I can't believe a whole year has already passed since last year's edition. This time last year E and I were still living in Athens, and we flew here (Barcelona) to attend Primavera Club 2009. That was our very first Primavera ( Club or Sound ), and now here we are, living in the city, going to what is already our third (Primavera Sound 2010 was the second)! Good times indeed. I know the festival appears to have a pretty low profile (internationally at least), and even many visitors to PS Sound don't even [...]
Joskus kannattaa uskoa muita. Luettuani riittävän monta kertaa Kurt Cobainin haastatteluita, joissa hehkutettiin skotlantilaista Teenage Fanclubia , päätin antaa periksi. Hankin Bandwagonesque -levyn epäillyttävästä kannesta huolimatta. Kuultu teki lähtemättömän vaikutuksen ja kohta huomasin, että kokoelmiini ilmestyi yhä enemmän albumeita, joilla särö oli korvattu helisevillä kitaroilla ja huuto hartaasti kerrostetuilla harmonioilla. Teenage Fanclubin taannoisella keikalla Nosturissa (18.11.) tuntui kuin olisi tavannut ystävän, jota ei usein näe eikä ehkä erityisemmin kaipaakaan. Tästä huolimatta kohtaamiset ovat aina täynnä ymmärrystä, lämpöä ja hymyä. En odota tai toivo, että Teenage Fanclub muuttuisi. Minulle riittää vallan mainiosti, että [...]
As Matthew so sweetly wrote the other day, Vic will be passing on his Radio 1 show to Ally McCrae soon, but he will continue to bring us the best in new music each week on Radio Scotland and his pick of Scottish bands on tour here on Dear Scotland. This week -- Trembling Bells. [...]
We prepared this article a few days ago but news has now reached us that Idlewild's long awaited return to the US has been cancelled as Rod Jones has broken his collarbone. However, I thought we should still give a nod to one of Scotland's best bands and hope they'll be back in America soon. [...]
Like the short kid stuck in the back row of the fourth grade class photo, Teenage Fanclub quietly lurked around the fringe of the hugely popular bands of the 90's, trying to squeeze themselves into the picture. Their name was known, but they never got the same recognition as their contemporaries. Radiohead and other huge acts used to share the bill with Teenage Fanclub, so what gives? Were they just not as good, or did their ship just never come in? Honestly, I think it came down to the fact that they just didn't fit in the right genre. [...]
Vic was in Austin with me this past weekend for the brilliant Fun Fun Fun Festival which is why this article is being published slightly later than usual. Anyway, Vic's on his way back to sunny Scotland now but before he left he picked Teenage Fanclub in Germany as his international gig of the week. [...]
One of my favourite Blogs, Lonesome Music , has awoken from a longish summer slumber, which is very good news indeed. I've always enjoyed his determinedly old-school approach to Country music and his ability to dig up records I've not heard of. Jonny Today's post concerned the free release of an EP by Jonny and started me off on a bit of a search through my hard drive. Jonny is the name of a project that Euros Childs and Norman Blake have been putting together for some time now, and I was fortunate enough to [...]
Over the last few months well, since we last ran a cover version feature ( see here ) there seem to have been a wave of rather excellent cover songs that really warrant a bit more press. Here's a list of ten that I have found over the last few weeks. What you think? Any favourites? David Dondero - Here Comes The Sun (The Vampire Version) - [...]
Steve Gullick With 2010 tasked largely to the production and promotion of Burning and Special Moves , their aural and visual live summation of their first decade and half of existence, Mogwai will enter 2011 with eyes pointed straight ahead. The Scots have released released details of their seventh studio album, which will carry the typically wonderful title of Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will . There really is something to be said for being a mostly-instrumental band who never has to sing [...]
Quelques souvenirs de la soirée et un peu de nostalgie pour tous mes amis de New York. A few memories of the Friday night and some nostalgia for friends that I met in New York. [MP3] Fluffy Lumbers - Cruisers (Self-Released, 2008) [MP3] The Kinks - You Really Got Me (Reprise Records, 1964) [MP3] Pavement - Stereo (Matador, 1997) [MP3] Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round [...]
Quelques souvenirs de la soirée et un peu de nostalgie pour tous mes amis de New York. A few memories of the Friday night and some nostalgia for the friends that I met in New York. [MP3] Fluffy Lumbers - Cruisers (Self-Released, 2008) [MP3] The Kinks - You Really Got Me (Reprise Records, 1964) [MP3] Pavement - Stereo (Matador, 1997) [MP3] Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - [...]
Picture this scene: a dimly-lit bar with a wide variety of liquor lined up alongside its oak walls, the multitude of bottles casting a refraction on the dozen or so guests in the room. A grand piano sits on a small, elevated stage, several feet from your comfortable red silk-laden table. Those around you are [...]
This week Glasgow's The Vaselines will be heading up the West Coast of North America with a Friday night show in Seattle likely to be one of the highlights. Also on tour this week in the US are Belle and Sebastian, Isobel Campbell, and Frightened Rabbit who hit Austin on Wednesday. Full listings below: The [...]
Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee Buy US: Buy UK:
There's no propriety in writing a serious review of a show that turned into my birthday celebration. Besides, after two decades and still at the top of their game, Scottish rockers Teenage Fanclub would almost have to try mount a show I considered lousy. On Monday at the El Rey, the Scotsmen played loud and long, and with enormous instrumental, vocal and emotional clarity. Messaged a female colleague: "If Normal Blake smiles one more time, I'm just going to jump onstage and give him a big hug." And from a male colleague: "They could have played [...]
Frank Yang One might think that after last weekend's three-day salute to the '90s I'd be ready to get back to the 21st century, musically-speaking, but instead last Wednesday night turned the dial on the wayback-machine even further - Chapterhouse was in town. The North American leg of their reunion tour, which began in late 2009, was delayed from May until this Fall due to volcanic ash though the Toronto show was cancelled earlier for reasons unknown. Hogtown was back on for the new dates, however, and at a larger venue no [...]
The Morning Benders Come to the Music Box on Thursday Had a really good week seeing live music last week. Belle & Sebastian at the Hollywood Forever was very cool. It was a pretty mellow set, but they sounded quite good. The stage and viewing area was much larger than I expected and you could take a picnic in without anybody really looking too closely at your stuff. We got there kinda late, so parking was a problem. Quite a hike through Hollywood. I also caught Besnard Lakes at the Echoplex on Friday. So [...]
Top 1 show for a special occasion if were in charge of the special occasion: ☛ Teenage Fanclub and this blogger go way back. Not quite to when I was teenage, but I got "Bandwagonesque" early and never hopped off. Tonight, the Scottish quintet visits the El Rey Theatre behind their new album "Shadows," supported by their Merge labelmates and all-around good L.A. guys Radar Bros. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a good story I wish I'd written . If you want to catch up, the 2003 compilation [...]
What a weekend. Friday night I got to see Emeralds and drink some good beers, last night I saw Enter The Void , and tonight I am watching Best Worst Movie as I pen this entry. It's kind of amazing to think that I saw Troll 2 for the first time on HBO almost twenty years ago, and now there's a documentary about its "cult classic" status. What's next, an Cinefamily-approved Airborne screening at the Silent Movie Theater? Hmm...that gives me an idea... Nah, not now. I've got a mix tape [...]
John Lennon would've been seventy today, but you probably already know that. It's a major media event around the world. He's been dead for nearly thirty years, and that's longer than he was active as a musician and a songwriter. He was only forty when he died from gunshot wounds inflicted on him by a crazed fan, but you probably already know that too. For me and people my age, too young to remember Kennedy's assassination and the ensuing craziness of that very decade that Lennon is most associated with, it's a touchstone and a moment we'll never forget. [...]
Letters Have No Arms
katosblog.com
Dear Scotland
Knox Road
Partly Porpoise
The Sound of the Overground
Chromewaves
Delicious Scopitone
Obscure Sound
Jumble Pusher
Buzz Bands
You Set the Scene
Swan Fungus
Boogie Woogie Flu
American Idol Finalists: where are they now?
The Corner Laughers “Poppy Seeds”
