Blog: Loft And Lost

New Music – Aerial

Aerial - All refrain
At the moment, I'm reading Tom Holland's "Millennium", which concerns itself with the history of Europe from the Dark Ages through the millennium (at 1000AD, not the one nine years ago). One of the fascinating little nuggets of information that he's so good at peppering his books with was about the Viking invasion and settlement of northern England. Apparently, despite our perception that the Vikings were a smelly, rampaging horde of barbarians, they bathed once a week, wore eyeliner and took a lot of care over their hair. This, of course, made them rather popular with the [...]
Artist:Aerial
Title:All Refrain
Link Text:All Refrain by Aerial
File Name:allrefrain_aerial.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Happy 25th to Let It Be (With High On Stress)

High on Stess with Slim Dunlap
One of the overriding themes of this blog is the fact that, quite frankly, I'm getting on a bit. Yeah, sure, I'm not quite reading Q or Mojo yet, but I'll be 40 in a few years and that mid-life crisis is going to start gnawing at my toes soon. If I start doing posts about my knees hurting or how I'm going to go out and buy me a Porsche, then you know it's hit me right between the eyes. In the interim I shall just do posts like these, in which I bemoan the [...]
Artist:High on Stress
Title:Eyeliner Blues
Link Text:Eyeliner Blues by High On Stress
File Name:02-eyeliner-blues.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2005
Artist:The Replacements
Title:20th Century Boy
Link Text:20th Century Boy by The Replacements
File Name:12-20th-century-boy.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:1984
Artist:The Replacements
Title:Sixteen Blue
Link Text:Sixteen Blue by The Replacements
File Name:10-sixteen-blue.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:1984

Am I Live? Yes – Mew at the Shepherd's Bush Empire

Mew - Comforting Sounds (Live Yahoo)
Going to a concert whilst wearing a suit is an interesting experience, especially after previously being at a do at the Polish Embassy (yes, really). Ignoring the puzzled glances from my fellow gig-goers at the Shepherds Bush Empire, I settled into the capacity crowd, sadly not at the front. What, you think I'm going to get creases in these trousers? Mew, in case you didn't already know, are one of the most adventurous rock bands around these days. Their songs blend heartstoppingly brilliant bits with slightly more tedious bits. Their best songs blend heartstoppingly brilliant bits [...]
Artist:Mew
Title:Comforting Sounds
Link Text:Comforting Sounds by Mew
File Name:10-comforting-sounds.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2003
Artist:Mew
Title:Silas The Magic Car
Link Text:Silas The Magic Car by Mew
File Name:06-silas-the-magic-car.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2009
Artist:Mew
Title:The Zookeeper's Boy
Link Text:The Zookeepers Boy by Mew
File Name:07-the-zookeepers-boy.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2005

Hatherley's Done Well?

"Alexander" promo - Charlotte Hatherley
I still remember the fuss when Charlotte Hatherley joined boyish Irish indie-popsters Ash. "What's that girly doing up there playing guitar?" whined all the indie-boys. "Ooh, wish that was me" said all the indie-girls. "Couldn't give a shit, me, as long as she can play guitar like a mean funky devil" said I. And lo, upon seeing Ash at the Reading Festival, it was pretty bleedin' obvious that she could. Watching her lay into the riff from "Walking Barefoot" was wonderful; one of modern rock's great riffs, if flows and twists, all melody [...]
Artist:Ash
Title:Walking Barefoot
Link Text:Walking Barefoot by Ash
File Name:16-walking-barefoot.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Charlotte Hatherley
Title:White
Link Text:White by Charlotte Hatherley
File Name:06-white.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2009

London Grizzly Orchestra

London Grizzly Orchestra The concept of a band playing their material with a full orchestra has a long and not necessarily glorious history. When the band has songs that make the most of a full orchestra, it can work rather nicely. Think of Elbow's show this year with the BBC Concert Orchestra, or Tindersticks playing at the Bloomsbury Theatre. But just bunging strings on top of basic meat and potatoes rock just doesn't cut it, as many bands during the Britpop era discovered, to their (and our) cost. Grizzly Bear are about as far from meat and potatoes [...]
Link Text:Two Weeks (Live) by Grizzly Bear
File Name:two-weeks-live.mp3
Artist:Grizzly Bear
Title:Slow Life (Feat. Victoria Legrand)
Link Text:Slow Life by Grizzly Bear (featuring Victoria Legrand)
File Name:slow-life.mp3
Bitrate:183 kbps
Year:2009

The Pitchfork 500 Old Skool Evolution – Run DMC to BDP

Crash Crew On The Radio
Authenticity is a funny old thing. In most musical genres you care to mention, there's always a die-hard bunch of fans who complain that these new artists aren't as good as the old ones, things were much better in the old days, blah de blah de blah. Of course, they are missing the whole point that the artists they so venerate were in fact reacting to the status quo of their own time, and were trying something new and revolutionary. Wanting new music to be like the old is just hypocrisy. Run-D.M.C. – It's Like [...]
Artist:Boogie Down Productions
Title:South Bronx
Link Text:South Bronx by Boogie Down Productions
File Name:143-south-bronx.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:1987
Artist:Crash Crew
Title:On The Radio
Link Text:On The Radio by Crash Crew
File Name:141-on-the-radio.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:1984
Artist:Rammellzee & K-Rob
Title:Beat Bop
Link Text:Beat Bop by Rammellzee and K-Rob
File Name:142-beat-bop.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Run-D.M.C.
Title:It's Like That
Link Text:Its Like That by Run DMC
File Name:140-its-like-that.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:1984

Inappropriate Songs (Part 312 of an ongoing series)

Inappropriate Songs (Part 312 of an ongoing series) In case you haven't already heard, Morrissey collapsed onstage during a show in Swindon last night . Here's been unwell this year - having to cancel shows due to illness - and he's currently in hospital under observation. Let's hope that whatever he is suffering from is treated quickly and that he gets better soon. For all his faults, he is an amazing lyricist and one of the most original and influential musicians of the last 30 years . He's given me countless hours of solace and joy, made me laugh and cry (sometimes [...]
Link Text:Ask by The Smiths
File Name:13-ask.mp3
Link Text:Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths
File Name:06-bigmouth-strikes-again.mp3
Link Text:First Of The Gang To Die [Live] by Morrissey
File Name:02-first-of-the-gang-to-die-li ve.mp3

Run Rabbit Run

Frightened Rabbit - Swim until you can't see land
Writing a music blog has its ups and downs. Sometimes, you get the feeling that every song you listen to, you're doing it to see if it will fit into the blog and you spend your time trying to find an interesting thing to say about it (and usually failing). For the worrisome types like me, that can get very wearing. But other times, you hear something new and within the first ten seconds you just think "This is special. Really, really special". I've had it in the past with the likes of Grizzly [...]
Artist:Frightened Rabbit
Title:I Feel Better
Link Text:I Feel Better by Frightened Rabbit
File Name:12-i-feel-better.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2008
Artist:Frightened Rabbit
Title:Set You Free (N-Trance cover)
Link Text:Set You Free (N-Trance cover) by Frightened Rabbit
File Name:frightened-rabbit-set-you-free -n-trance-cover.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Brix Trax

Brix Trax I've been resisting the temptation to write about the Pavement reunion. Resisted until now, at least, because whilst them playing shows in Austin or New York or Lamar, Nebraska is kind of interesting in a "Pavement reforming and not doing any shows in the UK? Well, that's nice" way, they've just announced a show at Brixton Academy on May 11th, 2010, which is rather more interesting for me. Some Pavement, Yesterday But serious, one show? Look chaps, when The Pixies reformed [...]
Link Text:Cut Your Hair by Pavement (Live at the Brixton Academy 1999)
File Name:07-cut-your-hair.mp3
Link Text:Rattled By The Rush by Pavement (Live at Brixton Academy 1999)
File Name:12-rattled-by-the-rush.mp3
Link Text:Spit On A Stranger by Pavement (Live at the Brixton Academy 1999)
File Name:03-spit-on-a-stranger.mp3

New Music – Mixtapes and Cellmates

RILO KILEY: Portions For Foxes
Stockholm is a truly lovely place. Beautiful buildings lie dotted around about a thousand islands, so you're never far from a bit of waterfront from which you can survey the city's glacial beauty. Snowy Stockholm And glacial it is, because it's usually fucking freezing. And between October and April, dark. Still, it gives those charming people time to hole up in front rooms, bars, cellars, and anywhere else where you can play guitar and drums and keyboards and sing your hearts out. [...]
Artist:Mixtapes and Cellmates
Title:Soon
Link Text:Soon by Mixtapes and Cellmates
File Name:mixtapes_and_cellmates_soon.mp 3
Bitrate:192 kbps

All Work And No Play Redux

The Jayhawks - I'm gonna make you love me
All Work And No Play Makes Loft And Lost A Dull Boy All Work And No Play Makes Loft And Lost A Dull Boy All Work And No Play Makes Loft And Lost A Dull Boy All Work And No Play Makes Loft And Lost A Dull Boy So here we are again . Pretty much two weeks of constant work, with a special highlight of being called back into the office at 11pm and not leaving till nearly six hours later. Fun. Mind you, it's strange being in a [...]
Artist:The Jayhawks
Title:Big Star
Link Text:Big Star by The Jayhawks
File Name:12-big-star.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:1997
Artist:The Jayhawks
Title:Blue
Link Text:Blue by The Jayhawks
File Name:07-blue.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:1995

The Liverpool And Manchester

The Liverpool And Manchester Liverpool and Manchester. Two of England's greatest cities, separated by a mere 35 miles, they have a rivalry that has festered for hundreds of years. The economic rivalry drove both cities to build huge Victorian edifices in their city centres. The football rivalry - the cities are responsible for the two most successful clubs in English football - regularly boils over into rancour with Manchester United fans singing about Hillsborough and Liverpool fans singing about the Munich Air Disaster 1 . The musical rivalry, however, has been generally much friendlier. Indeed, Factory Records and [...]

Doolittle, Doolive

Pixies "Mr Grieves" Olympia Dublin 1st Oct 2009
This whole "Doing A Whole Album From 20 Years Ago Live" thing is a curious matter. When bands like Teenage Fanclub do "Bandwagonesque" and Tindersticks play "Second Album", it's really nice, because you've kind of forgotten about them, and it's lovely to be reminded afresh about what great bands they are. But the Pixies did the whole reunion thing five years ago. And that was a fantastic, angry, furious, joyful reunion, the audience's rapture at the sheer inconcievability of the whole event absorbed by the band and reciprocated hundredfold in superb performances. So this feels [...]
Artist:Pixies
Title:Broken Face
Link Text:Broken Face by The Pixies (Live)
File Name:2-03-broken-face.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:1997
Artist:The Pixies
Title:Gouge Away( live)
Link Text:Gouge Away (live) by The Pixies
File Name:gouge-away-live.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:The Pixies
Title:Hey (live)
Link Text:Hey (live) by The Pixies
File Name:hey-live.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:The Pixies
Title:I Bleed (live)
Link Text:I Bleed (live) by The Pixies
File Name:i-bleed-live.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:The Pixies
Title:Silver (live)
Link Text:Silver (live) by The Pixies
File Name:silver-live.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:The Pixies
Title:Tame (live)
Link Text:Tame (live) by The Pixies
File Name:tame-live.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

Some Thoughts On Radiohead

Some Thoughts On Radiohead The other week, I was listening to a live Radiohead show from Seville. A number of thoughts struck me. The first was that, on form, they are an astonishing live band. To be able to replicate intricate, neo-jazz-dub-funk-rock numbers like "15-Step" live, and to do it well, shows that they are superlative musicians. Second, that people who talk during rock shows should be shot. But the main, overriding thought about them was, "I wish they would stop thinking they are Autechre meets Pink Floyd". Because, since OK Computer, I've found [...]
Artist:Radiohead
Title:15 Step (live @ Prague 2009)
Link Text:15 Step by Radiohead (Live From Seville 2009)
File Name:01-15-step.mp3
Bitrate:219 kbps
Year:2009
Artist:Radiohead
Title:A Wolf At The Door (live @ Prague 2009)
Link Text:A Wolf At The Door by Radiohead (Live From Seville 2009)
File Name:09-a-wolf-at-the-door.mp3
Bitrate:222 kbps
Year:2009
Artist:Radiohead
Title:There There (live @ Prague 2009)
Link Text:There There by Radiohead (Live From Seville 2009)
File Name:02-there-there.mp3
Bitrate:232 kbps
Year:2009
Artist:Radiohead
Title:These Are My Twisted Words (live @ Prague 2009)
Link Text:These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead (Live From Seville 2009)
File Name:19-these-are-my-twisted-words. mp3
Bitrate:216 kbps
Year:2009

The Liverpool And Manchester

Echo & The Bunnymen - Think I Need It Too [Later Live...]
Liverpool and Manchester. Two of England's greatest cities, separated by a mere 35 miles, they have a rivalry that has festered for hundreds of years. The economic rivalry drove both cities to build huge Victorian edifices in their city centres. The football rivalry - the cities are responsible for the two most successful clubs in English football - regularly boils over into rancour with Manchester United fans singing about Hillsborough and Liverpool fans singing about the Munich Air Disaster 1 . The musical rivalry, however, has been generally much friendlier. Indeed, Factory Records and [...]
Link Text:Falling Trees by Bad Lieutenant
File Name:13-falling-trees.mp3
Artist:Echo & The Bunnymen
Title:Think I Need It Too
Link Text:Think I Need It Too by Echo And The Bunnymen
File Name:01-think-i-need-it-too.mp3
Bitrate:160 kbps

A Go-Between Dream

The Go-Betweens - Quiet Heart
I had a dream the other night. Me and the missus went to one of the more salubrious venues to watch The Go-Betweens play a show, starting with an acoustic set, followed by a full electric set. Very good it was too, until I had to take a big metal cage up Bloomfield Road in Bath. Look, it was a dream, you know. The Go-Betweens and a Couch But on waking, I suddenly felt rather sad. Because, of course, we'll [...]
Artist:Grant McLennan
Title:Haven't I Been A Fool
Link Text:Havent I Been A Fool By Grant McLennan
File Name:01-havent-i-been-a-fool.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:1991
Artist:The Go-Betweens
Title:I Just Get Caught Out (Alternate Version)
Link Text:I Just Get Caught Out (Alternative Version) by The Go-Betweens
File Name:2-02-i-just-get-caught-out-alt ernat.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:1987
Artist:The Go-Betweens
Title:You Won't Find It Again
Link Text:You Wont Find It Again by The Go-Betweens
File Name:22-you-wont-find-it-again.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps

Review – The Xx

Review – The Xx Kids today, eh? Dressing up in black, being all miserable, recording in dank studios underneath railway arches, wasn't like that in my day. Oh hold on, yes it bloody was. Maybe that's why, when I first heard The Xx, I got one of those weird chills. The fact that they were half my age and lived round the corner from me made it doubly weird. Because, unlike pretty much everyone else making music today on either side of the Atlantic, The Xx like space. Lots and lots of it. I haven't heard [...]
Artist:The xx
Title:Do You Mind?
Link Text:Do You Mind by The Xx
File Name:the-xx-do-you-mind.mp3
Bitrate:256 kbps
Year:2009
Artist:The xx
Title:Heart Skipped A Beat
Link Text:Heart Skipped A Beat by The Xx
File Name:05-heart-skipped-a-beat.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2009

It's That Bad Lieutenant Again

Bad Lieutenant - Sink Or Swim (Official Music Video)
So, last week I posted the new single by Barney Sumner's new band, Bad Lieutenant . And thanks to the mysteries of the Interwebs, it didn't show up on Hype Machine . So it goes, and thanks to those lovely people on the Elbows forum, I now know a whole load more about how this kind of stuff works. Thanks folks! In any case, Mark Reeder has done some rather nice remixes of the single "Sink Or Swim", and the band have just released the video, so [...]
Link Text:Sink Or Swim (Sos Radio Soft Kick Mix) by Bad Lieutenant
File Name:sos-radio-soft-kick.mp3

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. Sitting in the Synagogue for the family service, and reading the story of Abraham, I was struck by the brutality of the tale. God tells some bloke to kill his son, and then lets him off at the last minute, just as Abraham is about to plunge the knife in? That's harsh. Innumerable scholars, writers, artists and atheists wandering into Synagogues on High Holy days have thought long and hard about what the tale has to tell. Me, I thought about Sufjan Stevens. And [...]
Artist:Sufjan Stevens
Title:Abraham
Link Text:Abraham by Sufjan Stevens
File Name:05-abraham.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2004
Artist:Sufjan Stevens
Title:He Woke Me Up Again
Link Text:He Woke Me Up Again by Sufjan Stevens
File Name:10-he-woke-me-up-again.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2004

It'll Get You As The Party Ends

Cherry Ghost - "4am"
The human brain is a funny thing. You can be doing the washing up, walking the dog, pruning the roses, putting out the bins, or any of the other million and one little chores that make up your daily life, when suddenly a thought comes from nowhere and knocks you for six. I get that with songs (as I suspect pretty much everyone does). And, with a heavy dose of irony, the song that did this the other day was a song about unwelcome thoughts coming when you're doing the washing up, walking the dog, pruning the [...]
Artist:Bad Lieutenant
Title:Sink Or Swim
Link Text:Sink Or Swim by Bad Lieutenant
File Name:01-sink-or-swim1.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2009
Artist:Cherry Ghost
Title:4 A.M.
Link Text:4 A.M. by Cherry Ghost
File Name:02-4-a-m.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2007
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