Blog: to die by your side

Some people are never happy. Shellac are those people. You get the impression that if they were singing about lambs frollicking in fields with ribbons on their heads, it'd be the most pissed off song about lambs frollicking in fields with ribbons on their heads that you'd ever heard. This is angry music. Seething pit of rage music. And not the attention seeking teen angst that gets peddled by Daily Mail baiting bands. It's animalistic. Primal. This is the anger of men who've had enough. Who've been shat on [...]

Why not take a look around the rest of the blogs? Start with a trip over to Clever Titles Are So last Summer where the lovely Bethanne is having a love sucks week. Not only a theme I can relate to at the mo but also some top tunes. Done Waiting has the new video from Graham Coxon. Jamie's continuing his revisitation of Pulp's lesser known works over at Jamies Run Out Groove . [...]

There's no middle ground. You either love Joanna Newsom - or you despise her. You either find her unique, childlike voice to be utterly appealing. Or utterly appaling. Me? I'm of the former persuasion. It's not 'easy' music. It's not conventional. But somehow she transforms what could seem gimmicky or trite into something touching and wonderful. Granted it takes a couple of listens for the curiosity factor to disappear but once that passes [...]

The always excellent 20 Jazz Funk Greats has a great new track from Erase Errata . The House Of Leaf & Lime has a track from Thee More Shallows which I can't recommend highly enough. Also head to their website and get another track which is equally fantastic, if not more so. I Guess I'm Floating leads with a couple of new tunes from The Vines plus scroll down and you'll discover a great Go! Team b-side called 'The Wrath Of [...]

Daniel Johnston isn't the most conventional of artists. You only have to listen to his music or take a look at his artwork to know that. His songs are simplistic and naive, bordering on childlike. Yet it's these exact qualities that makes his output so genuine, unique, moving and engrossing. There's no pretence, no layer of bullshit or fake attempts at being cool to contend with. You're forced to confront the real Daniel Johnston, a troubled outsider unafraid to let his frail voice carry songs of love, optimism, anguish and every other emotion you've ever felt. [...]

So another lazy, dull Sunday has been and almost gone. I got so bored today, that I photoshopped a load of my favourite badges into a new desktop for my Mac. Yep, THAT'S how bored I've been. You see, I'm an absolutely sucker for band merchandise. The number of t-shirts I've bought after gigs is just ridiculous. And it's not just badges and t-shirts either. I've got mugs, placemats, playing cards. I've even got a Nick Cave tea towel - God knows why, I never do the washing up! I'm also a bit of [...]

Today I picked up issue 3 of the rather marvellous 'Local' from Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly . The basic premise of 'Local' is similar to that of Wood's previous collaborative comic series 'Demo' (with Becky Cloonan ). 12 self contained stories focusing on a specific moment in a character's life. But while 'Demo' was about people with extraordinary powers attempting to find their way in life, this time there's no special powers, just everyday folk caught up in a situation. Sometimes there's a resolution. Others not. It's [...]

It's been a bit hectic over the last few days - been rushing around here, there and pretty much everywhere. And I've spent the last couple of hours online trying (unsuccessfully) to get tickets for the Arctic Monkeys . Still at least I was in the warm. Unlike my brother who's just got back empty handed, despite having queued outside the venue in the freezing cold for the last 3 and a half hours. So tonight I'm gonna have a quite night in and let the tv devour what little part of my brain is [...]

It's emotional. And it runs the full spectrum. Love. Lust. Loss. Fear. Rage. Anger. Temptation. Desire. They're all present and correct. More deadly sins than Dante could have imagined and all delivered with an unnerring intensity. Tonight, Nick Cave rings every last drop of sentiment from every sentence. Each song grabs you and dares you not to give it your full attention. It's a stunning performance, every bit as special as the Symphony Hall itself. Billed as a solo show, what's expected is Nick Cave the balladeer with Warren [...]

It's the quiet ones you have to watch. And they don't come much quieter than Belle & Sebastian . Never ones to blow their own trumpet, they've always preferred to let their music talk for them. But as a wave of conversation threatens to drown out Stuart Murdoch's hushed opening to 'The State I Am In', you have to wander if some of the crowd are aware that it's only the music that should be talking. Thankfully when the band kicks in, the crowd shuts up (mostly) and B&S hit their stride. [...]

It's only natural. The backlash had to come. And come it has. Glance at the criticaly lukewarm reception given to 'First Impressions Of Earth' and you'd be tempted to think The Strokes had lost their their place as the kings of cool. But compare that to the reception they receive tonight and you'd be forced to think again. Their backs against the wall, The Strokes come out fighting. As if they're taking [...]

God I'm knackered. S'been a busy, drunken weekend. Things I've learnt this weekend: 1) Fopp is a seriously dangerous record store to go into when you've just been paid. 2) Heavy Metal Karaoke IS the future of entertainment. 3) If some guy says he's "ready to kick off", it's probably best not to make him aware that you've been speaking to his girlfriend all night. Anyway, 2 gigs down, 1 to go.

It's a busy weekend coming up. After a dry period of gigs, the drought hath ended as gig season kicks in with a vengeance. Thursday sees Belle and Sebastian visit Birmingham and I can't wait. I've never seen them before as they've never been anywhere near here so to say the anticipation is high would be a major understatement. It'll be interesting to see how they mix the set. I'm guessing there'll be a lot of new stuff as there's a new album to promote but fingers crossed there'll be a few classics [...]

If there's one thing I love, it's making mixtapes. But if there's one thing guaranteed to drive me up the wall with frustration, it's making mixtapes. What tracks to choose. What order should they go in. What tracks should I leave off when it over runs. So while I appreciate my best mate Tom wanting to take my mind off things by asking me to make him a mixtape, I don't think he realised what he was letting me in for. The main problem I've got is how to start it. It's [...]

Today's been a bit shit. Sunday's usually are in general but I seem to have had more time on my hands than normal. Too much time to think about things. Then I came across this site - Chuck Norris Facts - and where I was ponderous and sad, I'm now of a much sunnier disposition. I know next to nothing about Chuck Norris and can proudly admit I've never seen a single film or tv programme that he's been in. And now, I don't need to, [...]

So with everything that happened at the end of the 2005, I never got round to finishing my records of the year. But I guess now's as good a time as any. It's curious to look back at the records I chose and see that only 2 are debut releases. Though 1 of those doesn't really count as The Tears are essentially a re-working of Suede v.1. So what does it mean? Is there a lack of good new bands or good new ideas coming through? Have these days of over exposure and [...]

Today's been a good day. Work wasn't too shoddy. My Radiohead mug arrived in the post. The sun shone. My best friend was offered a new job. And the weekend started. So let's celebrate with a nice slice of funtime music - some Prince-style leanings from Clor's debut album , a not-shite-for-a-change track from Fischerspooner's second album [...]

I've tried to fight it. I really have. I didn't want to like The Arctic Monkeys . But they've gotten under my skin. And I've got no excuses. Hype schmype! They just make me wanna dance. And it's been so long since there's been a band who just sound like they're having loads and loads and loads of fun. Just listen to their cover of Girls Aloud's "Love Machine" from yesterday's Jo Whiley show on Radio 1 without your [...]

Okay, this is a bit late - I wrote it before Christmas, saved as a draft and never posted it - a belated record of the year! It's hard not to feel sorry for Elbow . Cast as perpetual underdogs. Regularly lumped in with the likes of Keane and Snow Patrol, they're unfairly derided as yet another bland, by the numbers indie band. Yet there's more ideas, more wit, [...]

It's said that it's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all. I can't say I agree with that right now. Maybe I will. I hope so. But at the moment, I just feel like some lame character in a bad Channel 5 made for tv melodrama. Every emotion I'm feeling, every thought I'm thinking has been thought and felt a million times before. And probably articulated a [...]