R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs

Torngat - La Petite Nicole

Firstly I suggest you start streaming this band right now here, as I might make more sense if you're actually listening to what I'm blabbing on about.


La Petite Nicole is the most recent record released by French-Canadian band Torngat on Alien8 Recordings. This first sentence alone should be enough to sell this band to you - the calibre of bands from this part of the world is seemingly universally stellar. And sure, Torngat most definitely subscribe to this geographical accolade. It also seems this collection of groups are reasonably interlinked. Torngat were founded in 2001 by (among others) Arcade Fire's old horn player Pietro Amato.

Confusingly enough La Petite Nicole starts with a track entitled 'Interlude' - a rather nonchalant number that would work well as... well, an interlude, but oddly enough stands as an almost enigmatic introduction to this frankly bizarre sounding record. But who's to say that bizarre equals poor? Well Torngat most certainly aren't and this album makes a fairly strong case for the proclamation of all that is bizarre. We're not talking as off-the-wall as Captain Beefheart or anything; but Torngat seem to wind up with a very distinctive instrumental sound. In that respect it's quite unhelpful and problematic to try and pigeon-hole these guys. They could easily be post-rock, experimental, free-form jazz, cinematic, ambient etc.

The album itself is plainly stunning. There are these little moments that just seem to creep up on you - such as the drop at about 0:55 in L'École Pénitencier - and suddenly the song has just twisted on a penny. It almost seems as if these guys aren't afraid to make tumultuous music; and therefore it works. Their conviction to play an off key note is wonderful. In summary; this is a cooky, avant garde album that you can bust out at some kind of lounge session and everyone will be ever so slightly ignoring their conversations to listen to the music.


MYSPACE
MEGAUPLOAD

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Dirty Projectors are one of those bands that I probably should have found a while ago, but have only recently stumbled upon. I say that my discovery of them is belated because the first thing that I heard of them is their latest record Bitte Orca, released earlier this year on Domino. I'd probably be fairly comfortable in saying that Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest is my favourite album of 2009 (so far); and so therefore I was keen to listen to some more new music in the same vein. Enter Last.fm, which recommended me Dirty Projectors.

And yes, Bitte Orca does sound like Veckatimest (congratulations Last.fm; your tagging system is working wonders). But it's definitely a strikingly different and unique album. One thing that stands out on Bitte Orca - aside from the remarkably adventurous composition - is the use of vocal lines to great effect. From what I understand, 'Projectors are somewhat of a 'musical baby' of front man Dave Longstreth. On their first record (debatably titled 'Dave Longstreth'), Dave writes and plays everything and I believe that lends itself to this style of experimental rock. Of course instrumentally wise, Bitte Orca will be a 'band effort', but I like to think that the structured yet sporadic sound achieved is thanks to Longstreth. But as I was saying; the vocal line is enhanced ten-fold by the wonderfully melodic harmonies of Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian and Haley Dekl. This is (among many) one point of departure - and perhaps even a '1up'- that Bitte Orca muscles over Veckatimest.

So I suppose I am a happy late-comer to the Dirty Projectors party. I've arrived when everyone is drunk and someone has smashed something priceless, and I'm working backwards through their discography to try and establish how this smash has come about. And it truly is a whopping discog., considering they formed in 2002. I can only praise testament to one of their other albums, 'Rise Above' (2007), which is variably different from Bitte Orca. I assume the other records will also hold-their-own considering the creative turnover this band seem to have in line-up (I mean that in a good way).

In an odd coincidence, my friend saw this band at End Of The Road Festival just this weekend and said they were great so I'm keeping my eye open for upcoming dates.

Listen to Orca Bitte now FREE on Spotify!
Dirty Projectors on Myspace

Not Buried

So we haven't posted since May. That can't be right. We have been fairly busy with a cocktail of African Queen, education, work and all the trivialities which slot neatly in between these activities. Nevertheless, it's not really on is it? So I'm posting; and it's certainly not a work evasion technique...

First on the agenda: African Queen. We have been recording quite a lot - mainly for band reference but a few keepers. We've been working very closely with producer Jonny Arthur and hopefully 2009 will be the year our labour comes to fruition. Meanwhile we've been playing a few gigs and have an upcoming show on the 6th of January at The Horn in St. Albans.


Here is something for you to mull over during the festive period: A Place To Bury Strangers. This frantic shoegaze trio hark from New York and really pack an unbelievable punch in their self-titled debut record. It sounds like the heavy-deavy punch of MBV but with yet more gritty static prowess than you know what to do with. A modernisation of a sound that has been flogged to death since the 80s if you will. The album flows incredibly from start to finish with some particularly interesting pulsating electronic drum hits giving the record an unconventional indie twist. It's a refreshingly sweet yet comfortably familiar record that doesn't seem to put a foot wrong.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch these guys live yet but I'll grab the opportunity with both hands when it presents itself; they're supposed to be ludicrously loud. But I'll leave you with some handy links.

A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers (2007)
Myspace
Last.fm
Buy it
UPCOMING SHOWS: 31st December - Mercury Lounge, NYC

African Queen hitting the studio

I'm all excited again! These past few months have seen a slow and steady evolution for African Queen. We have an extended players worth of songs on the go, with at least an albums worth of ideas in the pipeline - all of which will be fully realised in the coming months. Recording will commence in just a couple of weeks time when we (finally) get access to our colleges 24-track recording studios. At the very least I hope for some strong demos to be produced, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for an EP to come out as well.

The track listing could include any of the following:

Love Terrorism

Decline of the Empire
Goodbye
P.O.W
Who Owns Reality?
Jump with the Waterfall
That Sinking Feeling
Bowery
The Sky Wept
Insurgency
Call to Morning Prayer
Serium

This will be our first time in the studio together as a band, and I'm sure we'll make the most of it and have enormous amounts of fun in the process. Perhaps some guest musician appearances? Who knows...For now, Jonny and I will endeavour to keep you updated - so watch this space!

African Queen are: Carl Meanwell, Jonny Kates, Mark Stephenson, Yuli Levtov, Johnny Healey, Joe White, and Matthew Nel.

May Mixtape

Hey all. Here's your May-day bundle. Bit of a punch up this time; I've been listening to some very varied things. I've also been psyching myself up for Roskilde, so there are a good few bands in there that will be gracing us with their presence in Denmark this summer, namely Dengue Fever, Band of Horses, Battles, Holy Fuck and Efterklang. All well worth a decent listen and further investigation. I stuck Beirut in there as a taste of what we're all missing this summer since all their dates got cancelled. Also watch out for local folk-rock prodigies Ground Dust (formerly Legion), and spread the word when you inevitably enjoy their music. If you're bored this bank holiday weekend, then get your buttocks down to the Water Rats on Sunday to see these guys live for cheap.

Great, here's your rundown:
01- Dengue Fever - Seeing Hands (@ Roskilde)
02- Aguaturbia - I Wonder Who
03- The Stooges - No Fun
04- Band of Horses - The Funeral (@ Roskilde)
05- Battles - Atlas (@ Roskilde)
06- Doi - Missing (@ Roskilde)
07- Daft Punk - Veridis Quo
08- Holy Fuck - Super Inuit (live) (@ Roskilde)
09- Ground Dust - Pins In My Zeppelin
10- Rock Plaza Central - My Children Be Joyful
11- The Dandy Warhols - Hit Rock Bottom
12- Efterklang - Mirador (@ Roskilde)
13- Beirut - After The Curtain

May Mixtape via Megaupload
May Mixtape via Sendspace

Glasto lineup leaked

Poor initial ticket sales, predicted messy weather this Summer and now this poor lineup has leaked. Thank goodness we're going to Roskilde. A few worthy of notice though; BJM (seeing this Summer), Black Keys (seeing this Summer), Kings Of Leon (@ Roskilde), Band of Horses (@ Roskilde), Dengue Fever (@ Roskilde)... I share the remarks made in the initial thread that John Peel would be turning in his grave.

I've taken a brief break from my revision this afternoon to alert you to the following. During my study of International Relations and Strategic Studies, it's clear that the current teachings in International Political schools state that there are three types of terrorism:

(1) Insurgency
(2) Self-determination
(3) Global/religious terrorism.

Quite clearly these achademics are missing the most vital, intrisic and universal type of terrorism: Love Terrorism. The concepts are simple and all around us. Is love all you need? Well no, you have to eat and shit but love is a luxury. Spreading that luxury to others in vast quantaties - and with no way of refusal - can and will change the world. Watch this space for the Love Terrorism movement 2008...

In other news; we (African Queen) recorded some new stuff last weekend. But then a silly man stole them from me.

Vimeo

Guru here,

If you're growing tired of youtube and kids video-blogging their acne , and want a community especially dedicated to video art forms and mature content - www.vimeo.com

There's alot of decent material on it, i recommend it.

That is all.

http://www.vimeo.com/matthewnel <-> Watch this space.

5 Tearjerkers for my Funeral

No, I'm not knocking on the pearly gates just yet. I just thought this would be an interesting topic to think about in terms of music. Everyone has to have a tune playing when they are disintegrated in to ash or shovelled under 6 feet of soil. So here's my five. Not too much thought in to it really, just five songs I would think would be suitable and that I like a reasonable amount. I'm sorry but I want people to be sad at my funeral, so they're all tearjerkers.

01- Nobou Uematsu - Theme Of Love.mp3 [sendspace]
I'm a sucker for Japanese culture/films/video games. This track is from the Piano Arrangements release for the game Final Fantasy IV. Uematsu is renowned for writing really great, simple melodies; but this one has to be up there as one of my favourite. Ironically, I've never finished the game.

02- Sigur Ros - Gitardjamm.mp3 [sendspace]
Well they had to be in there somewhere didn't they? I don't really have a favourite Sigur Ros song; they're all good. But this one will do. The track is a direct rip from their recent feature-length film Heima. It captures something great in the live version of this song that will have them wailing in the aisles.

03- Willy Mason - Take Control.mp3 [sendspace]
An epically beautiful B-side from the Save Myself single. Not one of your typical stand out Willy Mason tunes, which is what sells it for me. When The Leave Have Fallen from the end of If The Ocean Gets Rough album nearly made it instead. The incredible balance of dynamics make this track a keeper. Suitable lyrics for a funeral as well don't you think? "Will you wait while I heal?", "In the morning I'll be real."

04- Explosions In The Sky - Memorial.mp3 [sendspace]
Another band that inevitably had to be in there somewhere. Picking a track was equally as hard. I thought about Greet Death would be a great song to play, but I think it gets a bit manic in the middle; don't want to give the elderlies a heart attack. So Memorial seemed equally as fitting in title and in mood with a little less pow. It does rattle on for nearly nine minutes though...

05- Radiohead - Videotape.mp3 [sendspace]
I think the lyrics in this song are probably meant to be taken quite literally by Tom Yorke; "This is my way of saying goodbye." Is this the last record release we're going to see from Radiohead? That's a topic for another time. Meanwhile, the lyrics still suit a funeral and the piano holds a little more 'beauty' than perhaps Explosions In The Sky or Sigur Ros.

Like I said, I'm not in any imminent danger of dying so please don't forward cards and flowers. However should I be struck by lightening tomorrow, this list will give you mourners something to go by when organising my funeral. Oh, I almost forgot: I want clowns at my funeral too. Yeah you heard.

NB. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Pregnancy Test very very nearly made it on to the list.

Pinch punch first of the month. We're still reeling from the rip roaring success of The Dream Machine, but we'll have some reviews and photos up soon.

April'08 Mixtape via Megaupload
April'08 Mixtape via Sendspace

01- Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
02- My Bloody Valentine - Come In Alone
03- The Voices - The Sound Of Young America
04- Sky Parade - High On Desire
05- My Morning Jacket - Gideon
06- Segment - Caroline Lotion
07- The Dolly Rocker Movement - On A June Morning
08- Islands - Tsuxiit
09- The High Dials - Sick With The Old Fire
10- Pioneer 4 - I See Harmony
11- Black Mountain - Set Us Free
12- The Warlocks - So Paranoid
13- Ratatat - Cherry

Road Trip

Let the dream begin...

We'll be posting reviews, photos and maybe bootlegs from some of the bands playing in Sheffield at the Dream Machine festival this weekend. However, we may well be too intoxicated to move let alone aim a camera and click.

Jonny & Carl x

BJM live show interspersed with interview

I was alerted to this on the Brian Jonestown Massacre forum just a few moments ago. I've only seen the first part so far, but I just had to post the links. There is quality footage of a live gig and some refreshing, natural interview material with Anton on there. Not sure where the concert is, but it sure brings back some memories of when we saw them at Roskilde '07.

Thanks to Alfresco_Slapstick for the links and wilsol70 for uploading the videos to YouTube.

My Morning Jacket - Radio Sessions

Once again here are a few more radio sessions I've dug up, this time from Archive. My Morning Jacket remind me of a lost city - they have this undiscovered vibe going down with their music, and it's a wonderful thing. So here they are:

"Local Live", KVRX 91.75FM
"Club Lek", VPRO Studios
"Live Lunch", WFPK Radio
"2 Meter Sessies", Byton Studios

Lovely.

Instead of doing uni work...

...I did this all afternoon. My band at Reading (Goodbye Priam) play a more 'post rock' style than we do with the African Queen. But we don't have any recordings, so rather than do any work this afternoon, I recorded this one man show.

TRACK: Goodbye Priam - Dirty Moonshine