That Exploded

House by Cool Fun

I like this. 

 

Alot. 

Men Daimler, La Bête Blooms, and Sam Jones @ The Adelphi

Hurrah, at last. Great golden relief as I finally come across a young Hull band that I actually like. Anyway, more of that in a moment, first it is time for ire.

I won`t lie, my heart sank when I saw Sam Jones clamber on stage to open the night. I just don`t feel the need to laugh at someone’s surprisingly public, awkwardness. By all means go on stage and self-taunt liberally, but too many jokes tonight scream “HELLO I`M AWKWARD, THAT’S FUNNY*” – followed by some penis joke. Nope, after x years of living, I still don`t find the mention of male genitalia that funny. No, not even when said with wide maniacal eyes and a scary grin. Maybe it is just me. Then there is the rather ill-judged song about wanting male equality. Seriously, if you are going down that route then make the content funny and not some half-arsed summary of all the unfunny anti-feminist jokes of the last twenty years. However, there were moments that brought a smile (and that should be applauded as I am an inordinately stroppy git these days): some of the rhymes and word play in parts were great, and the use of Christian Bale rant inventive, but ultimately ruined by Sam playing the his final card, oft the comedian’s last desperate attempt to get a laugh: dressing up as a woman.

Being mean and nasty (see above) is so much easier than being nice. After only seeing one gig by La Bête Blooms, rather than make some vast and likely misguided attempt to describe the band by throwing together comparisons to The XX and Pulp – oh crap, I just did, although I`m still not sure I meant it – let’s summarise my thoughts in an example act. The day after the gig, I spent a fair few hours trawling myspace to find the name of said band and I was none too disappointed with what I found. Finally, a young Hull band that I`m willing to leave the house to watch.

Men Daimler, as constantly returning performer and a much-loved one, is woven into the history of the Adelphi. He is a talent that bemuses the crowds by not being more famous than he actually is.  Tonight our man screams, cries, dances and rambles his way through a night of song and frolics; captivating by halves.

 *Normally I would refuse to type in capitals, but it mirrors the unsubtly of Sam Jones.  

 

New Bands Are Shit

It’s the age old question with the very short answer: no. Of course it is always a lot more complicated, but anyone proclaiming that “all new bands are shit” has probably not thought through the issue or just not seen enough live music. As far as I can work out there are normally two reasons that cause one generation to accuse the other: music industry ‘hype’ and ‘human nature’.

Before I go on, I should get down from my lofty, high and mighty tone. I`ve not been immune to thoughts and occasional rants about new bands being shit – although, I`m careful to shout too loud as it makes me look even more of an old git. The gigs I simply didn`t get, whilst others jumped around like looks, that spring to mind: Elle Milano and Jo Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (remember them); more recently the Japanese Voyeurs; and back in the distance past Bloc Party both at the Adelphi and The Welly*.

One of the things that quite regularly biases me against bands is industry hype. Now, I have fallen for it a fair few times, but the more you see lines like “the new Nirvana”, the “next Strokes”, “re-inventing The Libertines” the more cynical you become. The relation is then hammered home with the writer then trying to reinvent a genre that already exists, for example Mumford and Sons have been described as “eclectic folk.” It is easy to respond to these type of comments with a quick “oh fuck off, they’re shite” – and you would be right when concerned with Mumford and Sons, but normally it is just unfairly reactionary. Hull’s own The Neat got rather strung up with the tag “new intelligentsia” (seriously, what the fuck does that even mean) last year, but it is not the band’s fault that someone decides to describe a band with such cock and bull.

Ok, coming clean. I am pretty sure, I`ve done similar things in my past reviews (particularly in Sandman): throwing labels and words at bands with the only thought towards a deadline that is creeping ever closer. But next time you read a review that makes you want to swear, work out if it is the band that is the problem or the words written on the page. In the internet age you can google them pretty quickly and make up your own mind (just try not to react to those words).

So what the hell did I mean about human nature – suitably vague to the end. Some of you might be young enough to remember being young, god some people reading this might actually be young themselves. You know what it is like. You get carried away with what is in front of you. The relevance and sound just clicks in your head. And it is very easy to aim superlatives at the bands that appear around the time you are growing. They are brilliant and awesome, as fresh as the day is long. You get it! You grow with the band and they talk to you as they are at a similar age. Those culture references make sense. What comes later, as you age, is inevitably below you and can never quite reach the heights of what was like when you were young when everything was blazing new. It doesn`t make new bands shit, it just means you have moved on.

Fear not, this doesn`t mean you should just turn over and give up on new music. There are plenty of bands out there that aren`t just rehashes of what you are used to. You may not need a new Nirvana when you can listen to the old one, but there are plenty of bands out there – many old and many new – who still make brilliant, engaging music they just don`t come with the recycled tag lines. Sometimes just a random drop-in to your closest music venue is enough to discover something life affirming – in Hull we are lucky to have Fruit and the Adelphi that can make for musical magic; if you are elsewhere, it is time to discover a favourite new venue.

*The Mystery Jets were fecking ace though. 

 

Eight Conclusions From The BRIT Awards

-          Does anyone really care about the BRIT’s anymore? Only 4.8 million viewers tuned in on the night – it was beaten Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, amongst other things. For an award ceremony that claims to be at the heart of British music it is worse than poor.  At best the BRIT’s are poorly name, outdated and irrelevant, so perhaps it is a miracle that anyone actually tunes in.

-          How fitting that the pointless BRIT’s decided to allow the increasingly pointless James Corden to present.  For a “likeable comedian” he spends way too much time being unfunny and unlikeable.

-          The more polished and streamlined the award ceremony becomes, the more boring it is.  

-          The BRIT’s does sometimes get it somewhere close to right. Laura Marling deserves her Best British Female gong, although you won`t find much reference to her in the press.

-          The commercialisation of “alternative” music is at another dead end. The only people that really love Mumford and Sons are record company executives and people who go around pretentiously declaring the music they listen to as “real.”

-          Anyone moaning about the BRITS has missed the point. They have always been shit and it would be something of a disappointment if they weren`t.

-          Does the B in Plan B stand for banal?

-          Under the Best Collaborations part of the BRIT’s website, why aren`t Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood included? 

 

Tracks of the 2010: Born Free by M.I.A.

Tuition Fees (December) – Born Free by MIA

It’s been coming, but that doesn`t make it right. Tuition fees, gagh. They sparked a wave of protests and it was nice to see students show they actually do care about education – although some of the protests were pretty laaaammmme. Take the student sit in at the University of Hull, where the demands began with wanting a warm room to protest in and ended with the call for a statement that the University were going to make anyway. The protest finished, coincidently on the last day of term, when I assume the offenders Mummies and Daddies wanted to pick them up. Youth rebellion lives (at home with the parents).

They could probably learn a bit from M.I.A, whose album was decently received by critics, but available in bargain bins a week later – normally a very good sign. MAYA (or whatever symbols it is meant to be made up of) wasn`t anyone’s pop bitch – particularly those expecting to hear Paper Plane 2, 3, and 4 – and it was all the better for it with some cracking tracks like ‘Xxxo’ and ‘Born Free.’

This performance of ‘Born Free’ is worth it just for David Letterman’s confused face, screaming “is that what passes for music these day.” 

 

Tracks of the 2010: Shoplifting by The Slits

Crap this is going slowly. Must. Try. Harder.

Financial Crisis Goes on as Greece and Eire Are Bailed out (May) – Shoplifting by The Slits

It still upsets me that some of Ari Ups' last live shows will be those where she was horribly heckled from ignorant fans of The Cribs – that isn`t to call all The Cribs’ fans ignorant, just those who gave The Slits such a shit reception. Wankers. The Slits are, and always will be legends with Shoplifting one of my favourite tracks.

We are getting deeper into the UK “Year of the Cuts” and it is still hard to believe we are still paying the price of the financial crisis, but citizens of Greece and Eire will know only too well the impact of the global recession as there countries have been embroiled in crisis after crisis.

There is also this tongue-in-cheek explanation of the bail outs.

“It is a slow day in a damp little Irish town. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt and everybody lives on credit. 

On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the town, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel. The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the pub. The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him "services" on credit. The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note. The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money and leaves town. No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the bailout package works.”

Hmm, when you put it that way, it does feel very much like shoplifting. 

Tracks of 2010 Double Header: The National and The Manic Street Preachers

Early January rather got away from me, so it is time to get on with these tracks of last year to allow me to accept the joys of 2011. Let’s press onwards with two tracks and events.

English Football Fails in The World Cup (June) – England by The National

Everybody’s favourite survivors made their way back after the excellent “Boxer” and managed to top it. Life was made for performances such as theirs at Glastonbury - a day of sun and a crowd watching the under dogs, the losers, the band that had no hope but to continue playing. Yet somehow they made it through to have their day. And this is part of the beauty of The National's mainstream appeal, it is in spite of so much. “High Violet” found true mainstream appealing, managing it without pandering to the massive of easy listeners as there are moments of sheer discord - and all the better for it - whilst the lyrics don’t make for a nice nights sleep.

The National's charm and human souls makes The National us and makes us love them. And then there is the England football team...

 

Volcanic Ash (April) – Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky by the Manic Street Preachers

So the Manic Street Preachers returned to us again; however, it would feel very wrong to select a track off “Postcards From a Young Man.” Part of me loves the fact that this band can still have such clear appeal to Radio 2 listeners everywhere, given their history – but when it comes to trying to make it through the new album in one sitting... well I wish for the old band of Übermensch.

Yet as a live band they rule and they mix up that back catalogue to great effect – for one, it was great to hear Sleepflower live again.

Which track to pick then? Well with air travellers everywhere upset by that Icelandic volcano – I`m not entirely sympathetic for their perils, but accept it was a major event – it has to be “Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky. ”

 

 

Tracks of the 2010: Texico Bitches by Broken Social Scene

Wow, the second day of 2011 and I`m still going through tracks from last year.

BP Oil Spill (April) – Texico Bitches by Broken Social Scene

Tenuous link time. Ok, so it wasn't Texico – and anyway it should be Texaco if we are referring to the petrol company -  but BP who caused the massive environmental disaster. It was also a classic reminder that the British still make great Hollywood villains. Anyway, enough has already be scribbled about said disaster, so on to the chosen band and track.

A large chunk of me still wants Broken Social Scene to throw caution to the wind and just go all out to make a pop record. On every album just as a get sick of guitar twidding and over the top noodling they hit me with a couple of great tracks, but it is never quite enough to suck me in and rave about the band. At least, until I see them live and realise just what fun they are, such as at the Constellation Festival in Leeds, which was awesome awesome awesome – that includes the other bands too.

 Of course, I eventually tell myself that all the effort taken to listen to every second of a BSS album is worth it as it makes the stand out tracks sound oh so much better, one such track from 2010’s ‘Forgiveness Rock Record’ being ‘Texico Bitches’.

 

Tracks of the 2010: Total Life Forever by Foals

Such is the folly of expectation. Foals were a band I have spent a good few years raving about. From seeing their creaky math-rock beginnings at Madame JoJo’s to the excitement of them first getting signed by Transgressive Records and then the joy of first hearing ‘Hummer’ played in The Welly. Then came the novelty of ‘Antidotes’ – all well for the first few plays and with a couple of great tracks, but not the record I had been expecting.

“Singularity is here to stay,
So go down, go down, go down, go down, go down, down low
Let's take it slow.”

Then came the second album. And wow: relief and wide eyes. Finally, a band that had come out of that ‘scene’ had managed to make a great, well-rounded commercial-yet-deep record. The distinctive guitar remains, but here was a shiny disc of music that hints at so much more. By all means I should probably have chosen ‘Blue Blood’ or ‘Spanish Sahara’ here, but with the sci-fi theme title-track ‘Total Life Forever’ seems oh so much more appropriate to coincide with the break through at CERN. Sure it isn`t big headline science, and definitely isn`t the singularity but isolating anti-matter is major news when it comes to understanding our own and the universe’s beginnings.

“Cuz' total life forever, will never be enough,no...
Cuz' total life forever, will never be enough, no...”

 

Tracks of the 2010: East Hastings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

After a bit of a break for Christmas, it is time to get back to the job in hand: my songs of the year.

Haiti Earthquake (January) – East Hastings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Let’s be honest, the only experience I have of an earthquake is when Hull rumbled in the middle of the night a couple of years. I woke up with a start and thought someone was trying to break into the house, they weren`t, it was just a small tremor. Hence, I have no real idea what the people of Haiti went through last January, but that doesn`t mean I can`t throw my thoughts their way – and also ponder why it takes the world so long to respond to not just an emergency, but a nation broken by Western meddling.

2010 was also the year that Godspeed You! Black Emperor put down the multiple side projects and finally returned to playing live music, albeit a rather top heavy, professional version. Not doing things in halves, they made three two-hours-plus performances at the self-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Minehead – with the Saturday show being by far the most glorious.

 

Now, I haven`t plumped to combine the Haiti earthquake and a Godspeed track together in an attempt to extend a rather tenuous ‘apocalypse’ metaphor (see just about every review of any ‘post rock’ band). I always thought of them more as a band that managed to put songs and images to together to sound track the tendency of the rich, of the powerful to sit and fiddle whilst those below grind to dust. For me East Hastings isn`t about the world ending, it’s about people twiddling and deciding to let people suffer and burn.