Thursday, October 06, 2005
HOODIE by LADY SOVEREIGN.
London grime star Lady Sovereign’s Basement Jaxx produced single aint about robbing shops at Bluewater. It’s about stopping your brethren sporting terrible clothes (“Black shoes, white socks – No-o-oh! / Polka dots – No-o-oh!”) and - most importantly - having fun. Hoodie is witty, charming, and could mark the beginning of a more mainstream success for The S-O-V. If you’re not dancing by the end of this record then I don’t want to be your friend.
GALANG by M.I.A.
Galang has been released before so if you’re vaguely cool you’ve heard it and know that it’s frickin ace. The lyrics are a maze of words that vary between what may or may not be nonsense repeatedly chanted and cutting social commentary. The beats are ace and raw. Part dancehall, part hip hop but mostly unlike anything you’ve heard before. And it all comes from a stunning girl who grew up in Sri Lankan village.
CULTURE FOR PIGEON by TRACY + THE PLASTICS
Lesbian feminist artist? Check. Electronic music? Check. Pretentious liner notes and press information sheet? Check. Three members, two of which aren’t “real”? Check. Performances which challenge visual norms? Check. Comparisons to Devo, Numbers and Bikini Kill? Check.
This sounds like it could be my favourite record ever.
Before I could find out whether or not it was my favourite record ever I was met with one compact disc which had TWO SIDES when I opened the case. One side was a DVD, one side a CD. Honestly, the things they can do nowadays amaze me. Maybe this will be my favourite record ever. Unfortunately I don’t have a DVD player and so perhaps I’m missing out the apparently crucial visual aspects of Tracey + The Plastics’ performance. Heck, this is the MUSIC section and not some fangled visual arts section so what do you care about the DVD, right?
The music. Oh, the music. It’s sparse without being the kind of sparse that is boring and too challenging. At times (like in the song Henrietta) it’s like what would happen if Le Tigre took themselves seriously and were suffering from depression. Other times it’s early PJ Harvey with keyboards instead of guitars (like in the song Oh Birds). At all times it’s inventive and fabulously put together.
You can’t fail to like this record if you are into the same things as me. And if you’re not? If all this sounds a bit weird? Then why not take a risk and do something different? This record could act as a nice, safe introduction to even stranger, better things.
Articles written for LSESU's newspaper The Beaver.
London grime star Lady Sovereign’s Basement Jaxx produced single aint about robbing shops at Bluewater. It’s about stopping your brethren sporting terrible clothes (“Black shoes, white socks – No-o-oh! / Polka dots – No-o-oh!”) and - most importantly - having fun. Hoodie is witty, charming, and could mark the beginning of a more mainstream success for The S-O-V. If you’re not dancing by the end of this record then I don’t want to be your friend.
GALANG by M.I.A.
Galang has been released before so if you’re vaguely cool you’ve heard it and know that it’s frickin ace. The lyrics are a maze of words that vary between what may or may not be nonsense repeatedly chanted and cutting social commentary. The beats are ace and raw. Part dancehall, part hip hop but mostly unlike anything you’ve heard before. And it all comes from a stunning girl who grew up in Sri Lankan village.
CULTURE FOR PIGEON by TRACY + THE PLASTICS
Lesbian feminist artist? Check. Electronic music? Check. Pretentious liner notes and press information sheet? Check. Three members, two of which aren’t “real”? Check. Performances which challenge visual norms? Check. Comparisons to Devo, Numbers and Bikini Kill? Check.
This sounds like it could be my favourite record ever.
Before I could find out whether or not it was my favourite record ever I was met with one compact disc which had TWO SIDES when I opened the case. One side was a DVD, one side a CD. Honestly, the things they can do nowadays amaze me. Maybe this will be my favourite record ever. Unfortunately I don’t have a DVD player and so perhaps I’m missing out the apparently crucial visual aspects of Tracey + The Plastics’ performance. Heck, this is the MUSIC section and not some fangled visual arts section so what do you care about the DVD, right?
The music. Oh, the music. It’s sparse without being the kind of sparse that is boring and too challenging. At times (like in the song Henrietta) it’s like what would happen if Le Tigre took themselves seriously and were suffering from depression. Other times it’s early PJ Harvey with keyboards instead of guitars (like in the song Oh Birds). At all times it’s inventive and fabulously put together.
You can’t fail to like this record if you are into the same things as me. And if you’re not? If all this sounds a bit weird? Then why not take a risk and do something different? This record could act as a nice, safe introduction to even stranger, better things.
Articles written for LSESU's newspaper The Beaver.
// posted by laura wolf @ 2:21 PM 
Friday, September 16, 2005
The Music Man [my favourite deity] must know of my imminent return to London because he's arranged a tonne of ACE gigs!
Here's a brief list.
WED 28TH SEPT :: Not Clickable @ The Legion, 348 Old Street with Leafcutter John, Hands On Heads, DJ Scotch Egg, and Bovaflux.
OR
WED 28TH SEPT :: The Research @ Bar Academy, Islington [where the duck is this?]
MONDAY 3RD OCT :: WRECK @ The Marquee with Hey Colossus and other bands and DJs and stuff.
THURS 6TH OCT :: Dirty 3 @ The Barfly
FRI 7TH OCT :: Bearsuit @ Buffalo Bar
TUES 11TH OCT :: Go Native! @ The Quad, LSE with Help She Can't Swim, Hands On Heads, Vic Godard and Subway Sect and someone else I've forgotten.
WED 12TH OCT :: Deerhoof @ The Garage
WED 26TH OCT :: Electrelane @ ULU
MON 31 OCT :: Bearsuit @ 93ft East
OR
MON 31 OCT :: Lady Sovereign @ The ICA
TUES 1 NOV :: The Organ @ Water Rats
TUES 15 NOV :: Jeff Lewis @ Water Rats
*There's also a couple of Go Native!'s TBA soon - one is a GRINDCORE ROCK UND ROLL FEST featuring the likes of Hey Colossus and Phil Collins 3, and the other is a lovely bouncy indie punk night with the likes of Bearsuit and the Retro Spankies. BET YOU CAN'T WAIT.*
*EDIT* We should also probably go to everything Upset The Rhythm are putting on. Kevin Blechdom! Jandek! Afriampo!
Here's a brief list.
WED 28TH SEPT :: Not Clickable @ The Legion, 348 Old Street with Leafcutter John, Hands On Heads, DJ Scotch Egg, and Bovaflux.
WED 28TH SEPT :: The Research @ Bar Academy, Islington [where the duck is this?]
MONDAY 3RD OCT :: WRECK @ The Marquee with Hey Colossus and other bands and DJs and stuff.
THURS 6TH OCT :: Dirty 3 @ The Barfly
FRI 7TH OCT :: Bearsuit @ Buffalo Bar
TUES 11TH OCT :: Go Native! @ The Quad, LSE with Help She Can't Swim, Hands On Heads, Vic Godard and Subway Sect and someone else I've forgotten.
WED 12TH OCT :: Deerhoof @ The Garage
WED 26TH OCT :: Electrelane @ ULU
MON 31 OCT :: Bearsuit @ 93ft East
MON 31 OCT :: Lady Sovereign @ The ICA
TUES 1 NOV :: The Organ @ Water Rats
TUES 15 NOV :: Jeff Lewis @ Water Rats
*There's also a couple of Go Native!'s TBA soon - one is a GRINDCORE ROCK UND ROLL FEST featuring the likes of Hey Colossus and Phil Collins 3, and the other is a lovely bouncy indie punk night with the likes of Bearsuit and the Retro Spankies. BET YOU CAN'T WAIT.*
*EDIT* We should also probably go to everything Upset The Rhythm are putting on. Kevin Blechdom! Jandek! Afriampo!
// posted by laura wolf @ 9:03 AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
ARTROCKER WITH THE ROCKS, DADA SWING AND DIE DIE DIE
I fucking love Dada Swing. They are from Rome. They have toured with Erase Errata. They have a song on a Kill Rock Stars compilation. They are playing Ladyfest Olympia soon. These are but signs of their greatness.
They play crazy, crazy noise pop. The drummer is my absolute all time hero [hyperbole? what's that?]. She plays with her long, straight hair in her face and pulls the cutest grimaces and basically just freaks out. The main frontlady played the best little riff [if I can call it that? it was a mixture of beats and random synth noises...] on a cheap keyboard that I have ever heard. All of them are completely unassuming and I want to be their friends. I couldn't stop grinning. We spoke to them afterwards and they were genuinely really nice. They want to play Brighton some day and love Comet Gain. Ha.
They were SO welcome after witnessing The Rocks play their average poseury garage rock or whatever it was. I can't stand egocentric frontmen and women [although Karen O seems to get away with it] and the guy from the rocks annoyed me greatly. He kept pointing in people's faces and going up to people in a "I'm a crazy rockstar! Look at me!" way...
The last band on, New Zealand's Die Die Die, weren't much better. Whiney emo vocals on top of straight forward, straight ahead nu-hardcore. They should have been touring with Funeral For A Friend or something. The frontman did the whole "I'm a crazy rockstar! Look at me!" thing too as he pushed his way through the crowd whining about something.
Sometimes I love Artrocker because every now and then you have an amazing eclectic night like this that isn't too busy and it makes up for all those shit times you got stuck outside queuing in the cold.
// posted by laura wolf @ 11:24 PM
Friday, June 10, 2005
OXES AT THE QUAD, LSE
Oxes were absolutelyincredible as ever. Most of their appeal is in the gimmick of having cordless guitars. They wander everywhere in venues and all three of them are hardly ever together on the stage at any one time. At one point one of the guitarists put his guitar in a bin and strolled back to the stage and simply picked up another guitar and carried on playing.
Despite the gimmicks they make amazing instrumental, post-hardcore tinged with heavyheavy metal and incorporated dramatic silences. During the silences they scratch their backs, generally look nonchalant and lacking concentration until they kick back into the song all together with perfect timing.
The gig itself was poorly organised with less than enough people present and things running very late. This meant that Oxes didn't come on til 10.35pm when the curfew was meant to be 11pm. Oops. Their set finished after 11pm and by this time security and venue people were getting very antsy. But instead of packing up Oxes decided to put on a play.
Everyone was told to form a semi-circle and the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey was played by two members of the band. Later the third member appeared butt naked and acted out the monkey bit from the film on the floor. I couldn't really see, but everyone else was laughing. Security sure were pissed off.
Despite the gimmicks they make amazing instrumental, post-hardcore tinged with heavyheavy metal and incorporated dramatic silences. During the silences they scratch their backs, generally look nonchalant and lacking concentration until they kick back into the song all together with perfect timing.
The gig itself was poorly organised with less than enough people present and things running very late. This meant that Oxes didn't come on til 10.35pm when the curfew was meant to be 11pm. Oops. Their set finished after 11pm and by this time security and venue people were getting very antsy. But instead of packing up Oxes decided to put on a play.
Everyone was told to form a semi-circle and the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey was played by two members of the band. Later the third member appeared butt naked and acted out the monkey bit from the film on the floor. I couldn't really see, but everyone else was laughing. Security sure were pissed off.
// posted by laura wolf @ 10:49 AM
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
"SEX IS A WEAPON" BY (RETARDS)
This review has been a long time in the making. I’ve had too long to think about it and it’s got the point where I am unable to say anything right. I have to write something and I want to scream with wild, carefree abandon and see what ends up on the page but that’ll never happen. So, do excuse me whilst I muse about (retards) in a way which does not do them justice…(!!!)
(retards) are, in their own words:
"Frank Osterflood: Feedback from stringed instruments, tin whistle, melodica, xylophone and some shouting.
Marshall Applewhite: Shouting, playing with oscillators and Dr. Robotnik’s rhythm machine.
John Wayne: Banging things with sticks."
(retards) are like all of your current favourite bands from the West coast of the USA in that they are hardcore and post-punk influenced (I guess), electronic, shouty, haunting, and smart. (retards) are not from the USA though, they are from Dublin. Dublin is in Ireland.
Their songs contain expletives and rude tales which will always float my boat since I am amused by the mere mention of breasts, let alone stories about feeling disgraced because of shagging 12 year olds by accident (in U-16 Whores).
Different ideas (centred around sex as a broad theme) are explored in the lyrics, from dancing (in Who’s Laughing Now (You’re Crippled)) to rape (He Put Something In My Drink) and weirdo masochism (Chinese Girl In My Truck), but the music itself makes everything seem brutal, unforgiving and unsatisfying.
To play these repetitive little riffs (whether synthesised, played through a whistle or xylophone, or with “stringed instruments”) would be like gritting your teeth and scratching an itch that just won’t go away. Pretentious journalism aside, there is something just so wonderfully frustrating about listening to this album. I like the sound of it, but the sound is alien and the vocals frightening.
Considering all this, imagine my shock and horror at learning that they wear funny costumes on stage. I’d probably shit myself.
Highlights:
1. I got excited when in Michael Caine the words (yes you guessed it) “Michael Caine” are screamed over and over until “The meek shall inherit the earth! Six Foot by Four!” is screamed in a call and response post-DC style.
2. An exception to the rule of torturing, haunting sounds is the marvellous instrumental trackette, (retards) Abroad, which sounds like it’s played on a kids piano and xylophone and is only barely touched with distortion and scariness.
3. Their cover of And Then He Kissed Me which was originally by The Crystals (?) sung by a distorted male voice is perfect and, yet again, haunting, with an acoustic guitar (scratchily strummed) providing the backing until it melts down and collapses at the end.
The excessive use of brackets in this piece was not intended to be a joke.
(retards) are, in their own words:
"Frank Osterflood: Feedback from stringed instruments, tin whistle, melodica, xylophone and some shouting.
Marshall Applewhite: Shouting, playing with oscillators and Dr. Robotnik’s rhythm machine.
John Wayne: Banging things with sticks."
(retards) are like all of your current favourite bands from the West coast of the USA in that they are hardcore and post-punk influenced (I guess), electronic, shouty, haunting, and smart. (retards) are not from the USA though, they are from Dublin. Dublin is in Ireland.
Their songs contain expletives and rude tales which will always float my boat since I am amused by the mere mention of breasts, let alone stories about feeling disgraced because of shagging 12 year olds by accident (in U-16 Whores).
Different ideas (centred around sex as a broad theme) are explored in the lyrics, from dancing (in Who’s Laughing Now (You’re Crippled)) to rape (He Put Something In My Drink) and weirdo masochism (Chinese Girl In My Truck), but the music itself makes everything seem brutal, unforgiving and unsatisfying.
To play these repetitive little riffs (whether synthesised, played through a whistle or xylophone, or with “stringed instruments”) would be like gritting your teeth and scratching an itch that just won’t go away. Pretentious journalism aside, there is something just so wonderfully frustrating about listening to this album. I like the sound of it, but the sound is alien and the vocals frightening.
Considering all this, imagine my shock and horror at learning that they wear funny costumes on stage. I’d probably shit myself.
Highlights:
1. I got excited when in Michael Caine the words (yes you guessed it) “Michael Caine” are screamed over and over until “The meek shall inherit the earth! Six Foot by Four!” is screamed in a call and response post-DC style.
2. An exception to the rule of torturing, haunting sounds is the marvellous instrumental trackette, (retards) Abroad, which sounds like it’s played on a kids piano and xylophone and is only barely touched with distortion and scariness.
3. Their cover of And Then He Kissed Me which was originally by The Crystals (?) sung by a distorted male voice is perfect and, yet again, haunting, with an acoustic guitar (scratchily strummed) providing the backing until it melts down and collapses at the end.
The excessive use of brackets in this piece was not intended to be a joke.
// posted by laura wolf @ 5:15 PM
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
A SHORT GIG GUIDE
31 May :: Catch, Shoreditch :: The Diskettes + Francois + MJ Hibbett + The Bobby McGees + Winston Echo
06 June :: Underworld, Camden :: These Arms Are Snakes + Bullet Union
08 June/09 June :: The Forum, Kentish Town :: Dinosaur Jr
09 June :: The Quad, LSE, Houghton Street :: Oxes
12 June [ALL DAYER] :: Pleasure Unit, Bethnal Green :: Homobop featuring The Diskettes + Wet Dog + Stationary + Smartypants + Dragula (tbc)
16 June :: Barden's Boudoir, Dalston :: Mirah + I Know I Have No Collar + Truly Kaput + Francois
06 June :: Underworld, Camden :: These Arms Are Snakes + Bullet Union
08 June/09 June :: The Forum, Kentish Town :: Dinosaur Jr
09 June :: The Quad, LSE, Houghton Street :: Oxes
12 June [ALL DAYER] :: Pleasure Unit, Bethnal Green :: Homobop featuring The Diskettes + Wet Dog + Stationary + Smartypants + Dragula (tbc)
16 June :: Barden's Boudoir, Dalston :: Mirah + I Know I Have No Collar + Truly Kaput + Francois
// posted by laura wolf @ 10:05 AM
Friday, April 15, 2005
Coming soon...
... Reviews of Akira's latest EP and and an album by (retards). Probably at the end of May when my exams are over.
// posted by laura wolf @ 1:27 PM
