Monday 29 April 2013

Wednesday 24 April 2013

OPINION: 'A Thousand Braying Asses': Kim Gordon & Churnalism's Busy Sewer (The Quietus)

"Regardless of the subject matter, journalism without a basic and objective curiosity is not journalism at all. As mentioned earlier, there may be no major dishonesty being demonstrated by publications in the case in question – but neither is what they are doing any good."
Click here to read the full article, and here to read why Flavorwire chose the piece as one of their 'Favorite Cultural Things' (even if they didn't entirely agree with what I said). 

Tuesday 23 April 2013

INTERVIEW: British Sea Power (Clash)

"We were aware that the things we were watching were things that happened before now, and these black and white people had a right good old time lifting wood onto boats, and getting dilly dally down the promenade, and also liked to blow each other up on occasion . . ."
I spoke to Yan from British Sea Power about their latest album, their soundtrack work and ten years of being bloody excellent. Read it here.


Tuesday 16 April 2013

ONE TO WATCH (Clash): Nadine Shah


Here is a piece I wrote on Nadine Shah for the Ones To Watch section of Clash's April 2013 issue. If Shah's album is up to the standard of her first two EPs, keep an eye out for her name come Mercury Prize announcements in September.

Clash are such big fans of Nadine Shah that this is the second time we have bestowed the ‘One to Watch’ title on her. We first sought out Shah for an online feature back in December, having been spellbound by ‘Aching Bones’, a sinister and haunting debut single that drew significant early praise for the South Tyneside native.

When we meet for the second time, a Stoke Newington pub rescuing us from a wet March evening, things are looking good for Shah. A few days earlier she had signed a two-album deal with R&S offshoot Apollo, having been won over by the fervent overtures of label boss Renaat Vandepapeliere. “We went for a meal and he said to me ‘Listen, if I don’t sign you, it’s gonna be fuckin’ World War Three,’” Shah says. “Then we got a bit drunk and he said ‘Scrap that. It’s gonna be NUCLEAR. FUCKING NUCLEAR!’”

This month sees Shah’s first release for Apollo, the EP Dreary Town. The title track, telling the tale of a relationship in destructive decline, steps away from the driving menace of ‘Aching Bones’, with collaborator Ben Hillier’s instrumental work flickering gently across Shah’s sombre piano line. The Blur producer’s presence on ‘Dreary Town’ might be subtle, but for Shah the pair’s collaboration is ever crucial. “Loads of people who work with Ben use him like a glorified engineer and I just think they’re idiots,” she says. “I gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted.”

A former jazz singer who grew up listening to ghazals sung by her Pakistani father, Shah possesses a truly striking voice:  part Julie London, part Shirley Bassey, but with a melodic fluidity – and heavy North Eastern inflection – that make it hard to think of another vocalist quite like her. It is no wonder that Vandepapeliere was so eager to secure her signature.

Debut album Love Your Dum and Mad is due in July, three months before the Mercury Prize shortlist is announced –  a fact that has not escaped Shah’s attention. “We’ve been trying to find out who’s on the panel,” she says. “‘Who can we bribe? Ring ‘em! Send ‘em something!’” Judging by what we’ve seen so far, such shenanigans may not be necessary.

Where: London/Whitburn
 What: Mournful icy soul
Unique Fact: Shah’s ex-fiancĂ© Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.) was forced to deny rumours that he was engaged to an “Asian princess”, after Shah had added the claim to his Wikipedia page.
Get Three Tracks: ‘Aching Bones’, ‘Dreary Town’, ‘Never Tell Me Mam’
 

Monday 1 April 2013

INTERVIEW: Nick Yulman (Clash)

"It’s mindboggling to think of all the creative music that has sprung out of New York. Whether it’s John Cage or Laurie Anderson or Raymond Scott or the Bomb Squad, there’s definitely something about the City that’s inspired some pretty radical approaches to working with sound and music."
I spoke to Brooklyn sound artist Nick Yulman about New York and his use of musical robotics, among other things. Read here.

Thursday 28 March 2013

The Paul Tucker EP (That's 'Easter Playlist')

Listen ups!

Here are five tracks that came my way this week and that are all excellent. I was going to do this sort of thing on a regular basis, but in all honesty I'd rather wait until some truly excellent music comes my way rather than churning out content for the three or four visitors this blog probably receives each day. If a constant churning out of new music is what you're after, OTHER WEBSITES ARE AVAILABLE. Also, the fact I haven't posted anything since late January suggests I'm not very good at blogging.

But anyway, here is some truly excellent music: Have a good weekend and do what ever it is you do for Easter.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

INTERVIEW: Iceage (Clash)


"During our telephone call, I ask Surrballe Wieth if he’s pleased with You’re Nothing. “Oh yeah - very, very pleased with it,” he replies with genuine enthusiasm before going on. “But I think it seems like we did it quite a long time ago now. I think we’re already in a new place, we’re already writing a lot of new songs. We feel really great about how it turned out, it turned out exactly how it should, but we’re just moving on constantly.”"
I spoke to Iceage guitarist Johan Surrballe Wieth for this feature for Clash in the run up to the band's excellent second album You're Nothing. Read it here.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

FEATURE: The Quietus Writers' 40 Favourite Live Albums

I contributed a few words on Sepultura's Under a Pale Grey Sky to this huge feature put together by Quietus ed John Doran. Includes pieces on albums by Curtis Mayfield, The Fall, Arab Strap and many many more. Click here to check it out (perhaps even setting aside some time to give it a really good look).

Friday 25 January 2013

British Sea Power Return, Tour and New Album 'Machineries of Joy'.

Rejoice - British Sea Power are back! Their fifth album, Machineries of Joy, is released on April 1 and will be followed almost immediately by a full UK tour. What's more, fans are able to pre-order the new record now, when buying tickets for any of the upcoming dates. The first 500 fans to do so will also receive an exclusive bonus, EP containing new material and unique artwork.

Tickets and album pre-orders are available here.
 
Tour dates are as follows:
 
4th Apr 2013 Exeter Phoenix
5th Apr 2013 Birmingham HMV Library
6th Apr 2013 Newcastle Northumbria Uni
7th Apr 2013 Glasgow Oran Mor
9th Apr 2013 Leeds Metropolitan University
10th Apr 2013 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
12th Apr 2013 Manchester Gorilla
14th Apr 2013 Cardiff Coal Exchange
15th Apr 2013 Portsmouth - Wedgewood Rooms
16th Apr 2013 Norwich Waterfront
17th Apr 2013 London Shepherds Bush Empire

Saturday 19 January 2013

January Playlist (Volume 1)

Welcome to the first of a (roughly) fortnightly series of playlists. I've decided to do this because I wanted a record of what I've been listening to, that way I can return to each list and remind me what I was excited about months earlier. Also, some music just deserves sharing.
Most songs will be new, some might be old. Some will be quiet, some will be very loud. It will all be good though, trust me. This first one is a strong list, featuring everything from metal to classically infused techno from as far and wide as Germany and Denmark, Norway and Northen Ireland.

Edit: The Marnie Stern track for some reason won't work on the Cloud Player. Here it is.


 

The Tracks:

 

Thought Forms - Only Hollow

This is an immediately striking track from Thought Forms, who are signed to Geoff Barrow's Invada Records. Taut, fraught and fuzz-drenched.

The Men - Electric

Open Your Heart was bursting with honest intent, and reviews rewarded that, yet the album was inexplicably shunned by Album of the Year polls at the end of 2012. They deserve better in 2013. Third album New Moon arrives in March, and they'll be in the UK shortly after.

Iceage - Coalition

Iceage are back and this is great news. This track is as furious as you might expect from the Danes, but also hints at the new emotional depths plumbed on second album You're Nothing.

John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts

Haunting, shapeshifting slowburner from the ex-The Czars man. No matter what else I listen to, I keep coming back to this one.

Marnie Stern - Year of the Glad

Another welcome return, this time from Marnie Stern. This track and another early arrival, 'East Side Glory', suggest that on phenomenally titled new album The Chronicles of Marnia, Stern has reined in the hyperactive guitar wizardry just slightly, allowing her songwriting to shine through even more than on previous releases.

No Spill Blood - Good Company

Along with Okkultokrati's Snakereigns (below), No Spill Blood's Street Meat EP was one of my heavy discoveries of 2012. Another smart signing from the usually excellent Sargent House, the Northern Ireland hardcore band combine synth hooks with the power of Mastodon and the intensity of Converge. A forthcoming debut album is well worth looking out for.

 

Okkultokrati - No Ourouboros

Owing as much to 80's US hardcore as it does to much of the metal produced closer to home (the band are from Norway), Okkultokrati's Snakereigns LP is a snarling, sneering hybrid.

Brandt Brauer Frick - Broken Pieces Feat. Jamie Lidell
The first new music from the German Techno/Classical group since 2011's Mr Machine, this comes from their new album Miami, released in March. BBF arrive in the UK in late March, performing with Frank Ocean producer and Miami guest star Om'Mas Keith.

See also: Nina Kraviz and Theo Parrish.

Friday 11 January 2013

Introducing: Embers Interviewed for The Line of Best Fit


Over the Christmas period I interviewed Manchester's Embers. They recorded two breathtaking videos in a monastery that caught the attention of a lot of people back in November. For an unsigned band (or for any band in fact) the ambition and the scale of their songs is pretty special. 

"It’s creative Darwinism in a way – to survive and stand out in the early stages you have to have a vision of what you want to be, be able to contextualise your music and out of necessity take influence from other sources. It just so happens that comes instinctively for us, and it’s something we enjoy doing."

Here's the interview...
...and here's the stunning video for 'Hollow Cage', filmed live in Gorton Monastery.

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Clash One to Watch #464/NME Buzz Artist: Nadine Shah

I wrote these bits  for clash about Nadine Shah, who is just fantastic (includes Shirley Bassey references and some Cheryl Cole aggression, a precursor to when she did that racist attack on a toilet attendant in Guildford before she became England's rose and then America's most short-lived X-Factor judge - Cheryl, not Nadine).

"What Shah's music really shares with the members of that venerable roll call is a rich and at times devastating emotional intensity – that and occasional hints of a Bassey-esque snarl."

As well as the Clash piece, a short piece I wrote on Nadine coincidentally appeared in the NME on the same day. Here's the scan:
Now go and give Nadine's EP 'Aching Bones' a listen.