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Tuesday 29 March 2011

Elbow - O2 arena


"Are we having the time of our lives"???   indeed we were as eat Junk was out and about in London on Monday night, Elbow were on at the O2.. i cant tell you how good it was, i hate enormo domes like the O2 as well but guy garvey and the band made it feel intimate and warm

“We’re getting away with murder, having the time of our lives.”
Richard Jupp, drummer for British quintet Elbow sounds as euphoric as his band’s fans were the previous night in Newcastle. Elbow has just set out on their first arena tour and played Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena a few hours ago. But even though its 9:30 in the morning Jupp sounds like he’s bursting with enthusiasm. “We had a pretty mad year after winning the Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid,” explains Jupp. “We got a raft of awards and it was just madness, utter madness, we didn’t expect anything like that.
That madness has continued with the release ofBuild A Rocket Boys!, Elbow’s fifth album. The magnitude of the accompanying tour has left Jupp’s head spinning.“There’s like 70-odd people on the tour. There’s six trucks, four buses, there’s catering and stuff. From our point of view, it’s strange for us to see all this stuff happening for five scruffy lads from Manchester. But playing in front of a larger crowd is amazing.”
Fortunately, the band is up to the challenge of filling huge arenas with their emotionally charged, bittersweet songs. Singer Guy Garvey has been getting kudos for his ability to bring a surprising amount of intimacy to these huge venues.
“Guy is blessed with being an exceptional front man, a very natural entertainer, for want of a better word. He’s really working the crowds. We’ve got a little B stage set up, a ramp that goes out about 15 feet into the arena. We try to keep it as loose as possible to give Guy room to do his front man bit.”
Elbow wasted little time getting back into the studio to follow up their Mercury Prize-winning album. As they have done in the past, they retreated to Mull, a remote Scottish island, and began writing the wistfully nostalgic songs that would comprise Build A Rocket Boys!.
“That’s where we wrote ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’ which hasn’t actually changed. That’s the demo version that’s on the album and it really made us think about stripping everything down. Whereas The Seldom Seen Kid was quite ornate, there was lots of instrumentation on it, we said this time we’ll strip it down and keep it simple.”
Although Guy Garvey is credited with writing the lyrics, the entire band became part of the creative process.
“I think he is one of the only lyricists who is totally open with us, with the band. We are his harshest critics. He was printing out all his notes in his journals and actually putting them up on the wall and asking us to leaf through them to see if anything hits. There were heaps of brain storming sessions as well. All five of us were in with a set of lyrics and we’d tinker with it, mould it to the music.”
Now, 20 years after they first began playing together, the band is at the peak of their creativity and popularity. How did they manage to stay together through all those lean years?
“It has been a struggle at times. There’s that basic respect and trust and appreciation of each other’s musical abilities, but I think that can only last so long. I think our secret is that we find each other hilarious. When we’re all hung over and we’re on the bus and we’ve got to travel, that’s when we find each other most funny – it’s that gang mentality. We make each other laugh. It does sound a bit cheesy but we have a right old scream.”

Sunday 27 March 2011

Gene - Olympian


Gene were fantastic, after initial scepticism on my part i fell in love.... Early accusations of being a poor mans smiths quickly faded away after the release of Olympian, their debut album and some blistering live shows. Martin the lead singer had it in him to be humble and awe inspiring at the same time and had a way of reaching out and making everyone in the room feel part of something special. Gene finished some 10 years ago now with a release of a live dvd which is a great testament to the band. Nothing has been heard of  Martin since the split but Matt and Steve now play in palace fires  who have just released their debut album

Saturday 26 March 2011

Quickspace - Quickspace


Quickspace formed in London, originally under the name Quickspace Supersport. Tom Cullinan, vocalist and guitarist, was formerly in Th' Faith Healers but developed their punky sound into a more tuneful but experimental style. This was released in autumn 1996, following the release of another excellent single, 'Rise'. The album itself, simply titled Quickspace, is a bit of a mixed bag, excellent songs alternating with filler material and fragments, something of an anti-album almost, but most reviews were quite favourable.

Sunday 20 March 2011

Gunshot - Patriot Games


Gunshot were a rap / hip hop band from London, I first bought this album back in 93 on tape and it never left my stereo. Every track is pure in your face hardcore hip hop. no slow jams, just pure energy. Like PE's Fear Of A Black Planet. This was UK Hip Hop at it's best. Mad beats and rapping to match. Without sounding like an old man going on about how things were back in the day. They really don't make 'em like this anymore

Friday 18 March 2011

The Green Hornets - Sounds From the Dansette


A mighty collection of 45’s and EP tracks which make an excellent introduction for anyone new to the world of the Green Hornets. The tracks span the band’s recording history Included is their Summer ‘98 45 - “Dig The Fuzz”  and is a neat stomper to get you whirling around the living room, via the bathroom and the kitchen. Quite simply their strongest release to date. Mind you those Hornets are not afraid to tackle ole chestnuts like “Have Love Will Travel” and “Brand New Cadillac” but spare you any embarrassment and offer them up as if being played for the very first time. You’ll also discover the odd surprise including a fine interpretation of “Elevator Operator” written by Gene Clark back '67. Jangletastic! Rounding off “Sounds From The Dansette” are five all-new recordings and there isn’t a clunker among them. Sure the CD starts with the less than original sound of a stylus hitting a worn out disc but makes up for it with some hilarious snoring tacked to the end and emanating from a zonked-out Nish ( a true legend and good guy... check out "the good time charlies" ). If you dig sixties influenced pop with catchy tunes, lots of organ, guitars that buzz, drums that rattle and placed alongside the odd light hearted moment then dig this fuzz

oh and they used to put on some amazing gigs too, 5 bands for a fiver.... dancing girls, sharks, surfboards and cocktails.... good times!!

The Ghost of a Thousand - New Hopes, New Demonstrations


The Ghost of a Thousand from a few years back, a fair noise with a nod to post hardcore and rock

The Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray


 I heard "it's a shame about ray" this morning so thought i should share it with you good good people, a pretty cool collection of alt rock which was out of kilter with the more fashionable grunge scene happening at the time, a cover of Mrs Robinson was tagged on to the end, added after featuring on a film soundtrack but the album doesn't really need or deserve it. A classic? maybe not but a damn fine record.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

The Wonder Stuff - Mission Drive


enjoy!

Prolapse - The Italian Flag


I love the racket that prolapse made, one of the few bands who i always wanted to see live but never managed it ( new fads is one of the others!)  This was their third album and was a 13-track tour de force which saw Prolapse pick up significant radio play for the first time, particularly for the lead single "Killing The Bland" and its even more commercial-sounding follow-up "Autocade", though neither singles became hits. The album returned to the more melodic approach of the first LP, though now with a harder guitar sound, but this time there was also a whole diverse array of styles, i'l blog the rest laters! im off out to see the levellers and wonder stuff now..... eclectic!!!

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Party Day - Glasshouse


Party Day are a new band to me.......it's strange saying that as they existed nearly 30 years ago! I was talking to someone i go to football with and he put me onto them, Party Day came from Barnsley and dealt in post punk noise, immediate references are The Cure, Magazine and Gang of Four. They released 2 albums, this one and another called simplicity, 3 singles and gigged around the UK in the early 80's but never really made it big, thats a shame as i think this album is fantastic.

1 - Rabbit Pie                   
2 - Fire horse                    
3 - Carousel                     
4 - Atoms            
5 - Boredom                    
6 - Grace             
7 - Row The Boat Ashore              
8 - Athena


Sunday 6 March 2011

Oceansize - Effloresce


As i mentioned earlier oceansize have split, they really were fantastic, 9 minute epics that don't turn out to be epic prog wank are pretty hard to manage but oceansize did it and how ..... fans of biffy clyro will see mike playing live guitar and if you don't own feed to feed, the oceansize live dvd you should do!

01. I Am The Morning
02. Catalyst
03. One Day All This Could Be Yours
04. Massive Bereavement
05. Rinsed
06. You Wish
07. Remember Where You Are
08. Amputee
09. Unravel
10. Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs
11. Saturday Morning Breakfast Show
12. Long Forgotten


Thursday 3 March 2011

Six By Seven - Live @ Ashton Witchwood Sept 99


Six.By Seven live @ Ashton 1999, The band were about the release their second album, some of the tracks in early form can be heard here, sadly like many bands they aren't around anymore although lead singer Chris Olley is still gigging and doing a damn fine job of being a solo artist, drummer Chris Davis is now lead in Spotlight Kid who deal in shoegaze kinda rock. Talking about bands who have split Oceansize have joined the great scrap heap in the sky, a real shame and il post about them soon.. anyway, enjoy this immense live set and check out Chris Olley here

Something wild
European me
Get a real tattoo
Oh! dear
Brilliantly cute
Don't wanna stop
Slab square
88-92-96

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Rival Schools - United By Fate



Rival schools have a new album out entitled pedals.... you should go check it out......Walter the lead singer was also in band called quicksand who are worth a listen too..... thats probably a bit of an understatement actually......... 

From the album here then used for glue is one of my favourite tracks of the last 10 years....

1. Travel by Telephone
2. Everything Has Its Point
3. High Acetate
4. Undercovers On
5. Good Things
6. Used for Glue
7. World Invitational
8. The Switch
9. Holding Sand
10. My Echo
11. Favorite Star
12. So Down On
13. Hooligans for Life
14. Grunge Model