Sunday, November 26, 2006

"Psychobilly into fey indie fop"

It's a bit of a plug for my new podcast since I really don't publicise it very well.

And while you're at it, the podcast's Myspace is here.

BOA's new podcast is now online for your listening pleasure.

We interviewed Blaine and Will from the Mystery Jets and they decided to give us an exclusive version of Diamonds In The Dark with Kid Harpoon on guitar.

We've also got some copies of Jarvis's new album to give away.

You can subscribe by clicking one of these:

Add to iTunes



subscribe via iTunes music store
other subscription options


Full track listing is as follows:

Fields - If You Fail We All Fail
Others - Got No Money
Hundred Reasons - I'll Find You live)
Carter USM - The Only Living Boy In New Cross
Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Mister Mental
Hot Puppies - Green Eyeliner (acoustic)
Long Blondes - Weekend Without Make Up (acoustic)
Art Brut - Nag Nag Nag Nag
Snow Patrol - Set The Fire To The Third Bar
Jarvis - Black Magic
Simple Kid - Lil King Kong
Frank and Walters - After All
Easy Star Allstars - Exit Music (For A Film)
Sugarcubes - Hit
Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
Mystery Jets - Diamonds In The Dark (acoustic) (Phoenix FM exclusive)

BOA is being podcasted until early next year when we will be going full time on the newly-launched Phoenix FM. The station's website is at www.phoenixfm.com.

Cheers
Paul and Steve

Thursday, November 23, 2006

More Sugarcubery - 70 photos, and múm on Youtube

As well as the coverage in the Guardian and thousands of views on Youtube already it was nice to get a mention on the front page of Björk's official website too, which is just about driving the traffic through the roof. I haven't had quite so many visits since I put up some Bloc Party MP3s. (scratches head)

Anyway here's my photos of the Sugarcubes:



If you go to the photos site above you can also see my photos taken of múm and Rass. When you go there you'll see the thumbnails a bit bigger and you can click once again to get the big version of each photo.

And talking of múm, here's a video I took of them on the night as well:



All this Icelandic shenanigans has taken a special place in my heart, not least because the gig was actually VERY GOOD, but because (for my sins) I support West Ham United, and this man has come to lead us to glory:



(That's him holding our scarf)

All together now: Ég blæs sápukúlur a eilífu ...

Monday, November 20, 2006

I'm in the Grauniad

http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1952846,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

I always get excited when someone "big" mentions this little blog. I even got excited when I appeared on the VH1 blog a couple of months ago. (I think I got about 2 clickthroughs from that one).

I like the Grauny's use of the word "claimed", dicey as ever!

I should point out that they played more than 20 minutes. That'd be one song from each album plus a couple of Einar rants, wouldn't it.

Sugarcubes reunion gig in Reykjavik

Like many, I was just slightly taken aback by the news in September that the Sugarcubes were going to reform for a one-off gig, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of "Birthday" (20, ouch) and that of their original record company, Smekkleysa (Bad Taste).



Contrary to what a lot of "cool" people think, I am a big fan of the reunion. I've seen bands like Pop Will Eat Itself and the Sultans of Ping play for the first time in many years and there's a tendency for the music to be spot on, the lyrics to be properly recited, or at least 90% right, and the on stage presence to be as good as anything you've seen in the good old days. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the Sugarcubes.

The last time I saw them was at Brixton in 1992, the year they split up after the release of their third and final album, Stick Around For Joy. Eight of their singles reached the UK top 100 between 1987 and 1992 and Hit was their sole top 20 effort, peaking at no 17. That led to the weird situation with the band on Top of the Pops along with Carter USM, the Frank and Walters, and a host of other indie bands.

I was one of the 1,000+ people who flew into Iceland from the UK or USA for the show, and judging by people I spoke to and earwigged in the crowd, there were people there from all over the world. Now watch them spoil it all by doing all the festivals next year ....

Support was from two other Icelandic bands - first Múm (pronounced Moom) who are more folk/poppy and for some reason kind of reminded me of the Mystery Jets, without the old guy and the 10 minute prog tunes. The second band were Rass, who appear to have nicked the logo from 80s anarchist punks Crass and just dropped the C. They're a much more dirty rock and roll band to contract with the clear innocence and pureness of Múm, but for some reason only managed to do 15 minutes on stage.

The Sugarcubes did not disappoint. The set was liberally spread over all three albums, many of the earlier songs were sung in Icelandic - not that that made a great deal of difference to me - the band didn't look noticely old, but of course the most pleasant surprise was not Bjork's clear ability to fight back the ravages of time, nor the fact that her voice was as perfect as ever, but Einar looking like George Sunday out of My Hero.

I did take my usual liberty of Youtubing a couple of songs for your listening pleasure. While I had just room for two songs on my camera's xD card, and missed a couple of classics - Vitamin and Regina both sounded fantastic - I decided to be a bit boring and plumped for Hit and Birthday.





Link:
Myspace (not run by the band)

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Art Brut session on BBC 6music

Live from last night's radio, tucked away between 7 and 8pm on Marc Riley's excellent show.

Nag Nag Nag Nag is out on 13 November and it's one of my favourite singles of the year so far so I really recommend that you BUY IT and not just download it for your listening pleasure, I mean how the hell are Art Brut ever going to get on Top of the Pops otherwise? (Yes, I know there are other barriers ...)

Art Brut - Nag Nag Nag Nag (BBC 6music session 10-11-2006).mp3
Art Brut - Post Soothing Out (BBC 6music session 10-11-2006).mp3
Art Brut - Saint Pauli (BBC 6music session 10-11-2006).mp3
Art Brut - These Animal Menswear (BBC 6music session 10-11-2006).mp3

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The Hot Puppies on BBC 6 music

Another acoustic session from earlier in the week. I saw them in the summer at the Metro club and became an instant fan of their highly polished and highly indie sound.



The two songs appear on their debut album, Under The Crooked Moon, which has a very britpoppy sound, which has been compared to Pulp by a few critics but I can hear more of Catatonia in it myself (maybe it's the Welsh thing and I am being lazy).

Hot Puppies - Green Eyeliner (BBC 6music Hub Session 06-11-2006).mp3
Hot Puppies - Reconsider Me (BBC 6music Hub Session 06-11-2006).mp3
Myspace: www.myspace.com/thehotpuppies

Saturday, November 04, 2006

The 40 biggest bands in the world - 2006 update

Just over a year ago I put up a chart facetiously titled "The 40 biggest bands in the world", based on Last.fm listening figures. Since Mr Google is still sending people towards it I thought I'd update it to see how things have changed.

With a reasonably healthy 15 out of 40 being British artists, why the hell don't they make any impact in the US charts?

Last year's positions are in brackets, or if you're a posho, parentheses.

1 (11) Red Hot Chili Peppers
2 (4) The Beatles
3 (2) Radiohead
4 (1) Coldplay
5 (13) The Killers
6 (26) Muse
7 (5) Death Cab for Cutie
8 (14) Metallica
9 (3) Green Day
10 (12) Nirvana
11 (new) My Chemical Romance
12 (6) System of a Down
13 (15) Pink Floyd
14 (16) Beck
15 (20) Led Zeppelin
16 (new) Snow Patrol
17 (17) U2
18 (19) Oasis
19 (25) Queen
20 (23) blink-182
21 (9) The White Stripes
22 (new) Placebo
23 (7) Foo Fighters
24 (24) The Cure
25 (new) Evanescence
26 (new) The Strokes
27 (8) Gorillaz
28 (new) PANIC! at the disco
29 (18) Franz Ferdinand
30 (22) The Smashing Pumpkins
31 (31) David Bowie
32 (10) Weezer
33 (new) Justin Timberlake
34 (28) The Postal Service
35 (39) Linkin Park
36 (40) The Shins
37 (33) Incubus
38 (new) Johnny Cash
39 (new) Bob Dylan
40 (new) Depeche Mode

Bands on it last year but not on it this year:

(21) Nine Inch Nails
(27) Kanye West
(29) Bloc Party
(30) Modest Mouse
(32) Bright Eyes
(34) Pixies
(35) REM
(36) Jimmy Eat World

My own chart, which after the top 20 or so is quite pointless as I have iTunes on random most of the time, so it's invariably weighted towards which tracks I have the most of, is as follows:

1 (35) The Divine Comedy
2 (new) Long Blondes
3 (4) Radiohead
3 (1) Sultans of Ping F.C.
5 (15) The Cardigans
6 (new) MJ Hibbett & the Validators
7 (6) Art Brut
7 (new) The Others
9 (5) A
9 (3) Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
11 (new) The Sugarcubes
11 (new) Thousand Yard Stare
13 (2) Blur
13 (new) Chris T-T
13 (new) Kaiser Chiefs
16 (7) Franz Ferdinand
17 (7) Kate Bush
18 (new) Supergrass
19 (15) Coldplay
19 (new) Fighting Cocks
19 (new) The Chemical Brothers
19 (27) The Clash
19 (12) They Might Be Giants
24 (new) Jim's Super Stereoworld
24 (new) Ned's Atomic Dustbin
24 (new) Pizzicato Five
27 (22) Stereolab
28 (new) Mystery Jets
28 (new) Travis
30 (21) Pulp
30 (new) The Rakes
32 (new) Genesis
32 (new) I'm from Barcelona
32 (new) Jarvis
32 (13) XTC
36 (22) Kenickie
36 (35) Pop Will Eat Itself
36 (19) Salad
39 (15) Bloc Party
39 (15) British Sea Power
39 (new) Keane
39 (new) Mama Shamone
39 (new) Paddy McAloon
39 (new) The Chalets
39 (new) The Charlatans
39 (new) The Stone Roses

Last night's Later With ... Muse, Raconteurs

The start of a new series and I can just about stomach the music - well some of the music - but the mid-song banter is getting more and more unbearable, or is it just me? (Not is it just me getting more and more unbearable, oh you know what I mean .. either answer will do ..)

Muse - Knights Of Cydonia (Later With Jools Holland 04-11-2006).mp3
Muse - Map Of The Problematique (Later With Jools Holland 04-11-2006).mp3
Muse - Starlight (Later With Jools Holland 04-11-2006).mp3
Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers (Later With Jools Holland 04-11-2006).mp3
Raconteurs - Store Bought Bones (Later With Jools Holland 04-11-2006).mp3

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Long Blondes - acoustic tracks

Recorded yesterday from Gideon Coe's Hub Sessions on BBC 6 music. From what I can gather it's just Kate and Dorian but the two songs I have put up for your pleasure are quite magnificent in their stripped down forms.



Getting very familiar with the debut album, Someone To Drive You Home. It's basically Pulp, Sleeper, Elastica, Salad and the Younger Younger 28s all rolled into one.

Long Blondes - Once And Never Again (BBC 6music session 31-10-2006).mp3
Long Blondes - Weekend Without Make Up (BBC 6music session 31-10-2006).mp3


Myspace

More of my stuff

• Red Penguin bandphotos
• Brentwood's Only Alternative
• My Audioscrobbler stats
• Gigs I Can Remember

Other good stuff to read

• Good Weather For Airstrikes
• Like Flies On Sherbert
• No Rock & Roll Fun
• Obscure Sound
• Silence Is A Rhythm Too
• Take Your Medicine
• The Torture Garden
• Unarocks
• Whatever's Left

Previous Posts

• Gestir
• Bloc Party - Mercury (new single)
• Glam Chops (Art Brut / David Devant spin-off) live...
• British Sea Power at Glastonbury 2008
• Young Knives at Glastonbury 2008
• Ting Tings at Glastonbury 2008
• Foals at Glastonbury 2008
• RIP Nick Sanderson
• Radiohead cover Portishead's "The Rip"
• Dan le Sac, Scroobius Pip and I Shouted Gun

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