me go over and have a listen. And while you're over at the Matinee website ordering this, check out the absurd reductions they've currently got on their back catalogue - great opportunity to fill some gaps.

In other news the Vivian Girls album is already sold out after been released only a week previously!! I wasn't fast enough, but apparently will be re-released later in the year. So I guess snap up their 7"s before they go too, they're a pretty amazing band.

Look Blue Go Purple

2008-05-31T03:21:00.006+12:00

A couple of weeks ago I uploaded some mildly obscure Look Blue Go Purple mp3s for a friend, but now can't for the life of me remember who it was for. Whoever it was I'm sure s/he has a look around here every now and then so I may as well post them here, then anyone else who's interested can give them a blast too.

I'm not so arrogant as to assume everyone knows who Look Blue Go Purple were so here's some back story. LBGP were formed by five women from Dunedin in 1983, released three EPs, then split up from in 1987. I always struggle to work out what people in New Zealand thought of them, but I sometimes get the impression it wasn't particularly favourable. Their bio on the Flying Nun website is suitably gushing, yet they often seem to get left out of the grand Flying Nun narrative - or just seen as Denise Roughan's band before 3Ds. I, of course, have no way of backing this theory up and considering I was 3 when they split up am not really in a position to theorize. I guess my feeling is based around the fact that, like Sneaky Feelings, they're one of the FN bands that are loved overseas far more than they are at home. I'm sure you'll love them though and recommend the 'Compilation' CD, containing all the songs from their EPs, wholeheartedly.

Anyway on with the mp3s. They're both from the '...But I Can Write Songs Okay' compilation and both fairly rough, but enjoyable, live recordings. The first is "Ralta", which doesn't feature on any of the EPs. It sounds quite different from most of their recordings, but considering it's the only live recording I've heard I have no way of knowing whether it suggested a new direction or is representative of their live show. The second isn't really Look Blue Go Purple; it's The Bats covering one of LBGP's "hits" 'I Don't Want You Anyway". Enjoy.

The School - 'Let It Slip'

2008-05-29T23:16:00.012+12:00

Arriving home after a couple of weeks of gelato and pastizzi it was nice to have a pleasant pile of records at my door welcoming me home. On the top of the pile was The School's 'Let It Slip' EP, which I'm extremely happy to find more than delivers on the promise of their first single 'All I Wanna Do'. Given their first single's understated warmth, it's startling to hear the eponymous first track blast off with upbeat soul grooves and girl group harmonies that should be dominating the dance floor of your local club night for the rest of the year. Exclusively recording on a four track in your bedroom my result in mad indie cred, but this EP shows The School are the kind of band who are only going to benefit from high production standards. The passion and diversity they show would only get lost in murky lo-fi production bands are usually forced to use on their early releases.

Despite clearly owing a dept to 60s girl groups The School, unlike so many of their com temporaries, never seem to sink into pastiche. The joy and the melodrama is there, but it doesn't seem to matter if the dresses are or not. Put simply they're not The Pipettes. Instead they came across simply as a band trying to express and share their love of pop music.

They're playing this Saturday at the Buffalo Bar and I would like very much to see them, though since I can't seem to find anyone else interested in going along I'll probably end up piking.

i've got something on my mind...

2008-05-18T19:08:00.005+12:00

and I'll tell you why....I can't stop wondering if it's acceptable to call your EP 'Edwyn Speaks Louder Than Kirk' AND at the end of one of your songs launch into the second half of Orange Juice's 'Consolation Prize'? Too Much?

This is the question German pop band Honeyheads are making me consider with their Cloudberry EP. As I see it's okay on one condition, you need to ensure your EP contains at least one song as strong as 'Out Of Marseille'. It probably doesn't suprise you to hear me desribe it as soul informed, jangly guitar pop, though they seem to be much more than OJ sound-a-likes and that's what slightly annoys me about the reference; it encourages people to see them as less than they are. But then part of the appeal of these kinds of bands is their total disinterest on what's acceptable or proper, it's fun upbeat power pop with the occasional German language song I can pick one or two words out of. What more could you want. Listen to 'From A To Be To See You' on their myspace to make up your own mind about the OJ nod, and you can download 'Out of Marseille' from the Cloudberry website - or i could just put a link...

Honeyhead - Out of Marseille

The Andersen Tapes

2008-05-17T20:26:00.008+12:00

In an interview with Slumberland Records' Michael Schulman, in the excellent Wrap Yr Troubles in Dreams 'zine, he mentions that his ambition is for the label to reach SLR100. It's these kinds of modest ambitions that make Cloudberry's achievement of over 90 singles in a little over a year seem all the more astonishing. However, one of the problems with such a prolific label is can be easy to get lost among the releases, and often it's the quiet, unassuming releases that get forgotten. I believe part of the reason releases by bands like Manhattan Love Suicides and Pains stand out and are popular is because they are so different from what would be considered the label's 'sound'. Although that theory doesn't really hold water; both those releases also stand out because they're brilliant.

Considering there are so many other bands with a similar sound, The Andersen Tapes' delicately arranged winsome folk-pop is the kind of thing that can be easily overlooked. Although, the difference is they do it better than almost anyone else and they're new single is probably my favourite Cloudberry release so far. I've been thinking recently about what makes the perfect 3" CD single, as opposed to a 7" single or 12" EP, and as I listen to these short subtle pop songs delivered with the most shockingly beautiful voice I've heard in a long time I can't help thinking this is how it should be. It creates a mood and sustaines it for 8 minutes and once it's floated out of my speakers all I want to do is press play again.

The Andersen Tapes - Turn To Speak

off to malta for a couple of weeks this weekend. i doubt i'll find any decent records while i'm there...

new lodger album and why i'm a terrible person

2008-05-14T22:23:00.016+12:00

It's fairly common for people to describe a lot indiepop as 'immediate'. I guess it's based around the sense that if you don't notice catchy melodies and clever lyrics the first time you hear something then when will you? While I can understand why some people feel this way, I feel it's completely off the mark. I find it's music like this that takes me a while, and a bit of effort, to work out whether I think it's inspired or contrived. Very few of my favourite popsongs grabbed me the first time I heard them, rather they tend to knock me on and fifth and sixth listen. By contrast I remember how much I enjoyed my first listen of Panda Bear's 'Personal Pitch' album from last year, yet I don't love it anymore now than I did then. People often talk about how the internet, and myspace in particularly, encourages a disposable attitude to music where a band is evaluated by one song before the listener moves on to the next. It's something that seemingly everyone agrees is bad, but then everyone does themselves. In fact I'm arguably guilty of worse; usually when I'm listening to a new band through last.fm or something I'm at work, I've just got one earphone in, battling with a book scanner and keep having to stop to unjam photocopiers.

In my last post I mentioned how I had ignored Pants Yell! for quite a while after listening to them in the kind of situation mentioned above; well I'm sorry to say I've done it again with The Lodger. I quickly dismissed them the first time I heard them for reasons I can't understand, but after picking up their album 'Life Is Sweet' on a whim this weekend I'm absolutely smitten. Once again it took me a while. When I first put it on I thought it was 'too much', but then listening to it on my way to and from work for the last few days I enjoy it more every time I hear it. The herky jerky soul rhythms of songs like their first single 'Good Old Days', points to bands like Orange Juice and Comet Gain, although the mix and frantic pop punctuated with tender string led melancholy suggests a similar spirit to The Lucksmiths. It's quite an intense sound that can be a little bit jarring if played a background music, but wandering around listening to them on my minidisk (yeah I'm stuck in the nineties) has made me appreciate late buses and train delays more than ever before.

Pants Yell!

2008-05-13T09:34:00.005+12:00

12th of May has been a pretty eventful day in Chris' life, but one thing that will stand out is it was the day that after about a year of casual interest I finally fell for Pants Yell! Well I say I fell for Pants Yell! but so far it's really more of an obsession over one song, Two French Sisters.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was always a little bit disappointed with Wyatt's Aisleirs Set songs, well this song seem to be everything I ever wish they were. Andrew's vocals (I'm pretty sure he's the singer) are so perfectly bored and emotional and I can't understand why I didn't recognise it only only a week ago. I'm not usually a fan of meta-indie but that moment where he goes "I was looking for a job", and then a whole The Smiths songs runs in my head is magic. Maybe it's because I keep thinking about how much I hate my job at the moment, though more likely because I've had Alex telling me how she loves them for the last few days. Why I keep thinking about the Aislers Set I don't know but the great John Peel quite about them (“If you were in one of your difficult moods you could argue that there are lots of bands making that kind of noise particularly in the United States of America. And you'd say well, why are Aislers Set better than any of the others and I'd have to say, well I don't know they just sort of are") seems to apply perfectly.

It's a been an eventfull day I spent from 4am to 6am walking past sleepy lambs trying to get home from ATP (me not the lambs), was over joyed to find a copy of Henrys Dress' 'Bust 'Em Green' at Flash Back and was unable to speak properly for most of the day but now listening to this song over and over again seems perfect.

So if you want to listen go here, in fact listen to the whole album. I'm sure you'll think it's no big deal. Right now I need to go to sleep, typo's and grammar errors can be fixed tomorrow. In fact this whole incredibly earnest post will be probably be deleted.

Of all the places I'd like to be it's in the room with no tv/ An open window and company

instant nostalgia

2008-05-07T02:42:00.009+12:00

I can remember very few of my 'firsts', but one I can is the first time I heard a mixtape. I was in the car of my older brother's friend and a then popular song was playing and was followed up by another popular song from a completely different record. I remember being pretty startled at learning you could create your own 'albums' and over the next five years was making a new mix weekly. I didn't, however, realise at that time that mixtapes are intended to be traded and strangely it was around the time that I started meeting people I could have potentially made mixes for that my productivity went into decline. In fact one of my constant New Years resolutions is to make more mixtapes, or maybe just to make mixtapes in general. My tape player back home eventually died and never got replaced and buying one here suggests a level of stability I'm not ready for yet. So I've sadly made the gradual move to CDs which are obviously inferior as they don't require the maker to listen to is as it's being made and the listener has the ability to skip songs therefore limiting your ability to enforce your taste on them; surely the whole point of the process. I've also got into the habit of making playlists on i-Tunes for my girlfriend to listen to on her i-Pod, possibly the most unromantic thing ever.

I may now be inserting false memories but I'm almost certain that the two songs I heard were Thorazine Shuffle's 'An Affair' and Bailterspace's 'Splat'. They were both released in 1995 so that would make me 11 or so when I heard them which seems about right. One of these songs is very the good another is very 1995. As I've been making a few mix-cds recently I have felt the strong urge to include 'Splat' as a sort of in joke that the listener wouldn't get, but I guess that's part of what it's all about.

Minisnap

2008-04-29T01:29:00.005+12:00

I, naturally, prefer not to seem too predictable. However, I think anyone who knows me could have seen Minisnap on Friday and known I would have loved them. This, of course, has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Minisnap. They're a great band. I just couldn't escape the notion that it was quintessential 'Chris Music'; dreamy pop with yearning vocals and punchy free guitars with a touch of fuzz. Kaye Woodward's vocals are delivered with a cool feminine passion which reminds me of Pam Berry, yet does copy or even really sound like her or anyone else. I guess that's an aspect that's common with a lot of the components of their music and why I felt such an instant connection to them. They remind me of so many bands I know and love, without necessarily sounding like them. It sounds cliche but they make these perfect pop songs seem impossibly easy, but then they've all been doing so for longer than I've been alive.

My friend Ben felt it essential I mention something regarding Kaye Woodward attractiveness. Though I can't exactly remember what it was he said, also I am concerned about effects of developing a 'hot indie babes' thread and would, of course, never dream of objectifying woman in such a way.

The Magnetic Fields gripe and Still Corners

2008-04-12T02:10:00.004+12:00

Front row (okay third row) tickets for The Magnetic Fields show in July is naturally something to be very excited about. Although reading this guys response to an NY show is enough to make me nervous. Am I going to hate it for the same reason I dislike seeing movies at film festivals or find visits to the 'thea-tah' so annoying. In Auckland the "average TMF fan" didn't really exist, but I can imagine he/she (but mostly he) does exist in London and that I would find him/her very irritating. Or perhaps I exhibiting text book behavior of an average TMF fan right now. Looking through set lists from recent shows looks like they've gone for a pretty decent spread, not enough pre-69 Love Songs stuff but that's always going to be the case. 'Holiday' or 'Charm of the Highway Strip' Don't Look Back anyone? I think the most exciting thing is putting this date in my calendar and realising I'll be seeing Jonathan Richman and My Bloody Valentine between now and TMF show - should be a happy summer.

After plenty of EP listens I went and saw Still Corners last night when they opened for Phil Wilson. I was happy to see that went for a 'proper band' and didn't rely on any backing track. Predictably the soft subtlety of their recordings was replaced with more epic rockery which is fine, although the synthesizer was based around a distinct tone that is kind of dated at c1995 and made them sound a bit too much like Portishead for my liking. As for Phil Wilson, unfortunately I had to leave after The Pocketbooks but by all accounts he was great. Plus I've never really been a fan of The June Brides.

Still Corners

2008-04-06T21:29:00.003+12:00

I really love the Still Corners' EP 'Remember Pepper', but am at a loss as to how I can describe it. Its most obvious comparison is Broadcast, but I have this idea that it's based around melody rather than rhythm. However, I don't really know if that's true or even what it really means so it's probably best I just leave it at it's warm, lovely and 'I love it'. I'm going to see them on Thursday playing with Phil Wilson and The Pocketbooks, so hopefully I'll have a better idea as to what they're about after seeing them live. I just hope they don't go for extensive backing tracks to try and get the exact soundscapes of the EP.

There is some (what I consider to be) proper snow today - it's pretty fun.

Snapper

2008-03-22T08:13:00.005+13:00

It's rather too predictable that after leaving New Zealand I'm finding myself reading lots of Janet Frame, planning the perfect imaginary road trip, eagerly awaiting the new The Puddle album arriving in the post and looking forward to Minisnap's show later next month. The whole leaving home only to realise how much it means to you is one of the most well cliches around. Furthermore I have to admit I kind of planned on this happening after reading about Frank Sargeson experiencing the same thing on his European journeys in the 1920s. So over the last couple of weeks, as well as spending a reasonable amount of time meditating in Google maps satellite images of my parents house, I have also found myself listening to Snapper a hell of a lot.

Snapper is basically Peter Gutteridge. A founding member of The Clean and sometime member of The Chills, Gutteridge was a pretty recognisable figure by the time their self titled EP (sometimes referred to as 'Buddy') was released in 1988. Their sound was largely based around the heavy feedback and organ drone that Stereolab would later build a career on; though Gutteridge and fellow vocalist Christine Voice's singing style was a soft purr that blends in with the drone, rather than the contrasting sweet foreign vocals employed by Stereolab. The closest thing they had to a hit, Buddy, probably displays this better than anything else. The album 'Shotgun Blossom' was released in 1991, it was still based around a focused drone, though every so often would completely contradict itself with massive soloing or, with 'Dead Pictures', the kind of Byrd-sian jangle their lablemates where famous for. It's a brilliant and diverse album, though their greatest moment to come with the 1994 single 'Vader'. 'Vader' is a great song, in many ways typical Snapper, but the b-side 'Gentle Hour' is probably my favourite song to ever come out of Flying Nun. The organ drone is replaced with a delicate, hypnotic keyboard line and is surrounded by the softest, warmest feedback I've ever heard in my life. It's the song that introduced me to Snapper (through the excellent rarities compilation 'Where In The World Is Wendy Broccoli') and I can still remember the first time I heard it and all that shit. In 1996 they recorded their second album ADM which went too far into the 'Doom Rock' style for my liking. Some people seem to rate it as their best so maybe I just need to give it more time, but for the meantime it comes without my seal of approval.

Technically Snapper are still together (usually the case when I band is basically one guy) and my friend Calum saw them in Dunedin at the end of 2005. He described it basically as an hour of solid feedback, with Gutteridge waiting for the applause to end before leaving the stage in silence. In 2002 they released a single through the label of the greatly missed Crawlspace record shop, but unfortunately I haven't heard it to be able to comment.

Neither Gentle Hour or Buddy are commercially available anymore, so here they are. Enjoy.

[mp3] Gentle Hour

[mp3] Buddy

Also I'm not sure if I'm uploading these right, so if anyone downloads them could you let me know if it happens okay.

The Gladeyes

2008-03-20T01:26:00.007+13:00

I fell for The Gladeyes about two years ago. Hard. About six months previously I had bought their first EP and seen them shortly after that, neither the EP nor the show made much of an impression on me; both were pleasant enough but too shambling to find anything to take hold of. Then later I saw them playing support for The Ruby Suns and Over the Atlantic and they were a whole new band. With a short set of beautiful clear pop songs I was completely won over, I got their second EP 'A Heart Full of Love' at the door and took it home to discover it was near perfect. A brilliant cover of Half Japanese's '1,000,000 Kisses', a 'best song ever' (as quoted by at least two of my friends) in 'Bad Town Blues' and two more beautiful numbers 'Monika' and 'Andy'. Take away the annoying hidden track (making it impossible to put Bad Town Blues on a mix CD) and you've got a lesson on how an EP should be done. Over the next year I saw them half a dozen more times and each time sounded better and better.Their sound was increasingly based around layers of simplicity that reminded me of 'Mobil Safari' era The Pastels. Though I get the impression the band wouldn't think so, it seems they make indie-pop because that's what you get when you combine The Velvet Underground and The Carpenters and probably have more reverence for Minor Threat than Tallulah Gosh. They've recently released a single on Cloudberry, it contains a great cover of a Die! Die! Die! (a popular NZ Shellac style hardcore band) song 'Shyness Will Get You Nowhere', it's a nice wee single though probably not as strong as 'A Heart Full of Love'. Every time a see they're playing another popshow back in Auckland I wonder why I ever left.

For a while there was another band in NZ called The Gladeyes. Luckily the other one (a.k.a the crap one) have now changed their name to The Tweeks, but they do have one EP (called 'What To Do' or something) released under their name.

Damien and Monika Party at Yours - this song was on some CD that came free with a magazine, the second half of it is one of the songs on the Cloudberry single

Oh Sylvia

2008-03-16T01:05:00.004+13:00

Last night I watched the Sylvia Plath biopic Sylvia. Despite being set in Boston, London and Devon the film is largely shot in New Zealand, which had the strange effect of making/allowing me to reimagine Sylvia Plath as a New Zealander. Does this make Sylvia Plath the heir of Robin Hyde? The predecessor to Janet Frame? Am I talking nonsense? Almost certainly. The film also begins when Sylvia is only a year or so older than Esther Greenwood is at the end of The Bell Jar, which made me think of the film as a sequel to the novel however incorrect that may be. As I don't know enough about her life to know how much of The Bell Jar is autobiography and how much is fiction I presume I now have a pretty distorted view of her life. It's a pretty worthwhile film, though I've noticed a few people have criticized in historical accuracy I guess that's always going to happen in a controversial life. I wonder how many people there are championing the side of Ted Hughes.

Listening To The Now

2008-03-15T02:49:00.000+13:00

After initially being pretty underwhelmed I had a really enjoyable listen to the Searching For The Now Slumberland 7" last night, especially volume two. After being finding the Sarandon Joe's Record unexciting I'd started to feel rather doubtfull about the claims of 2008 being 'The Year of Slumberland'. But after having a good listen and seeing some of the bands lined up for future releases (Sunny Day in Glasgow! Pains ! Ladybug Transistor! Pants Yell! um!) this looking likely to be a pretty exciting series. I think the songs on the first two series suffered from not being typical singles, well they didn't feel that way to me at least, and I think will actually end up sounding better when released as a CD compilation.

Also went along to Buffalo Bar on Wednesday for the Goonight evening. I really enjoyed all the bands, but had to leave after the second The School song so I could get a decent train home, also so I could have the pleasure of sitting next to a 'way out' girl who tried to make me dance along to the busker. After initially being a bit put off I find I'm enjoying The Pocketbooks more as I listen to them more. Sunny Street and The Give It Ups were pretty impressive too.

And finally, I have rarely been more unsure over my feelings about an artist than I am about Andy Werth. He plays completely sincere and unaffected power pop and whenever I listen to it I think he's great, but then later on I'll being playing a song over again in my head and can't stand it. 'It's Alright' is charming and funny and emotive, but the rest can grate if I'm not in the right mood.

Didn't go see The Zombies on the weekend, despite intended to get a ticket for the last seven months. Didn't go see Television Personalities last night despite promising myself I will go see them next time they play a proper show. I saw them earlier in the year at Alan McGees (terrible) club night. The band were brilliant, far better than their reputation suggests, but everyone there (was a twit and) was waiting for the DJ to put on another Kaiser Chiefs song.

Bubblegum Lemonade

2008-03-06T22:18:00.000+13:00

Well you knew Glasgow wouldn't let Sweden claim the title 'Indie Pop Capital of the World' without a fight. Bubblegum Lemonade's Ten Years Younger EP contains the kind of perfect pop songs, full of Rickenbacker jangle and unforgettable melodies, that you feel like they've been around for ever; not in a 'heard it all before' way, but rather from honing in on those essential elements that make pop music beautiful. Being from Glasgow comparisons to Jesus and Mary Chain and 53rd and 3rd are obvious and not unfounded, but this music seems to go beyond that and embrace the whole history of pop music in four perfectly formed and completely irresistable pop songs.

Moscow Olympics

2008-03-05T01:32:00.000+13:00

I'm sorry to say I took very little interest when Moscow Olympics' Still 7" was released on Fraction Discs back in December. For some reason I was expecting the kind of 'join the dots' jangle pop that is pleasant enough, but doesn't usually get me that excited. So it came as a huge surprise to find out not only does it sound nothing like Orange Juice, but it's also one of the most exciting debut singles I've heard in yonks. It's got the kind of swirling guitars and atmospheric vocals that suggest more than just a casual interest in early Creation records, plus the kind of euphoric intensity that Asobi Seksu wish they could achieve. I now have to promise myself to never write off a single band ever and listen to every song ever recorded.

In other news the train announcer at West Hampstead station sounds just like Aidan Moffett - it's brilliant.

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and The Clientele

2008-03-04T01:26:00.000+13:00

Last weekend presented two brilliant, but totally different shows that I can't help but compare. On Friday night The Pains of Being Pure at Heart played to a packed Buffalo Bar and, together with the audience, created a feeling of excitement and euphoria I haven't experienced in a very long time. The band possessed a disarming sincerity as they abandoned any posturing or sense of showbiz that won over seemingly everyone there. No encore or any other rockstar signifier, just half an hour of exuberant fuzzed up guitar pop that reminds me of Black Tambourine or The Primitives as much as The Field Mice. It left me feeling that sure The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a slightly absurd name, but then so is My Bloody Valentine, and I don't really want to share these kinds of experiences with people who would dismiss a band based on their fey name. The Manhattan Love Suicides played before them and were brilliant too, but I think it was the excitement of the crowd for the Pains and how clearly the band fed off it that made this such a memorable show.

Then on Sunday I wandered along to The Luminaire to catch The Clientele again. Back in New Zealand there are tons of bands people claim to be huge overseas but woefully ignored at home, and it's interesting to see it happens in London too. After three amazing albums, all received to almost unanimous acclaim (I take everything Pitchfork say with a grain of salt, but three albums scoring in the mid 8s is hard to ignore) I think even the most optimistic of optimists would have to accept The Luminaire was half empty. Before the band came on Felt's 'Penelope Tree' was playing, as good a contender as any for my favourite song ever, and it stuck in my head throughout The Clientele's performance. I couldn't help thinking almost every song they played was just as good. As the played through old and new songs, Alasdair dismissing the new songs as "after we started to suck", they destroyed all my old feelings of "they just don't make them like they used to", I feel this is a band I will always love just as much as Galaxie 500 or The Zombies. They manage to create and sustain a mood I find completely arresting, I find myself completely lost in the music in a way Bertolt Brecht would despise but I find so sustaining. The audience patiently sat through the show politely clapping at the end of each song, but it wasn't until the end of the show that I realised almost everyone else there was feeling the same was as me. Yet it seemed such a personal experience, like Yo La Tengo I feel The Clientele were a band formed specifically with me in mind - like they sit around wondering "what type of band does Chris want to exist?"

I guess the two shows present the difference between a collective and an individual experience. When I listen to the Pains I feel a sense of optimism for a sense of a music community that includes the bands they play with and the people who come along as much as the band themselves - then the individualism of The Clientele makes me overjoyed I'm able to see such a singular band.

introductions

2008-03-04T00:38:00.000+13:00

This is my little return to the internet. Since the gradual death of livejournal I have started to miss a space to write about pop music, so that will be the main function of this blog. Just what the internet needed. I may write about other things a wee bit, but I always feel uncomfortable writing about books and films for some reason. Then I guess there's the rest of my life as well, but I think that will always remain lurking between the lines.