Wavves/Mazes/Spectrals@ Deaf Institute 25/11/09

First up tonight are the bobbly hated Spectrals and despite a curious short instrumental warm up they offer up some choice tunes. All jingly post-grunge slacker folk pop rock with just about a nod to everything hip and happening in the world of good music. ‘It’s Ok not to be Ok’ starts off and mixes the classic Phil Spector drum beat with Joe Meek guitar twangs; a cocktail few would refuse. It then spirals into a sixties sounding version of the Bunnymen, which again, is ticking boxes on all levels. They lose a little bit of momentum by faffing between songs but the richness of their tunage belies their fresh faces. Keep them peeled for this colourful bunch.


Mazes are all laconic stage presence and slacker cool vibes. They begin with a drawling guitar riff that builds into a rough ass punk gemstone. ‘Bowie Knives’ sees frontman Jack Cooper try his hand at a Malkmus style falsetto and pulls it of rather nicely. The bass keeps dropping in and out of the mix which sort of spoils the first few songs. However, their set seems to fly by, the songs are short sharp casually vicious side swipes at everything and nothing, capturing the boredom and wisdom of early Pavement, speeding it up and playing it louder. The end of each song has Cooper yell a “yeah” and a “whoo” in mock appreciation of his bands own skills. He’s right to get excited they were stealthily stealing the show.




To be honest I’m struggling with this West Coast no-fi noise scuzz pop scene. No Age and Wavves haven’t really connected via the aural preceptors for me yet, but seeing No Age a few weeks ago was a jaw dropping experience and challenged me to reinvestigate the previously discarded recordings. With this in mind I had high hopes for Wavves especially with the excellent appetisers already witnessed this evening. Regular drummer Zac Hill was out injured but had been replaced by Jay Reatards rhythm section, so all was well or so I thought. Even from the very first song I felt I was missing something. The songs, gloriously loose and raw, didn’t seem to contain any magic, fury or charm that I could relate to. Everything felt a little too sloppy, a little too rushed. They were certainly some young lads down the front having a bit of a dance but the whole set never seemed to kick into gear. I can’t really put into words why this wasn’t working, there was just an absence of charm and tune. By the time they played “So Bored” I was lost in a sea of casual thoughts thinking “Hmm you’re bored!” and sarcasm never helps anybody does it. The speed with which they disappeared, without encore, from the stage perhaps suggested I wasn’t the only one preoccupied. Overall an opportunity missed all around.

Yo La Tengo @ Academy 2 08/11/09

There is not many bands that have been knocking about for twenty years, and it’s even more surprising when you consider that Yo La Tengo have never had much mainstream success. Despite releasing over ten albums that have largely achieved critical acclaim they’ve never “broken” the industry. This is possibly why they are still together and why they continue to quietly go about their business, cementing their reputation as one of the founders of US Indie Rock.

The stage backdrop is huge close up photo of some loose clothes buttons and along with the multi coloured spot lights there’s a real ambient closeness to the atmosphere inside the sold out Academy 2.



The first part of the set is decidedly chilled out. They open with ‘Decora’ from 1995’s ‘Electr-o-pura’ album before airing numbers from their latest critically acclaimed album “Popular Songs”. What is striking is the quality of the sound. Ira Kaplans keyboard sounds blissful and the vocal, although whispered by drummer Georgia Hubely, is spookily comforting. What becomes apparent from the off is that Yo La Tengo are a band of massive breadth. Within the first twenty minutes all three members have taken lead vocals and musically they’ve switched seamlessly between Hammond organ slumber rock into psychedelic guitar freak outs. Bassist James McNew pauses momentarily to switch on a drum loop and reverses it, while Hubely moves from the drums to the piano at the side of the stage A chill goes down the neck of the audience as they play ‘Don’t Have To Be So Sad’. It’s absolutely beautiful.



Perhaps their range of musical influence is too large to be fully examined in just under two hours and perhaps the acoustic mini-set included half way through was a slight dip in the pace of the evenings entertainment. One thing is for certain though, Yo La Tengo know how to close out a great gig. Swapping acoustic guitars for electrics they finally find top gear and blast out a final frenzy of ‘Sugarcube’ and ‘Tom Courtney’ which are as close to three minute indie pop song perfection as you can get, in particular ‘Tom Courtney’, which is fifteen years old, still has the ring of ‘instant classic’ about it. They conclude the show with the jaw dropping fifteen minute wig out of “Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind” and I swear to god I almost floated up above my own body like some form of transcendental crowd surfer. It was that good.

Twenty years together and Yo La Tengo so no signs of slowing down. They encore in front of the rapturous masses with a version of Dylan’s ‘I Wanna be Your Lover’ and end on ‘You Can Have it All’ and it honestly feels like we just have.

Dananananaykroyd@Academy 3 29/10/09

Glaswegians Dananananaykroyd not only have one of the contenders for best band name of All Time Best Band Names but they are rapidly confirming their status as one of the must-see live acts currently wowing audiences up and down the country. Their mix of scream-core math rock and poppy melodic sing-a-longs is an infectious blend that’s virtually impossible to refuse. Tonights Academy gig is an All Ages affair which means by the time the lights start to dim down the front half of the venue sounds like a school assembly gone berserk. A large group of teenagers have wedged themselves against the stage barriers and are singing the ‘Dananananak-ROYD!’ mantra and pumping their fists in the air.

The band amble on stage all skinny jeans, baggy T-shirts and floppy fringes and take a few seconds to high five the front row before launching into early single “Totally Bone”. The band are well rehearsed, uber tight and manage to all jerk their skinny bodies around in unison. The mosh pit at the front instantly explodes into a see of arms and legs and the occasional thrown shoe.



After a quick shout-out to local favourites Dutch Uncles they fly into the stellar single Pink Sabbath. Danan’s trademark quick flurries of melodious guitar chords mixed with abrasive riffage and smart tongue in cheek lyrics is easily whipping the crowd, and not just the young ones, into a frenzy. Halfway through the set they divide the crowd and attempt what they call the “Wall of Cuddles”; One side of the room runs directly at the other and vice versa. They are careful to explain to the overeager audience that the idea is to cuddle as many people as possible and stress that “moshing is for losers” thankfully what could be potentially an ugly incident ends as a peaceful hug fest and the band blast into the fantastic ‘The Greater Than Symbol and The Hash’ from their Sissy Hits E.P.

The bouncers leer hungrily from the wings taking obvious glee in dragging off over energetic youngsters attempting to stage dive. Finally the band finish their set with the epic ‘1993’, encouraging the crowd to sing along as second singer and part time drummer Calum Gunn runs around the venue dishing out hugs to all and sundry. The girl stood in front of me wraps two sweaty arms around him and I’m not sure she’s prepared to ever let go.

Dananananaykroyd obviously have a strong connection with people, and not just the young. As they wave goodbye to the crowd they make a point of thanking the oldies (over 18s) stood towards the rear of the venue. There aren’t many bands who could have you bouncing off the walls one minute and then charm your pants off the next.

Easily one of the most exciting and vibrant bands around at the moment, their fearsome live reputation is well earned. It’s almost impossible not to fall in love with these cheeky Glaswegians. They certainly brightened my day.

Weirdos On The Bus Go Round and Round

So I'm on my way to see Dananananaykroyd and I'm running late, and I need to get there because I'm supposed to be reviewing it for someone who's far more reputable than this blog will ever be. So I'm in a bit of a modd coz I'm miss Dinosaur Pile Up who are the support. But the bus driving is on a bit of a mission so I'm liking that.

On gets some old duffer with about 8 carrier bags. Bus sets off at a rate and sends the old fella stumbling about a bit. Normally I'd be a bit outraged at this coz I love any excuse to hate busdrivers, but I'm in a hurry so this guy can drive like a maniac if he wants just as long as he's moving. The old fella gives him a bit of a look as if to say "I nearly fell over then" but then starts scrabling around on the floor for a free paper. I'm thinking you old fossil just sit the fuck down, nevermind the metro. He picks one up and makes his way to the back ofthe bus and sits in the opposite corner to me. Sitting down he sees the back seat is strewn with free papers and he goes "oooh there's lots of free papers here" so my internal Weirdo alarm is going off now and I'm staring hard out the window. Rule Number 1 avoid contact at all costs.

Few stops later a women gets on, mid fifties I'd say. She's swinging her handbag and singing out loud and comes and sits in the middle of the back seat with a "Oops a daisy" as she sits down. Weirdo alarm goes off again. Two weirdos on one seat, something batty is bound to happen.

Few stops later the old fella starts coughing and the woman breaks rule number 1 by saying "ooh too many cigarettes!" to him. He goes "I don't smoke" to which she replies "Ooh i do" she says it in a way that's like he's just said he doesn't like jam on his crumpets. So I'm thinking two weirdos, but whose the weirdest of these two...well...this is what the old fella said next...

"I don't smoke, I don't drink and I don't gamble, never have. When I were sixteen I worked down a mine, I'm a yorkshireman you see. There was a man that worked down the mine, they called him Pendlebury. Anyway one week he took his weeks wages and went into the bookies and placed half his money on a horse. Well that horse came up short. So in he went again and put the rest of his weeks wages on another horse. And that horse came up short. So he went home and told his wife about it, you see he wanted to take his kiddies on holiday, they were going to Cleethorpes. Any road, that night he went and threw himself down the mine shaft and killed his 'sen!"

To which the woman replied "What dead?"

Brilliant that, I thought. The geezer is more mental, anyone can see that, but he won't stop there.....

"I don't drink, don't smoke, don't gamble, don't go pictures, don't do bingo, don't do crosswords," Crosswords being the evil twin of gambling of course, "I've read the bible about 6 times and that's where I get my joy from, reading that book."

So he's obviously a weirdo but I feel a bit bad because he's obviously not got much in his life except reading his bible stories and you can't really knock him for that. We sit in silence for afew minutes the woman obviously knows she's beaten, she's number two weirdo on this bus. She engaged him and he beat her down Knock Out delivery round one. She'll maybe learn her lesson now...at this point a sneak a peep and she's pretending to sleep!! But this fellas not bothered and despite the presence of two young girls a few seats away he carries on with a great line ...

"Cut him in half it did, that mine shaft. A man I know who works the bucket said he heard a bang and then the screaming"

It's a sign of the times that we don't strike up conversation with strangers like the olden days (whenever they were). I'm not sure that's a good or a bad thing.I do know that you're probably better off not engaging nutjobs on the bus though and herein ends the lesson.

Oh..yeah made the gig..Danan' were pretty good.

No Age/The Drums @ Deaf Institute 21/10/09

Word on the street is that The Drums are this years Vampire Weekend. I'm not so sure which street I'm referring to but after writing a hastily put together review of their mega catchy "Lets Go Surfing" single I was strolling around Topshop (as you do!) and there on the video wall was the Brooklyn based combo singing the very same song. If you've scored well with my well versed opinion and manage to get your video on the TopShop instore video wall then I'm pretty sure the future is looking bright for you.

After being heavily touted around this years In The City Festival/Event/Conference (not sure what the hell it is these days. I do know it used to be free and now it's £20 a wristband) I fully expect The Drums to be this years darling band. Strange to see them added to tonights line up with No Age then, but then again not that strange eh??

So I was sort of annoyed with myself right from the start but my know-it-all girlfriend assured me they wouldn't be on until ten. So when we rocked up we'd already missed the first few songs. You could tell the hype had spread as the crowd was spilling out the door. Luckily the aformentioned know-it-all spotted a break in the crowd and we hot footed it onto the Deaf Institute balcony. It's actually the first time I've seen a band from up there and its quite a weird experience, you sort of feel like your sat on the shoulders of the crowd whilst balancing one footed on the stage. First thing I noticed was that The Drums had no bass player yet lots of bass. It took me a nano second to spot from my current vantage point the drummer cueing up a backing track for each song which contained bass, whistling, vocals and keyboards... Which I sort of think is the sort of thing...well...a band should play!!



Their line up is a little off balance too; Singer, drummer, two guitarists (who were both playing very similar things, shirley one could have grabbed a bass?) and two backing singers. I love the idea of backing singers, these two perhaps weren't so much as singing backup as singing along to back up and fake wistling too. I'm well into musical gadgetry myself so I'm not really sure why all this backing track stuff bothers me so much. Maybe because it's easy to put on a 'show' if you don't have to worry about the music!! Singer Jonathan Pierce (yeah I know) looked like he'd come as an extra from a tin tin movie with his stripey top and short long pants maybe he'd just stepped of WHAM's summer yacht. The guitarists swooned around like foppish rascals carefully avoiding eye contact with the audience. Musically...yes it was alright, and "Lets Go Surfing" is a major CHOON and I wouldn't be suprised if the band got major exposure on behalf of that song alone. It was hard to hear anything else in their set that had anything near the same effect. It was all very cool and nicely done but I wonder if comparisons to Vampire Weekend are in the end just wishful thinking.

I have to be honest and say I was glad to see a fair few people fuck off after The Drums had played. The Deaf is a great venue but they don't half have a tendency to over pack it and no matter where you stand your either in the way of the bar, the smoking terrace, the bogs or the door. So yes, it was nice to see a fair few people do one.

Californian Two piece No Age came on stage and started faffing with their gear. I sort of like bands who can be on stage doing nothing and not feel the need to speak or apologise. The guitarist had an Ampeg Bass stack, a Marshall half stack and what looked like a Fender twin all set up and I presume he was playing through all three. After an intro of layered droned and frenzied strumming they launched into their first number. Instantly the word "Brilliant" flashed into my head. What a guitar sound, bass, treble and middle all ear crunchingly loud and the drummer wailing into the mic and bashing his kit. The vocals were a bit quiet throughout the entire show but I like that. They're buried within the noise and you have to strain to hear melody (you've no chance hearing words!).



I came to the show tonight despite not being impressed with what I've heard of the band via the mp3 bloggers paradise. Seeing them live was like finding the missing piece of the puzzle and I could hear all the things now that I couldn't before. This was like seeing Dinosaur in their prime. The brutal rawness tangled brilliantly with the merest hint of a pop song. Then when you thought you were getting into a melodic hook they yank it away from you into more noise and wave after wave of scratchy feedback. I nearly bought a T-shirt I was that impressed, but I didn't because I'm tight!! I'll probably pick up some of their records now though, because the gig tonight was a wonderful display of sparse punk driven pop songs. Loved it.

Wooden Shjips @ Islington Mill 20/08/09

So yeah part two of the "reviews written well after the gig and therefore pretty ropey" section. Instead of being knackered and not really focused on the gig like last time, this time I'm facing the prospect of getting up at five AM and going to the airport and flying to Berlin (via Dusseldorf), so that's hanging over my head and slightly occupying my mind.

I've never been to Islington Mill before, some people moan that it's too far to go for a gig but it's 'only a ten minute walk from the town centre'. I suggest that people claiming such should actually heel and toe it themselves before saying such. Not that I did, I drove it and got lost, hence the bitterness ... yes??

So Islington Mill is a dump, but a lovable one at that. What at first is an intimidating atmosphere of sweat and sweaty bodies, with sweat soacked air and sweaty heathens to push through the venue is really cool. The bar is essentially a pile of shit with a bit of wood on the top. The booze was cheap (I wasn't driving back!) but unfortunately it wasn't as cool as the venue.

Gnod are tonights opening band. It's obvious why they've been chosen for the gig and I'm always disappointed when looking for a local support act some promoters just go for bands that sound identical to headline act. It seems a bit like going out for a steak and having a bigmac for a starter..sort of the same, but shitter!! Gnod were better than your usual BigMac though in fact they were really good, their sound is a mix of all things, a little bit Mark E Smith a little bit trance a little bit (well a lot prog rock). The band themselves were equally a mixed bag indies kids, dredheads and a few metallers..all good. Worth checking out again.



Wooden Shjips..like Gang gang dance a year before them are close to my album of the year choice (obviously that means a lot to them). The San Diegans (San Diego-ins, San Diegoites...???) second album 'Dos' capturing the rawness of early sonic Youth and adding flavours of trance and freakout not matched by many psych contempories. And before anyone starts, Yes I know all their songs sound the same, it's how they roll, deal with it, maaaan.



So yeah, they were ace...except for two things; neither had anything to do with the band. First up was the guy behind me obviously there at some friends behest who had to, and I mean had to describe everysong to his buddys. It wasn't just the volume and the appaling similies he was gushing but the obviousness that he was just looking around theroom and saying stuff out loud "Oh wow that one was like Ozric Tentacles on acid in a sweaty ship yard", "Yowsers that one was like a cosmic bus driver on a couch of doom in a room full of people..." I was waiting for "That one was like a closet peodophile who doesn't know the volume of his own voice giving opinions nobody asks for in order to impress a girl that's probably already married" but...



... we moved into the crowd a bit to get away from Jonathan King and friends and ended up stood behind two guys dancing. Nowt wrong woth that (you'd think), entitled to have a boogie aren't you?? Well yeah but these two were propa off their tits. Soft drinks at Islington Mill are served in tiny plastic cups and these two would take it turns to go get two lemonades struggle back to where the other was, after slopping half the drink on his way over, then they'd both do the "pop" like a shot and thirty seconds later the other was off to the bar. It amused me a lot I can tell you, just that their inability to keep within their own space got a bit annoying. You know the bit in Dirty Dancing when he goes "this is my space, this is yours" yeah well that's what was going on, he was looking at his phone and kept walking backwards...onto my feet. Nice lad did apoligise a few thousand times before he had to go off to the bar for a quick shot of "pop". Then I bought a T-shirt and we went home, had an early start the next day.

Gang Gang Dance @ Deaf Institute 18/08/09

I spent the past few days treking around the Edinburgh Festival drinking and eating myself stupid and fitting in the odd comedy show. It's fair to say that after dumping ones bags in the hall and essentially turning around and backing out the nice warm restful house going to see a band isn't the ideal thing to be doing. The train journey was one of them when (and I do this more often than not) I somehow get the feeling that the journey is nearing it's end and then get annoyed when it doesn't. Like in The Dark Knight when you think it's drawing out to an ending and then starts up again by the fourth time it does this you're really quite annoyed. That was me on the train back from Edinburgh.

Gang Gang Dance should have been the first band to feature in this blog, seen as they were scheduled to play at the Roadhouse in February. Unfortunately for punters and band the show was cancelled as their tour van burnt up (does a van burn up or down) with all their gear in it. this, along with the fact that last years album St Dymphna was in my topper most of the top albums of 2008 I wasn't gonna miss their next Manchester gig, no matter how physically fucked I was feeling (8 and a half outta ten). I'm also writing this after the event so you're getting short changed before we've even began because I've been to Berlin since and can't rememeber a lot of it!! Ha!! Read on losers...



Support act was the Sian Alice Group and they were indeed top draw. The four (or maybe five) piece displayed some hypnotic driving rhythms and stuff like that. The singer looked hot (in a sexual sense) and cool (in a fonzy sense) and sort of reminded me of Patti Smith without the lectures. The band had quite a relaxed vibe about them and reminded me of the Walkmen a little bit, although that was just about the overall visual impression (suits and moustaches).



Gang Gang Dance can't be everybodies cup of tea, for starters if they were I wouldn't wanna live in that world. Better writers than me have written about them trying to explain their range of influence both inwards and outwards but it's always a shortcoming (the journalism, not the music). They line up on stage with a large pile of gizmos and gadgets, a guitarist and a drummer a singer with some congas which she plays with what I can't help remember as large cotton buds (i'm sure some bore will inform me of their correct name).

I'd heard a live podcast a few weeks earlier so I wasn't suprised at their set which contained a large protion of instrumental improvisation with many multi layered percussion parts which I'd really enjoy listening to, but there's really only so long you can watch someone play the congas before you get a bit restless and what with the aforementioned train journey it's amazing I lasted.

They were ace, the album was much better. I liked the way they jammed songs out but was frustrated that they didn't play all their strongest songs. The guy playing the keyboards and samples needs a hug because he seemed to be doing just about everything while everyone else jammed it (or winged it). But yeah they were great, my girlfriend liked them (not as much as Sian Alice Group) but then she likes anything with a femal singer she's one of these "Ya-hoo you go girl" types.

Cornershop @ MOHO 27/07/09

The bouncers at MOHO are a welcoming bunch. Their sarcastic jibes at our attempts to form an orderly cue while they pointlessly hold us at the top of the steps are a typical example. Once we descend the stairs we're ordered to keep to the left with such ferocity I'm virtually merging myself with the wall. We finally make it into the venue proper and see for ourselves why the doormen are so vigilantly on guard and why the slow progress into the venue was such a necessity...there's eight people here.

My heart skips a little when there is hushed talk of the support act being french songstress and general all round cutie-pie Soko. But, alas, no, she was last nights support. Tonights opening act are Dirty North hotly tipped by Manchesters own John Robb who stands front and centre for their set. When people who's taste in music you respect tip you onto something there's no doubts you listen with more a considered ear than perhaps otherwise. Still, when Dirty North take the stage I think this is going to be a fine line...either really good or doggest of dog. Basically they look like a stoner games workshopper and his two ASBO mates, that's cruel perhaps, but descriptive. I'm informed the guitarist turned up to the gig without an amp, guitar strap or plectrum which had to be borrowed from Cornershop..not the greatest of omens. However it's clear that, and rather like the kitkat ads of yesteryear, despite the appalling sound, the bad image and more than a few sloppy mistakes Dirty North are a diamond in the rough. Their arctic monkeys/streets style lyrics gel well with the dub sounds they're going for. The guitarist and the drummers vocals work nicely and what becomes very apparent throughout their short set is that under the roughness lies songs, actual songs that are engaging. They need to polish up the music and get the sound tighter and louder. One for the future there me thinks.



Cornershop are a weird band. I say band, it's not really a band it's two guys, and it's not really two guys it's one guy. Tajinda Singh has been the leader of Cornershop for nearly twenty years and I struggle to think of another band that has stuck around for that long without any big selling albums or indeed any big singles. Sure there was that single, but that was a remix and when people compared the 'shop version to the remix almost everyone goes for the Fat Boy. When you consider their sound is a mix of sixties psychedelia, indian roots music and twee indie pop it's a major achievement to still be around. Currently it seems everyone is falling over themselves to heap praise on new album Judy Sucks A Lemon so it doesn't seem like their here just to make up the numbers.

One by one they take to the stage jamming along to the PA and kick of the set with a couple of older tracks including the brilliant "Sleep On The Left Side". There's seven in the band; drums, percussionist, panama hat wearing hammond player, bass, Tajinda on vocals and two guitar players...one of which is permanent member Ben Ayers stood virtually in darkness at the very edge of the stage.

They come across as slightly nervous and stiff, not helped by the backing track which is keeping them locked into a fixed momentum. I'm not sure what the backing track adds, except the obvious female backing vocals, it'd be nice to see them draft in some real people for the job a la Spiritualised. The ridgidity of the performance isn't helped by the absolute lack of stage presence. Tajinda Singh when not playing guitar looks awkward and uncomfortable up front and centre stage, often turning his back and ambling around almost in a vain attempt to get out of the spot light. The version of Mighty Quinn is raspingly good, I love the track in any case but still i feel if the band had of been singing along rather than leaving Tajinda to sing with the backing track I might've been brought to tears. Then they treat us to another gem their indian tinged version of Norweigen Wood, rather strangely and I must have missed something here they play it twice!!

Towards the end of their set they seem to find their groove. Long drawn out psychedelic sitar influenced guitar jams, I wish I could hear the percussion more because he seems to be putting his all into it but the sound mans AWOL. I find myself zoning out in tantric wonderment, headnodding totally immersed in the music. Yeah I'd had a few beers, maybe a few more than I should have but I was feeling it...maaaan, far out groovy. Not retro but nowtro.

If Cornershop didn't exist, and there's not a lot of bands you can say this about, there would be a solid need to invent them. Maybe they'll never sell a great deal of albums, but everybody needs a bit of indian sitar psychedelia in their lives, almost as much as everyone needs a bosom for a pillow.

Deerhoof @ Deaf Institute 29/06/09

It's baking hot and I'm slumped on the couch watching Andy Murray make hard work of beating some eastern european chap. I manage to drag my sweaty self upright and into town as tonight is Deerhoof night.

The San Diego based four piece have fast become one of my favourite bands their inventive and angular guitar music has been a revelation over the past few months on my mp3 player (poor mans ipod) so I'm really looking forward to tonight. Trouble is it's so damn hot I can barely muster the enthusiasm to raise a sweaty fist into the air.

Walking up the stairs at the deaf institute can be an insufferable chore and I often find myself longingly looking at the disabled chair lift and thinking "if only.." but I somehow manage to drag myself up there and hand over my crumpled and slightly damp (it's been in my jeans pocket and its really hot ..ok??) ticket and see the dreaded "SOLD OUT" sign. Which essentially means it's going to be very busy and very warm. What I wasn't expecting though as I stepped into the marvellous Deaf Institute top room was the daylight streaming through the glass ceiling. The normal murky world of pre gig ambling around was now given a spotlight of illumination and I felt suddenly very vunerable I mean ...people can see me. It gives the place a bit of a youth club vibe. Lots of folk just standing around, there's no dark corners for a lonesome gig goer to go and lurk in so I barge my way to the bar and then out onto the terrace for a welcome blast of fresh air.

Finally Punk are the middle band, I've managed to miss the first band because my gig arrival time is now almost perfect. Finally Punk come from Los Angeles they tell us, explaining that they're on tour with Sticks (the first band). They consist of four rather wholesome if slightly kooky looking girls. Their first number is a off kilter yapping punk track and then the singer and guitarist swap places. I'm thinking, throughout the second song, that it's a bit weird to have a non-singer singing your first track but then for the third song they all swap again so the drummer is now singing, bassist on guitar, singer on drums and guitarist on bass...confused?? Well I was especially as it seemed that none of them were really much cop on any instrument! The pattern continues and inbetween every song we're treated to a mini merry-go-round of instruments. I find it painful watching people play guitar when they obviously can't. It's the wrists that get me, the cacky right wrist and the awkward grasp of the plectrum. Strumming a guitar with a hand the shape of an arthritic claw is never gonna sound good. Unfortunately Finally Punk don't either.

I love Jad Fair, I love Half Japanese. I played a show with him once and he's a real swell guy. I've derived much much pleasure from lo-fi bands who hold ideas above musical ability but I don't get this naive rock bullshit anymore. There is no "so bad it's good" in music, I don't follow the Emperors new clothes line (clothes line Arf Arf) at all. What sounds shit, i find, is generally shit. Having said all that I started to spot where perhaps the original line up was. The last few tracks seemed tighter and had a better groove. I noticed the girl who started singing was now on drums and she seemed to be playing a proper beat, the bassist seemed to be able to play without glaring at the neck and to be fair all four of them delivered their post-punk yappy lyrics quite well. Alas, none of them were guitarists. Towards the end of the gig they mention this is their first time in Manchester and how they drove into manchester singing Smiths songs, but they play the "Oh my god we're like so geeky we were singing Smiths songs" card a bit heavy and it's all a bit too Legally Blonde for me.




So the make up of Deerhoof is this...Satomi Matsuzaki is the japanese bassist and married to self taught guitarist John Dieterich, band leader seems to be the affable Greg Saunier on drums and finally the newest member is Ed Rodriguez. That's the back story, I think it's important because there's so much chemistry on stage it's really quite infectious. They start of with a weird choice 'Chatterboxes' which I thought was a bit of a non-event to open up with. In fact, and maybe it's the heat, the first three or four numbers are curiously slow burners. Eventually the gurning from Saunier and Rodriguez's taunting of Satomi finally seem to lure the band into life. Saunier's kit is reduced to a couple of drums and a massive high hat (with plastic bag dampner!) and eventually his long arms and legs begin flailing around.

There's no "O'malley, former Underdog" in tonights set but the brilliant "Spirit Ditties of No Tone" kicks the night up a gear with Satomi dancing her way through songs and occasionally plucking a bass note. She trades the bass with her husband for a song and there's an amusing bit when she spends a few minutes wiping his sweat off her beloved Hofner bass, she then sets about wiping him down, it's cute. Then she's on top of an amp with a whistle singing and acting out a song about a girl who doesn't have enough money to pay the train fare. There's something very Japanese about her (I guess that'd be the being Japanese part) but what I'm thinking is if she acted like this and was English it'd be quite annoying and cutesy whereas it seems cool and cutesy!! Oh those cute crazy Japs eh!! God!!



The biggest cheers of the night come for tracks from the bands last album "Offend Maggie". A brilliant album that is possibly marred by a few too many tracks. But tonight "Tears of Music and Love", "Snoopy Waves" and "Fresh Born" are all fantastic. They make me realise how special they are, there's just something about they way they write songs that's very original and fresh. Plus I think Dieterich and Rodriguez are formidable guitar duo. Satomi requests all the lights to be turned off and then runs back on stage with a day glo mini basket ball and they jerk into "Basketball get your groove back" a bizarre if totally ace track about rabbits and Basketball "Bunny jump Bunny jump Bunny jump" go the lyrics.

Satomi is spinning around and Rodriguez follows suit, the impression that's obvious is that this band love playing and hanging out together.I don't think I've seen a band smile so much on stage. The two of them start following each other around the stage holding their instruments in the air and flying them around the stage like planes. Satomi spins around and accidentally cracks Ed Rodriguez on the back with her bass. He falls on the floor in mock pain and then in slow motion acts out smashing his guitar over Satomis head then it turns into a slow motion guitar smash up session the three of them mockingly throwing guitars at each other even drummer Saunier gets in on the act waving his arms around and then tinkling the cymbal and then ghost hitting it. Had to be their I guess, It was funny if only because you could tell they didn't care, this wasn't rehearsed stage craft this was four loons playing music and having fun on a balmy summers night.

For the ubiquitous encore they swap instruments around and unlike Finally Punk prove that they can all actually play. Drummer Saunier takes lead guitar and vocals for a brilliantly chilled out version of Canned Heats "Going Up The Country". I'm exhausted I want to enthuse more but I'm drained, stick a fork in me!

White Denim @ Ruby Lounge

Calling all hipsters!! Last years SXSW was dominated by the emergence of Texas's own White Denim the three pieces blistering live sets seemed to capture audiences right across the board and after checking all the relevant blogs and downloading what tunes were available (illegally..oh yeah!)i had to wait almost a year for their debut album "Workout Holiday" finally emerged. Even after having the albums best tracks hammered on my MP3 player for the past year the albums 'album tracks' still provided a decent listen and more than a hint of the ambiguity in the bands musical direction.

Initial listens to their follow up album 'Fits' didn't blow me away so it was with much mixed apprehension that I set out for tonights gig!! You'll be glad to know that I managed to arrive at venue on time and in one piece. What I first noticed was that virtually everyone I spotted within the first few minutes of entering the venue was in a band, ran a label or a club night or did press for bands..it was totally fucking scene in their and obviously I slotted in like a dog in wig turning up to a Megan Fox lookalike contest.

The support band were half way through their set when I arrived. To be honest I wasn't really listening to them. If I could remember their name I'd probably try and catch them again (presuming they were local which I think they were!)

White Denim came on stage at 9.15...Now that's a cracking gig time for midweek non of this dicking about after midnight mularky here. With any luck I might be able get back for last few minutes of USA dumping Spain out of the Confederation Cup ( I didn't btw). They are a three piece of conventional nature; drums, bass and guitar but that's where the usual conventions end. The guitarist chuggs out a few piercing lead lines, loops them, and then off they go and when they do the room is literally shaking. I'm stood near the PA so it's loud but this is really loud and I'm straining to see what's going on stage. The deafening din seems to whisper a melody that I faintly recognise as from the first album. Guitarist and bassist are jumping around wailing into their mics. Drummer is set in the middle, front of stage..best place for a drummer that I think.



Five minutes in i realise they're playing "Let's Talk about it" and they've just meandered from one song to the next and then while I'm contemplating that they drift seamlessly into "Shake Shake Shake". The band are equal measure tight and sloppy...the melodies sound all over the shop and I can see the guitarist is almost laughing his way through what on the album was intricate lead lines and are now fuzzy, trebly squeals. To counter that together as a band they are so tight. Songs that seem a maddening noise stop and start abruptly. Guitar and bass drop out leaving the drummer pounding along, both guitar and bass player stand watching waiting for some unheard signal and then launch along with him. It's loud and frantic but most of all I'm struck by how much fun they seem to be having. Not bothered with playing the right notes or singing the right words it seems to be about the energy and they've certainly got it. This "first number" which seems to be a medley of sorts of most of the first album lasts for almost 30 minutes when they finally pause to wipe the pouring sweat from their faces.

"Thanks a lot for coming out see ya later" the drummer quips, but I'm thinking that past half hour was more exciting than most things I've seen. They blast through a few more tracks the headband wearing guitarist is soaked in sweat but it's the chinese guy in front of me who catches my eye for two reasons! First of all his moshing causes his sweat to fly in my face, and then he's just moshing too slow..well at half speed or maybe I'm tapping my foot at double speed anyway just as I'm getting into a track he get's into it to and he's moshing at half the speed I'm tapping my foot and ......well..it's really off putting...I dunno why! But he's ruining it ok?? And his girlfriend is doing that "I'm trying really hard to look like I'm into this" thing with massive over the top dance moves that aren't really called for. In any case it wouldn't be a proper review if I didn't sulk at some banal shit would it??



The White denim sound...I dunno I hate describing what bands sound like...(why bother writing this then??) but it's a mash of white boy blues, liquer and adrenalin. When I say white boy blues I'm not talking about some purist like Rory Gallagher more along a pissed up Keef backed by a pissed up Cream...oh I dunno...There's bits that remind me of Hendrix and parts that sound like the Minutemen. "Heart From Us All" and "All you really have to do" great songs in their own right but tonight amongst the fury the way they suddenly break down layering space with some fantastically original melody's well it's working on me. There's always a problem with bands that receive massive hype but tonight is one of them nights when you realise that sometimes what people describe as hype is just people telling other people "Hey..you should check this out..it's fucking ace" and to be honest there's really nothing wrong with that!!

They finish tonight with instrumental "WDA" from the first album. The guitarist seems to fluff virtually every riff but he doesn't seem to care and to be honest I don't think anyone else does either. My heads pounding by the time I get home. You heard the hype about White Denim?? Yeah fucking ace band!!

Dan Deacon 03/06/09 Club Academy

Here we go again. Miraculously bus comes without incident and I'm there in good time..it's sort of like all the past trials and tribulations have given me an acquired knowledge and wisdom...is it that I'm learning from past tragedies?? could be.

So get there without incident for Future Islands, who take a while to figure out. Fat geezer on bass, skinny lad on samples and keys and it takes me a good few minutes to decide that the chubber singing ISN'T Jack Black. He very nearly could be...but he isn't. He's throwing himself about the stage like a loon though and despite his fat-guy-with-a-massive-sweat-on appearence he's intelligent and charasmatic enough between songs to make me like him. I think i'll spend the morning checking them out on myspace. "This is what I think it feels like to be in love" he says about the last song and its full of super cheerful keyboard lines bordering on cheesy happy hardcore yet there's still plenty of charm in there despite him flicking his sweat into the crowd ...who actually seem to be lapping it up.

Dan Deacon is a bit of a weird one. Solo artist, I keep hearing the word electro used describing him. Isn't electro like funkmaster farley..I don't know...anyhow his psychedelic synth based pop music is really great if completely nuts. Last album Bromst is a composite of a zillion ideas crammed into insanely catchy if sometimes irritating tunes. Usually he forgoes the stage and prefers to set up his table of gadgets, synths and pedals right in the 'mosh pit' but tonight he's with his ensemble.

Ambling onto stage is a fat guy who strolls up and tells three jokes I can only remember the last "what's beethovens favourite fruit?" Ba-na-na-naaaa..yeah ok the second joke was funnier but I forget that now. He asks if anyone else has a joke and some guy actually does the "2 guys walk into a bar...you'd a thought one of them would have seen it" joke. Groans and moans indicate that stand up is over for now.

Fat guy strolls to the back of the stage and takes his place with the ensemble. We have four guys stood around a table that's layered in keyboards, three drummers (one very hot girl drummer), two guitarists, a bass player and two guys on xylophones, they coulda been glockenspiels..in fact the probably were..and of course Dan Deacon who despite the trendy and hipness of his music is easily in his forties, quite fat (plenty of meat about tonight!) ginger, bearded and has huge timmy mallet style specs on. "Thank you stand up comedy of america" he says.

"Raise a hand in the air" comes the instruction from the stage and everyone in the sparsely filled room does so. "Join hands with someone, look them in the eye and say I WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN..." he begins and everyone repeats him..on and on he goes testifying about lamented love and loss and declaring passion and freedom for all....for me obviously it's slightly awkward as I'm on my own and don't have any friends. There's two guys holding hands in front of me...I don't think they'll want me to join and a couple next to me again...they don't welcome me in...they look a bit weird plus I start to spot a few other members of the awkward scene standing alone..amen brothers and sisters. On and on he goes screaming and people are screaming back or rather screaming at their partners..finally they launch into the opening number 'paddling ghost' and it's fucking awesome.



Deacons music is the product of an obviously warped mind layering on sample over sample using massive pitch effects on his voice so he's singing like a demented chipmonk..it's often hilarious, often harrowing. Tonight everything seems to be played live by the band, who absolutely nail what I'd think was unnailable, it's incredible. He's got a stand next to him atop of which is a glowing skull. There's various lights sort of similar to the vertical lights seen in animal collectives live sets. But he's also got a few normal lights on stands and he's using some mixer to switch between them. The song lurches between mental percussion parts to keyboards melody to xylophone and back again and he's triggering the lights to match and it's like we're following the action around the stage...the drummers..the keyboards...the percussion the guitarists..all lit up individually.

He seems to be having some trouble with his vocal mix so instead opts to light up the day glow skull, "Yeah well there isn't many lyrics in that song anyway" he declares. Then he jumps from the stage "Lets form a wide circle" and we do. Backs pressed against the walls we're stood in a circle around Deacon..did I mention that he and all the band are wearing white jump suits..well they are! The second song (yep only on second song) he dances around in the middle, third song he gets two people in the middle..arms spread like birds to dance with each other in the ultimate dance off. He divides the circle into two and were each routing for our side, the dancers tag others who replace them and dance off against each other..some guy trues some pretty cute moves but his ambition falters and he ends up on his ass...me I'm trying to get as far behind a big bloke as I can. I don't do the dancing.

Next up Deacon identifies the best dancer in the room and he dances alone in the centre while we copy him around the circle..taking a step closer when instructed..the song this time is the brilliant "Woof Woof" an insane keyboard portamento line that just seems to keep on building and building...closer and closer we get until everyone is stood in the middle of the room bouncing up and down...it's nowhere near the stage where the band are playing. I'm thinking this venue is barely a third full and yet over 95% (overly accurate there) of the crowd are in a mosh pit (not me fact fans two reasons... full pint and specs..always careful me!)



Next act or next song I should say as the band are playing during all this. Fat stand up comedian of America dances in the middle and we all copy his moves and then on instruction "RUSH HIIIMM!!" and again a massive mosh pit..well a pogo pit starts up. It's not like you're gonna get hurt there's no bullet belts or doc martins in here. Worst that'll happen is that someone might chaff your cheek with their polyester cardigan.

Then we're all instructed to move to one side of the room. Two people stand opposite each other and join hands above their heads, two people run through them and then stand next to them arms aloft and joined in the air. We're making a human corridor. "So you run through and join the end of the line...we're going out the venue...out the fire escape...into the street..round the tree and then back through the fire escape and back into the venue...make no mistake at some point in this next song the band will be the only people in the room". And we do it! screaming our little heads off as we run through a corridor of arms and legs. I end up holding hands with some geezer who's also aware that he's holding hands with some geezer we don't know each other but we handle it! While we're stood outside watching people running under our arms I can still hear the band slightly in the venue and then we're off again running and screaming through a corridor of converse, cardigans and skinny jeans. We almost make it back to the venue but someone decides enough's enough and everyone piles back into the venue. On queue as the last person enters the room the band ratchets up the noise and song shifts and changes wonderfully.

So you might have realised that instead of a review this has turned into a document of what happened..I can barely remember the music..maybe that was the point. I came away more excited than I've been in a long time. Words like 'spectacle' and 'event' flying around the cerebellum. Had to call my mate to tell him all about it. I dunno if everyone in the room was expecting this kind of show from Dan Deacon, I'd heard he was great live but wasn't expecting the charisma and originality (and ambition!) that was displayed. This was a fantastic show, and yeah I can't remember the set list or much about the band but Deacon was so enthralling to watch and listen to I urge you to check him out.

Oh yeah and there was a rambling anecdote about a sick dog but I'm having that for myself!!

Telepathe @ Deaf Institute

So as I'm wandering out tonight I'm thinking about this solo gig going mularky and how the expectation of disaster changes your expectation of an evening..no longer is it a case 'I hope the band live upto expectation' but rather 'I hope I can get through this without making an utter clown of myself'. I'm thinking about this when I'm stood at the bus stop and the bus pulls up, doors open, doors close, bus drives off. Me..?? I'm still stood at the bus stop with all kinds of "WHAT THE FUCK!!" written all over my face!! I'm still a little stunned at how the previous bus driver obviously didn't like the look of me when I hop on another bus and we're off into town, except we're not, because this driver takes a wrong turn and then under the guidence of the jamaican behemoth on the front seat executes a three point turn even my placid driving instructor would cringe at. I'm already late setting off because I got side tracked by the Uefa Cup Final...Well done Shakhtar BTW!!

Oh yeah and did I mention it was raining or at least it was when I realised the bus I'd hopped on went to Piccadilly but not Oxford Road so I'd have to heel and toe it down to the Deaf Institute. Finally I got there.

With all the hilarity of Me Vs The Buses, I've missed the first band but gladly spot that Telepathe are on at 10pm which means we're on for the bus home and don't have to worry about a taxi (see Health review) so perhaps that's the way it works...an ordeal either on way to or way back from a gig. Anyway I got there. I manage to catch most of Sir Please Sir or Sir Yes Sir not sure what their name is as they aren't the ones listed on the poster.

Lets get straight to the point...they were shit. The type of fodder you'd expect at a 'local band' night not on stage supporting a highly tipped band on tour. The three piece of guitar, bass and drums contained members who could barely play, special nomination for the bass player who looked like he was holding his instrument for the first time (pfnarr). Their emo ramblings were a clash of noise with little coherence, the bass and drums couldn't drive the songs on. What you got instead was a stagnent mush of average planted right in your face. It's worse when they try and banter "this ones from emo classic 7" says the hilarious singer going on to say "You should blame all this on Stephen Malkmus". While Malkmus and his Pavement cronies are certainly responsible for a lot of things I'm not holding them accoutable for this, that would be insanity.

The band then complete the list of "things that shit band do onstage" (before you ask of course they've got the initials of the band name in masking tape on their guitars!) they have a joke with all their mates in the audience and then claim "We don't have tuners we do it by ear" and then a good minute and a half of the most annoying sound in the world as they try and tune up. They're dead young and obviously haven't got much of a clue so I tend to blame the promoter here. File under "What the fuck was I thinking".

Just a quick word about the crowd while were at it. I was expecting this gig to be Ramo (could've used Chocker there as well but I didn't)...Dance Mother the Telepathe debut album has recieved acclaim from across the music world and featured in many of the "Best of 2008" lists published around the web. Their live reputation is a little shakey but the Deaf Institute is about a third full tonight.

The Telepathe album didn't grab me at first. It doesn't jump out at you, choosing to swamp your senses with a treacle of laid back cool. The two girls Melissa Livaudais and Busy Gangnes (yeah I know..) take their time setting up on stage a series of tables heaving with synths, samplers and mixers. They open with the fantastic Chromes On It. It seems to take the girls a while to get the levels to their pleasing and then they definitely seem to hit a groove. Ploughing seemlessly through the albums stand out tracks So Fine and Can't Stand It.



They've chosen to play in darkness with only a psychedelic projector illuminating the the stage... In a darker venue I think it'd look fantastic but with wallpaper as lurid as the Deaf Institutes in seems a bit of a strange move. I would've gone for some uplighters or something because it did feel like the geezer on lights had fucked off for a fag!! They'd obviously intended for the bass to be very loud and powerful and it certainly was...to such an extent that I think it overpowered some of the slower more subtle numbers. The vocals that are a key element in the songs (obviously!) were burried in the mix and often I couldn't hear the syths for the sound of the venue reverberating with bass. At one point I could actually feel beer bubbling with the reverberation around my throat as I tried to swallow. I'm certain a second either side of that swallow and the two lesbians (one hot, one not) in front of me would've been drenched in beery bass spray!!

Reading this back seems like I wasn't too impressed by them which isn't really fair because I was. It's just I'm not sure the sound and the lighting were good choices. You are always going to have problems with live performance when your live set up is two people standing behind keyboards...It doesn't give you the energy or focus a traditional band line up does. I'm not sure what the answer is...I don't think playing in the dark is!!

ATP Breeders

Seems like only yesterday I helped press gang a good friend into logging onto his laptop and buying this years ATP tickets with his credit card. The shock and awe on his face after he'd just dropped six hundred notes with the flimsy promise of "I'll get you my ticket money soon..well pretty soon!"..still amuses me to this day.

But months did indeed fly by and whilst the line up for this years second ATP May weekender appeared a little tame on the surface you just can't deny that it's one of the best festivals around. In terms of atmosphere, location and quality of bands, ATP is unsurpassed. If you've never been or heard of it (where've ya been??) it's essentially like a small summer festival but just take out all the shit bands, add loads of weirder bands, remove all the pissed up knobheads that cause trouble add a few pissed up weirdos that are funny to watch and then let everyone stay in the splendor that is Mineheads Butlins Campus...Indie Rock Prison Camp is the best weekend of your life!

So we made the four hour drive to Minehead in well...four hours..weird that! Rocked up to the chalet and reclined in our luxurious living quarters, realised we'd probably brought far too much booze and not enough food. We checked out the days line ups and realising what time it was off we went. First problem arose in that Giant Sand were on downstairs, and The Bronx on upstairs on the excellent Centre Stage. Ten years ago Giant Sand would of won this, as it is now Bronx won out...No regrets they were ace. To be honest I'm not sure what happened next...memory blank but there must have been some other bands on!!



Next up was the stella Bon Iver. This was definitely a highlight for all of our party, big fans of the beardy one. His live set was brilliant. Fuzzing up the livelier tracks from album and EP into a frenzy of blissful guitar and pounding drum rhythms with that incredible voice soaring over the top of us and into the heavens. The swapping of instruments gave the set a nice variety, without losing momentum and the set list provided all the hits. Great show.
I'm not gonna write every detail of what we did all weekend, that would take too long and you'd just end up reading this and thinking "Why'd you go to a festival and spend most of your time watching weird shit on the telly!" guilty as charged, I'm going with the idea that you gotta get into the vibe and few cans of moderately cool (try tepid) Carlsberg and some shit telly (some really fucking weird telly btw) is ideal before getting your head smashed in by Shellac...which is what happened on saturday. They were incredible. As were Melt Banana. The Japanese mentalists overlapped the much hyped Deerhunter who I wanted to see to see what all the fuss was about. They were very good in fact, even if the sing along with Kim and Kelley deal was sweet to the point of vomit inducing. The Deal sisters seemed to be enjoying themselves with a serious of cameos throughout the weekend.



I was dissappointed to see so many "older" bands on the bill. Whilst I'll always have time for the Breeders (if only for Pod) the selection of Teenage Fanclub, Throwing Muses, CSS and Foals seemed a little pedestrian to me...The addition of the unbelievably good Mariachi el Bronx (bronx go mexicana) clawed back some points as did the second Shellac set and a late night Holy Fuck show that divided our group as to how good they were (i'm in the 7 to 9 out of ten camp).



It's only looking at the list of bands who played that I realise just how much we didn't see...always the way with festivals I guess...had an incredible time though, need to go and buy some Melt banana albums now.

HEALTH/ BLK JKS @ Deaf Institute

Readers of this little blog will recall my past grievances the best time to arrive at a gig, not really an issue when you're with friends but when you rock up to a gig on your own it becomes a vital component of your evening. Tonight you'll be glad to know I got it bang on.

I got into the venue just as the Young British Artists started up their last song. A friend had seen them a few weeks before and said that the singers continual use of a loudspeaker for his vocals became very annoying after a while. I could see what she meant, but with only hearing their last track I'm not really gonna comment too much. They seemed decent enough with being sounding earth shatteringly good.

Next up were Banjo or Freakout a strange london band. Their line up promised much; a few floor toms two samplers a guitar and two stringy looking chaps, one of which looked like he knew what he was doing the other looked a lot like James Woods and it seemed it was the first time he'd seen any of the equipment. I'm well into bands using samplers so I awaited their set with great anticipation..."this is the future" i whispered to myself.

It was with great ironic mirth that the first track stuttered to a stop before it had hardly began. The James Woods looking one of the two strumming a mute guitar before stopping the looping sample and getting his obviously more competant mate to come over and somehow switch his guitar on, "sorry" he mumbles into the mic. Not the greatest of starts.

They manage to get it going. the samplers bleep out simple repeating guitar lines, some with glitchy distortions over the top. The 'other' one drums along on floor tom and James Woods strums his distorted guitar and sings over the top. There's an obvious Animal Collective influence going on here but the sound makes you appreciate just how incredible the much hyped AC actually are. Tonight Banjo or Freakout show is beset with wandering sound levels, the guitar overpowers everything and the vocals are hopelessly lost one minute and then the echo effect is warping ear drums the next. The two band members seem to spend most of the set gesturing wildly to the sound man to get things turned up. However, despite these technical issues once the guys found their groove it's easy to see why they've created a little bit of a buzz about them. There's elements of tonights set where I can feel myself getting drawn into the psychedelic edginessof their sound and one track steps even closer to an Animal Collective vibe and it sounds all the better for it. This is definately a band worth checking out, I 'll look forward to see what happens to them in the future because there were glimpses of real quality amongst the shambolicness.

The Deaf Institure is a great venue. It looks incredible, the wallpaper, the speakers above the bar, the huge glitterball. Personally I like the way the bartenders can take 3 drink orders at a time, it just gives you hope that despite the bar que being three deep that liquid refreshment isn't far away. And , Tuborg on tap, despite the plastic glasses is always worth a go.



I happened to check out South Africans BLK JKS earlier in the day and their participation in tonights event was a tipping point for me coming out. After what seemed like an ice age to set up they began their set. Once again I wasn't convinced the sound was balanced right. The bass and drums were driving the songs along but the guitars were lost and the vocals were way too upfront. I'm not sure whether someone bought a new echo effect recently but it was getting a hammering tonight. I'm not sure how wise it is to leave your vocals echoing away for every song, it certainly annoyed me. Another weird thing was that inbetween songs the band seemed to drift off into "incidental music land" noodling away for no aparent reason. Which probably explains why they only played 6 songs in thirty minutes.

Not to get down on them though because, once again when they hit their stride they really were impressive. Stand out track 'Lakeside' sounds like it could be the next TV On The Radio single, the dubby bass and drums are infectious and the afro-pop tinged guitars finally spring to life, even the echo..echo...echo starts to work with rather than against the music. The drummers the star though, he's definitely got some weight behind his drums and his backing vocals are great. In the last song he even starts whistling along and I have to say it's pretty damn great. I hear some guy in the bogs declaring they're the best band he's ever seen in his life, I admire his enthusiasm they were certainly pretty great and I'll be checking out their album when they record one. There's an awesome bit when the guitar player jumps up onto an amp and his hat flies off and sticks on the end of his guitar, but what's really cool is that his afro do is in exactly the same shape as his little beret hat...yeah well it amused me.

So inbetween bands you're always stood around and being on my own I have two usual tricks one is constantly fiddling with the phone. The mobile is a gift for the socially disabled it allows you to look purposeful and occupied without risking exposure. The second and more favourable pass time is eavesdropping on conversations. Tonight we're listening to some young students one of which is proclaiming the value of the newspaper he writes for, claiming that loads of papers rip of the humurous content he and his colleagues write. "It's satire", he proclaims to his really quite bored looking chums, "Which basically means we just sit around being racist". Obviously, you can take anything out of context and make it sound dumb but I thought that was quite funny, oh and he was being deadly serious by the way. But speaking of being racist I thought the bassist from BLK JKS was a dead ringer for Avon Barksdale in The Wire but then realised he was a black guy with a goatee and that was probably where the similarities ended.

Los Angeles band HEALTH are last up, their album has been proclaimed as a master piece. I'm not so sure, granted there are moment of sheer noise brilliance and wonderfulness but inbetween it seems to stutter and stall a bit. Not tonight though, it's like men and boys when they take the stage. The stage can barely contain them as they switch instruments effortlessly, handing over floor toms and guitars to each other without ever reigning in the noise loopage that's a constant background. Again the drummer is a big lad and he's worthy of a watch. They are incredible to be fair, like a true geek I'm straining to see what sound is coming from where. I'm pretty impressed when I realise the highpitched ring mod sounds thats been blasting out for the past few minutes is actually the bass player.



They're so good that when I realise its way past the last bus I'm not that fussed. HEALTH seem to have reinvented the sound of the guitar, no other band seems to churn such strangled sounds from their instruments (OK..well maybe MBV) it's blissful in its lunacy. The sheer forcefulness of the show is breathtaking and even when I'm forking over a tenner for the taxi ride home, trying desperately not to work out how much the gig has cost me overall, I can barely hide the smirk on my face. What a master piece.

Easter All Dayer Mad Ferret Preston

Easter is possibly the best holiday weekend around. Without the stress of Christmas and New Year, the Easter weekend offers people to opportunity to get well and truly blotto without having to face the consequences of work or family. Certainly something to be thankful for.

So this weekend I traveled back to Preston, the old homestead. Nothing's changed. The Mad Ferret is easily the best and most popular venue in the fledgling city. Its tight and informal and generally provides an ideal atmosphere for watching some great live music, as well as its fair share of useless local acts. Todays line up is a mix of out of town bands vearing towards the heavier end of the spectrum, so thankfully the the quality of this very high.

First band I catch are the Whip Hand. The sound is powerful for a three piece but I have to admit to only keeping one ear on them, they seemed a little bereft of tunes and hooks, but they haven't been going for too long so I'll let them off.

To The Bones are from Bolton. Their live reputation has brought many out tonight. They are loud and fast and highly predictable but in a great way. "1-2-FUCK-YOU" screams the singer which seems to amuse the two lads who look like IT managers stood in front of me, their heads bobbing along in rock unity. Their set is a blast of 3 minute riff heavy sabbath esque slabs of stooges cool. The singer looks on the verge of collapse by the end, the gormless DJ starts her CD set halfway through their last track, it's all a bit confusing. I've seen TTB play better and harder but this was a late afternoon slot on Easter Sunday. They still rocked harder than most bands ever will.

Next up were Chorley based instrumentalists Elohymn whose music mixes short sharp blasts of noise with intricate guitar lines and vocal samples from what sounds like Ghost hunting with Evett Fielding. The bespectacled front man has about three amps on stage, waaaay tooo mach!! His guitar is slightly overpowering the rest of the bands rhythm and drive although he does manage to conjure some wonderful sounds from his vast pedal board. There is a huge amount of instrumental bands in Preston, many of which are utterly pointless quiet-heavy-quiet-heavy mogwai wannabes. In fact many a night you can see a line up in Preston of bands that are all instrumental and all throughly forgettable. Elohymn are a cut above the rest of these bands, but it makes you wonder how long they can plough such a common trough.

The Great Eskimo Hoax start off very promising. I like bands with unconventional lineups and having a few keyboards and syths knocking about always promises much. Instead what we get is a very thin version of Foals. There isn't really much to grab onto and half way through the set they seem to drift into Yann Tiersens Amelie soundtrack, it becomes all squeezebox and European waltz. It should impress me but it all sounds a little wish-washy!

Next up were O. A strangly named band consisting of a few ex-prestonians. Their set consists of blasts of compex riffary and intricate rhythms. The guitarist keeps swapping guitar for synth and despite the sound being overwhelming loud the weft of sheer pop magic can be heard weaving within their songs. Their high energy set ends with a brooding and dark monster of a track which seems to impress the eager crowd.

Last on are the Leeds based Chickenhawk. As last band of the night they decide to set up on the floor in front of the stage. The drummer lines up with the crowd facing the huge row of amps on stage. Their music is brutal and unapologetic. Yet there seems to be humour and a certain tongue in cheek flavour to what they do. The guitarist takes a stroll around the venue mid set climbing from booth to booth whilst tapping away on his guitar neck spinal tap style, the drummer throws water about and leaps back onto his kit, its the last night of a long tour for them and you can see they want to let of some steam. They look like they really enjoy what they do and that makes it very easy to enjoy it with them. Phenomenally loud and very entertaining, though I doubt anyone went home whistling their tunes.

Towards the end of the night after Chickhawk finished a rather furious track a friend asked me what genre of music this was, referring to the sweaty shirtless skinny kids now playing. I couldn't think of a decent response. Boys in skinny jeans and pumps making music so loud and intense that many metalers would be running for the door. It isn't hardcore, it's a variety of punk perhaps, but only in the DIY ethic. In the end I just turned to my friend an said I don't know. He couldn't hear me anyway Chickenhawk had just started up again and we were both going deaf.

Happy Easter.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums/Volcano!/Lonesome Taxidermist 07/04/09 Dulcimer

So last night I headed to Dulcimer in Chorlton, arriving early doors determined not miss any of the bands. Upstairs I heard a rapture of applause for tonights opener The Lonesome Taxidermist. When I get up
there I see a woman who's a cross between the fat one from Gavin and Stacy and Kelly Osbourne. She's singing rather operatically into two mics and has a keyboard droning along with her. She's got the whole mad
eyes thing going on. Things start to get interesting when she adds some keyboard percussion. Three fake wood block sounds are viciously out of time and it's starting to dawn on me that maybe this isn't whats
supposed to happen. All around I can feel concerned and amused glances from people.

"Does anybody want an animal stuffing?" she asks mid set to a baffled silence. "Has anyone ever seen a dead animal? Has anyone ever killed an animal?? Oh you don't kill animals in Chorlton do you!!" I can feel myself staring into my pint, feel my face blush, this is awkward, really awkward I hear the room collectively sucking through its teeth. "This one's called roadkill" she tells us and off she goes again. I get the feeling she's been told she's got an "amazing" voice hence the operatics and over dramatisations, she hasn't though it's very average. The music is rudimentary and bog-standard, yet appallingly out of time, you can feel people wincing as the loops start to repeat over one another. One song sees her screaming the lament "She's on anti-depressants, she's a sociopath" over and over again whilst slapping her head and staring wild eyed at the audience. Fuck it, I laughed out loud, sorry, but I found it funny.

Then it just goes, and goes in a spectacular fashion. Bemoaning the heat on stage she says "I need some fans, not some sycophants" and tries three times to loop a little guitar line. All her instruments are going through a loop pedal and the mix is terrible. Guitar is barely audible, keyboard deafeningly loud. By now I'm at that stage where I'm not sure if this is the worst or best thing I've ever seen, I'm certainly entertained. In many years time we might all be listening to stuff like this, maybe this is what music in the future will be like, at least I can impress my future friends by telling them I was there at the start of it all. "Where's Wallbirds Pipedrums and Volcano?" She asks referring to the other bands on the bill, obviously distressed that they aren't there to see her. She manages to get the guitar loop going and adds some kick drum, only she doesn't count the drums and she ends up playing 5, the fifth is of course recorded on top of the first and naturally it's just slightly out of time, she repeats the same trick looping a keyboard line. Nice. Then as she puts her guitar down she cracks her head against the microphone. Yup that's looped too!! Then as she's singing the mic falls out of the stand at least a dozen times. There's a moment when she laughs and it sort of relaxes the atmosphere but soon enough she's back raging and finger pointing. "Where's Wallpipes Peacepipes and Volaro??" She cries, "Where the fuck are they!!" The embarrassment is compounded by the two bands (that's Wildbirds and Peacedrums and Volcano!) having just arrived after getting some tea, I hear the scandanavian singer from Wildbirds ask the promoter "Is she drunk?" and weirdly it's the first time I consider this myself. "Fuck Food" says the taxidermist. Quite.



I'm kind of shellshocked. I noticed the bar staff all came up during the set to have a look, so I'm guessing that words gone around and I'm not the only one feeling the vibes. "That sounds horrible" I hear the curly haired barmaid tell the one who looks like Elliot from Scrubs. Outside I see a guy I vaguely recognise and I'm on the cusp of asking him "what all that was about" or some such hilarious opening gamut but thankfully i don't because five minutes later he's stood with the taxidermist they're obviouslyfriends. Close shave!!



Volcano! sorted me out. Singer looks like a skinny Bill Murray it's him on guitar, a drummer whose mouth hangs wide open when he's playing and a guy hunched over a keyboard and a laptop. Drums and guitar pound a mixture of hardcore stomps and jazz influenced breaks whilst the third member produces a frightening range of squeals, rumbles and glitchs that twist from floor shaking bass to ear piercing treble. It's brilliant. Opener from the last album "Performance Evaluation Shuffle" thunders through stops and starts, shifts in melody and tempo. There's something afrobeat about the guitar lines, twiddly high pitched and at odds with
the thrashing drums overly complicated and wonderful for it. They throw in a version of Otis Readings 'I've Been Lovin' you' and make it there own, stopping mid song and declaring "We're gonna skip to the next part
of the song now" and thrashing out the chords while an undercurrent of digital bass and buzz trembles the fixtures and fitting..two girls get the fright of their lives when the fairy lights fall from the roof on their heads. The gig is slightly spoiled by the family of toffs behind me, looks like two oldies and a son. The son is reviewing the gig as we go along in a voice that's way too loud for public usage, so all I can hear at one point is him going "Awesome, this is the best thing I've ever heard, it's so funky like acoustic ladyland but funky..not as scatty, this is marvellous, a little bit King Crimson in places" Obviously I want to kill the ruddy faced twat, push his pint of organic homebrew into his toff face and get him the hell out of there. "Oh god that sounds like an hallucinagenic nightmare" he declares of one songs intro, "Sounds like bad come down" says one of his chums who has to be in his fifties. I wonder how much acid gets consumed out in the country and maybe I should schedule a visit. Volcano! end the short but magnificent set with the killer "Africa Just wants to have some fun" it's essentially all the tricks in their bag in one 6 minute song. It's incredible, they're incredible.



Wildbirds and Peacedrums are a two piece. One guy on drums, a girl on a steal drum. Never really thought that'd work as a line up and I'm still not convinced. It's pretty, it's nice. It's pretty nice. Cute in places. She's small and pretty hot although she's a got a look of the Winehouse about her, at one point she steps off the specially constructed stage and into the crowd and starts singing. People who are into this sort of thing call it enchanting and intimate. I think it's a bit creepy and weird. The audience is here for this, they're twee ...of course they are this is the oppressingly liberal lefties of Chorlton we're talking about! The last song is easily their best it's got a catchy melody and I recognise it from their myspace. She sings and plays a wood block, he
drums. I find myself wondering how much they practice...how often do you need to rehearse the wood block?? I'm not sure, but at least this one was in time.

Dirty Projectors/Polar Bear Mint Lounge 01/04/09

So the last gig I went to I turned up at 9 and the band I wanted to see weren't on until 11...ballache so I turned up at 8.40 at Mint Lounge last night and first band I see are Polar Bear who are supposedly headlining plus it was the other two bands I wanted to see most of all! A quick investigation tells me that they've switched around and while I've missed the promising Lucky Dragons the Dirty Projectors are on after the imminent Polar Bear.


A quick tour of the band...Big silver sax is played by a guy that's Ade from TVOTR twin (not really), the dull bronze sax is the guy in the 1920's gangster film with the rat like features and a propensity for knife fights. The guy on the upright bass is Nick Frost with a beard, the guitarist is a 12 year old stoner and the drummer has a face full of apologies holding up a mountain of wild hair. First song is a rowsing and bawdry cocktail of mambo latin moves and roaring jazz hooks. Every member of the band seems to be adding odd lines that individually don't do much but collectively spin the entire tune on it's head. The whole thing's on the very edge of turning into an improv mess but it's just wonderfully and masterfully kept in line. Next up is a more brooding jazz ballad, reminiscent of Mingus' concept pieces and early Tortoise in places it's a touch Western a little bit cowboy..it's been a long time since I've heard the saxophone played this beautifully...the 12 year old stoner kid is playing his guitar with a paint brush, just tickling the strings, creating a shimmering background. Then he's obviously bored so for the next song swaps paintbrush guitar for a playstation joypad which triggers an insane collection of bleeps, whirs, glitchs and whooshs that underpin the frantic jazz that's played over the top.

Soon enough stoner boy swaps again. This time for a pink balloon which he blows up and grabs the neck of. Balloon boy squeeks it into the microphone along with the sax's. Gradually the instruments drop out leaving one sax and the balloon squeeker honking along to each other. After about 8 minutes of this I decide it's time for a smoke.

Going to gigs on yer own is an interesting experience..voyeuristic, awkward and liberating. Having left the Polar Bear balloon boys to it I returned apres tabac into the no mans land of band change over...trying to afirm the constant "I'm here alone; that's not weird it's cool" vibe that lingers around you but then again the types of people who go to gigs on their own are always a little bit geeky, a bit sad a bit needy. Well that's me!



Dirty Projectors are massive Talking Heads fans that's pretty obvious. The guy singing and playing guitar has mastered David Byrnes tall awkwardness to a tea, his vocal imitation isn't bad either. The three girls are playing basses, guitars and keys and do a fantastic set of vocal harmonies that really steal the show. From right to left the girls go...bit fat and plain, cute but a bit witchy, uberhot cool chick!! While the format isn't anything new, the mix of slightly afro pop guitar lines, art infused lyrics and driving bass and drums leads me to the cul-de-sac of comparison; Arcade Fire meets Vampire Weekend, but edgier and better. There's still (and i blame the contingent of women for this) something a bit twee about them though and they never seem to fully let go, always holding back a little. There were definitely moments of brilliance, but I somehow expected more from this years SXSW buzz band!