Malcolm Maclaren famously discovered Johnny Rotten walking up the Kings Road wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt that he had added the legend “I hate” to in marker pen. Well, Mr. Rotten may be prone to bouts of twattishness these days, but when it comes to Pink Floyd (edit: I just mistyped it as “Punk Floyd” – oh the irony!), I couldn’t agree more.
I just can’t stand them! I’m not quite sure why, I think it’s a combination of being overblown and pompous but boring at the same time. I know it’s not regarded as their best (and it might not work without the film), but I would go as far to say that “The Wall” is the worst album I’ve ever heard! It’s the only record I’ve ever given away.
I know, I know, that’s a lot of negativity, for which I apologise. So here’s my challenge: what Pink Floyd track would you recommend to persuade me of their greatness? Or at least make me hate them a little bit less.
*Feel free to nominate your own Achilles heel’s to be converted to
I’ve been on my sickbed today (don’t worry, nothing serious, just a bit fluey) so I dragged the portable turntable into the living room and have been listening to a few things I haven’t listened to in a while.
I was just taking in a Fatcat Records compilation double album (“Across Uneven Terrain – 1997-1999″) and thinking how great it was (erm…if you like experimental minimalist electronica) and then I realised just how few COMPILATION albums I own. It’s probably less than ten and I only listen to a few of them regularly. I suppose it’s all linked with my fear of ‘shuffle’ and the pleasure I get from the arc of a well put together album, but I can’t help thinking that I’m missing out on something.
Shane mentioned the 50 Years of African Independence mammoth comp. recently, which I’ve been delving into with what I can find online, and I know there are the classics like Nuggets and C86 (which Blimpy Spilled a couple of years ago), but would love some more recommendations for decent comps to get my teeth into.
*NOT ‘Greatest Hits’ albums and not self-compiled mixtapes (although they usually are the best!).
Phew…. this was far more difficult than it had any right to be! I definitely over-thought everything and seemed to have ended up with a totally different list than I had planned.
I envisioned a cool, eclectic, hop, skip and jump through my record collection, touching down on a variety of genres from a range of eras. But when I started pulling records off the shelf, I got all distracted and sidetracked and my 11 track list turned into a 30 track one, with a heavy bias towards abrasive breakcore!
Out went the jazz, Finnish electronica and Nigerian psychedelic organ and in came the powerpop and Lebanese bozok! None of my usual roll-call of favourites made it either. No Liars. No Clinic. No Nirvana. No Anaal Nathrakh. No Not Not Fun, No…..oh you get the idea. I think it’s more of a mixtape than 11 stand alone tracks, but anyway, here’s what I ended up with…Oh…and I decided to go chronological, no one has done that yet have they?!
Do you ever get those WTF moments that just make you stop for a second and marvel at the diverse and interconnected world we are lucky enough to live in?
Don’t you just love living in a world where a 7 year old kid in Finland can start recording music on his dad’s iPhone in “Finnish, English and Gibberish”, get it released on CD, played on the radio by a DJ in New York, whose show is downloaded by an Englishman in Japan, who then Spills it to the world on a UK-based website to listen to on their computers or generic MP3 devices wherever they may be?!
My adoration for NYC indie-art-pop weirdos Liars is well documented on the ‘Spill, so I won’t go over it again, but I was a little worried when I heard they had a new album coming out. Everything they release is pretty much head and shoulders above the competition (their last LP “Sisterworld” was my #1 album of 2010) – not that a unique band like Liars really have any contemporaries, the only comparable band I can think of that have evolved and gone off on tangents from album to album, keeping their fans guessing whilst staying true to themselves are the ever-wonderful Japanther – erm…where was I? Oh yes, I was worried because the last two records, while never less than great, were edging closer and closer to making Liars a conventional guitar indie-rock band, which is a cardinal sin in Liarsworld.
I was relieved then when I dropped the needle on “WIXIW” (pronounced ‘wish you’ apparently) and found that they had chucked out their guitars and brought in a darkly pulsating keyboard sound to produce an incredible and thoughtful late-night introspective, (but not too introspective, it’s basically an electronica album after all!) album that harks back to their finest hour, 2005′s “Drums Not Dead”.
“WIXIW” starts slowly and thoughtfully, before deep bass beats kick in for track 2 and the juxtaposition between the electronic beats and the fragile sounding voice and lyrics gives it an emotional punch lacking from the last couple of records. I’m sure it will get compared to “KId A” or something like that, that’s not a bad thing, but it is not quite accurate and would detract from what makes Liars such a unique and special band.
A new album from everyone’s favourite noise-rock art terrorists, but not new material as such. The 7 tracks on “Oblivion Hunter” were actually recorded between the previous two albums, but they are just releasing them now.
This might suggest that it is a cash-in exercise in off-cuts that didn’t make the grade for the last albums, but instead the tracks here give the impression that the Brians were jamming, experimenting and trying out new ideas, which makes it a more playful and diverse record then either of the last two proper albums.
From the opening salvo of classic LB “King Candy”, to the (gasp!) quietly contemplative “The Soft Spoken Spectre” to the epic 13 minute wig-out of “World Wobbly Wide” the whole thing is over in under 40 minutes and what should have been a mere stop-gap fan pleaser turns out to be one of their best yet.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “Allelujah! Don’t Bend Ascend!”
Unbelievably, it’s been 10 long years since their last album and the world has been a poorer place without them. I had no idea the album was even out when I stumbled across it whilst window record shopping in my lunch break. As I mentioned in the ‘Festive 2s comments, I have been a fan of Godspeed… since the first LP came out in 1997 and very much treasure my lovely silkscreened embossed vinyl with multiple inserts and crushed coin and have eagerly bought each album since. So I was more than a little excited to unexpectedly get a new album, and the wait was well worth it.
“Allelujah!…” consists of two long 20 minute tracks and two short drone numbers (on the vinyl version these are on an LP and 7″ respectively). The long ones are classic Godspeed… complex instrumental post rock with the drama ratcheting up as the music builds and builds, with “Mladic” (my number 2 pick of the year) as possibly the best track of their career – they have been playing it live for a long long time, so they had a lot of opportunity to perfect it before they finally committing it to wax this year. The short droney tracks work as a perfect counterpoint to the epic ones and point to a possible interesting new direction for more inward looking music for their next album.
Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras meet the Congos – “Icon Give Thank”
OK, this is not really drone at all, it’s basically a Jamaican dub album with weird sounds, but I had to call it something and it wouldn’t be the end of the year on the ‘Spill without a bit of Sun Araw.
This time he has teamed up with M. Geddes Gengras (Robedoor member and former tweaker for all-time Panther favourites Pocahaunted) and travelled to Jamaica to collaborate with veteran Dub legends the Congos.
The results are pretty much the perfect mix of NNF style minimal dronescapes and Jah-praising Dub, with Sun Araw and Gengras’ production giving the Congos’ words and vocals the space (in all connotations of the word) to expand, breathe, transcend and transpose the listener to a higher plane! Jah!
I previewed one track from the album on a podcast (on the day I bought it!), so here’s a different one, it has a much heavier Sun Araw/Gengras vibe than other more straight up Dub tracks on the album:
Due to financial constraints, lack of time and all the excitement of the build up and aftermath of new fatherhood, I haven’t bought enough albums to do a proper Top Ten this year. To get around this, I thought I’d choose 5 albums from arbitrarily chosen genres and present them as my favourite representative of that genre for the year.
Let’s kick off with my favourite metal album of 2012.
Dragged Into Sunlight – “Widowmaker”
Fighting off stiff competition from veteran grindcore types Pig Destroyer’s excellently brutal “Bookburner”, “Widowmaker” is a stunningly ambitious album that takes in post rock, doom, sludge, death metal and lashings and lashings of lovely, nasty black metal, that just about blew my mind the first time I heard it. Dragged Into Sunlight have been going a few years now and they’ve managed to maintain their mystery and menace (all band photos feature the band wearing sinister black balaclavas and they only go by their first initials) without descending into a cliche.
“Widowmaker” is split into three parts and the first 15 minutes lull you into a false sense of security as a gorgeous post-rock tune emerges and builds, complete with strings (especially a nice haunting violin sound) that doesn’t sound dissimilar to one of Mogwai’s quieter moments, but as the spoken word samples signal a shift in pace all hell breaks loose and the uncompromising nasty black/death metal guitars kick in along with the tortured vocals. The whole thing winds down with a combination of the first two parts interspersing reflective instrumentation with sludgy guitars and screamed/growled vocals and you are left feeling like you’ve been on some kind of terrifying but ultimately redemptive journey….or maybe that’s just me!
It’s difficult to know what track to put up as any one of the three parts would totally misrepresent the rest of the album, so I would encourage anyone even slightly interested to seek out the whole thing, but seeing as this is supposed to be my favourite metal album of 2012, I’d better post the most metal one.
(it doesn’t have the weird introduction on the record – this is the only digital version I could find)
Sakura’s Kara Earworm got my mind wandering this morning and I happened to have my laptop in my bag, so here are some random thinkings…….
I have to confess that I’m kind of fascinated by the whole K-pop phenomenon. As you may know, most K-pop stars are required to attend intensive and thorough training and teaching in a wide range of skills – singing, dancing, language skills (usually English, Japanese and Chinese), interview and media training etc alongside regular school studies, for a number of years before they are unleashed on the world as a complete unit. It’s like a combination of university study and job training.
Band name of the year keep the lo-fi/grunge revival afloat. Not sure if the music quite measures up just yet, but they are going in the right direction.
**Apologies for multiple random posts, but thought I’d grab the window whilst wife and baby are fast asleep upstairs**
Just to let you all know that the Panther cub decided to make his presence felt by arriving a whole month unfashionably early.
One moment I was drinking a cold one, munching on barbecued maguro and cooing at the fireworks. One mad dash and 5 intense hours later, I had become a dad, without even realising what had just happened! That was just before 4 a.m on Sunday morning.
Mrs Panther and cub are both fine and the wee one seems to be reasonably strong and healthy despite his early entrance (they are both still in the hospital) and I’m on tenterhooks at home trying to get everything ready for the homecoming on Thursday.
I hope you’ll all forgive the odd lengthy absence or bleary-eyed post over the next few weeks as the Panther den (do panthers live in dens ?!) adjusts to its new member!
P.s. Allright, the lyrics have nothing to do with anything, but the title fits and Spill points on offer for why I chose the band……..oh, and it was either this or “Between Shit and Piss We Are Born” by Anaal Nathrakh ! !
Riot Season records has been a favourite label of mine for a few years now, it releases doomy and noise type stuff and is the labour of love of a nice bloke called Andy. Well, he seems like a nice bloke, I don’t know him or anything!
Anyway, he has just started a new venture selling music snob t-shirts that I thought might tickle the fancy of some ‘Spillers. There are only a few designs so far, but I suppose more will be forthcoming.
Yes, that’s right ‘Spillers, an all-new PODCAST! Long overdue, I know….but, better late than never, right? Well, don’t agree until you’ve listened to it !
It’s a very random and eclectic mix based on whatever was in my box of records at the time….and there were so many I didn’t get to that I wanted to include. They’ll have to wait until next time, I suppose.
Listen until the end for some exciting news ! Well, exciting for me, not perhaps for anyone else !
Here is the new single from ‘Spill favourites of 2010 (and of course ex-Pocahaunted member) Best Coast.
The whole album, ‘The Only Place’ is streaming on NPR here too.
The initial reviews look good and it definitely sounds like a step forward to me too. It takes the girl-group Cali-pop stonerisms of the first album and adds a bit more production and lyrical depth. The summer starts here!
Adam & Joe used to have a great segment on their radio show called ‘Popropriation’ which involved listeners giving songs that they had appropriated and adapted to fit their everyday life or a particular situation.
I did this twice today without thinking about it. I was making a fine lunch of B.L.T and chips and started singing to the tune of Menace’s punk classic “G. L. C.” :
…and then later when picking some fancy tea (well, fancy for me!) from a variety pack my Grandma sent us for Christmas, I popropriated 80s hardcore legends Bad Brains classic “Sailin’ On” when Mrs Panther asked what tea I wanted…
“I want Ceylon…
ceylon, ceylon, ceylon” !!
ahhh….I know, I know, pretty poor, but it keeps me amused !
Now, I’m sure I’m not the only ‘Spiller who does this…..so let’s have your recent or regular POPROPRIATIONS !
OK, so I’ve got a couple of weeks window to read whatever I want, before hitting the linguistics textbooks again.
I’m looking for some decent music related books. Anything’s OK really, biography or music related. I’ve just read a book on Joe Strummer and the Clash by Kris Needs (pretty good, conjured up the smells and sounds of the times, maybe a tad fawning), finally finished the book on Bowie that goes through every song he ever recorded (pleasingly anal and detailed, with plenty of social comment, but there seemed to be some kind of copyright restriction on quoting lyrics, as there were hardly any and loads of boring musical descriptions, which was really annoying) and “31 Songs” by Nick Hornby, which was probably the worst book on music I have ever read. It was very sad to see the man who wrote the inspirational record nerd bible “Hi-Fidelity” reduced to a moaning, middle-aged, bore, complaining about the state of modern music.
So, some recommendations would be very much appreciated, you know what kind of things I like !
After semi-successful defences of Menswe@r and Guns’N'Roses, I thought I’d up the ante by attempting to defend the (perceived) mediocre !
Shed Seven were the perennial underachieving Britpop also-rans, who had a ridiculous misconception of their own importance and ability, and, lest we forget, were the band who, somewhat embarrassingly, re-appropriated their own song for The Link advert (you know the one; “at The Link it’s easy, easy” !). But, hold on a moment. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find an actually pretty bloody successful band with a whole raft of stone-cold classic pop tunes.
First of all, a few stats for you (cheers Wiki):
- 15 top 40 singles
- 4 top 20 albums
- in 1996 the Sheddoes had more chart hits than any other band!
- played with Ride, Elastica, Oasis etc and got to number one in Thailand, beating Take That to the top spot !
When the Sheds first came out, they were thought to be a brash, laddish breath of fresh air as they faced down their contemporaries, Oasis, with a sneer (despite singer Rick Witter’s alleged 26 inch waist !). As they evolved as a band though, it quickly became clear to the more sensitive of us Britpop kids that there was something deeper and more longer-lasting at work. Comparisons with Suede and the Smiths abounded and the band responded in kind by making their songs more epic and grandiose and tempering their confidence with a sensitivity and attention to detail lacking in most of their peers.
They were rewarded for their efforts with two amazing albums: the debut “Changegiver” and follow up “A Maximum High” and a string of singles that won them more and more fans (mostly in Thailand!) and played an important part in expanding the Britpop blueprint beyond its initial limited range.
The problem was, that even to their fans, they were perhaps their fourth or fifth favourite band! Although they charted, it was inevitably number 27 with a bullet! Despite their illustrious peers, they were quickly left behind, not helped by the music press (mainly the NME) backlash against them, which always seemed so unjustified to me. They fizzled out in a boring cycle of poorly-received albums, label problems, ‘musical differences’ between band members and increasingly rubbish songs.
They reformed in 2007 and played sold-out shows to nostalgic fans in their early 30s across the UK, finally getting a tiny bit of the recognition they deserved at the time.
Although I wasn’t a full-fledged Shed Head (sorry Chris!), I remember arriving at university in my brand new Shed Seven t-shirt, proudly displaying my affection for the lads. As their sound grew and their songs became more ambitious and well executed, and as Top of the Pops performances followed, I supported them wholeheartedly and only jumped off the bandwagon as their disappointing third album (“Let It Ride”) failed to deliver any tunes whatsoever.
Their appreciation is long overdue in my book, so get some slightly flared needle cords from Oxfam, pull on a skinny fit fake 70s football top, lie back and listen to some of the best and most underrated indie-pop tunes of the 90s, or any other decade!
I know I’m a little behind with this, but I am rather enjoying Portlandia at the moment. Carrie Brownstein is a genius! As well as making my #3 album of last year (Wild Flag), she also found time to write and star in this.
Not sure what I think of this really, but it covers so many ‘Spill bases I couldn’t resist posting it.
BADBADNOTGOOD are a Canadian post-jazz fusion band kind of thing, this is their take on Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal” combined with Joy Division’s “Transmission”.
I mentioned the 100% Silk label in my post on Amanda’s post-Pocahaunted adventures way back in May last year, and again in my end of the year lists, so I thought it’s about time for a wee ‘Spill post on what was my favourite record label last year.
As a quick recap, 100% Silk is the new dance-oriented label from ex-Pocahaunted member, current LA Vampire and co-owner of Not Not Fun records Amanda Brown. Last year they put out 13 amazing and innovative 12″s and one mini-album/EP.
I don’t claim to ‘do’ much dance music (or much dancing) , but as you might expect, 100% Silk do it with a twist and with perfect attention to aesthetic detail. The first six 12″s all came in identical sleeves, then there was a new design for the next six and so on, which appeals to the collector nerd in me.
Here are a few tracks with apologies that some of them are on the long side, but they are 12″s, that’s what they were invented for !:
1. The Deeep – “Mudd – Grand Am version” (SILK002)
Space echoes and a memorable melody make this a perfect post-club comedown track (or, if you are me, the perfect post-bath relaxation track!) and an obvious extension of the NNF sound.
2. Xander Harris – “I Want More Than Just Blood – High Heels Remix” (Silk006 )
Smooth synthy soundtrack shenanigans from the Panthersan’s Top 11 of 2011 hero and superstar ‘Spill visitor Xander Harris. This is a remixed version of a track which is on his award-winning (from me !) album “Urban Gothic”.
3. Innergaze – Shadow Disco (SILK008)
A wicked post-punk bassline, some early-80s NY disco beats and even some Krautrockin’ electronic sounds make for an ace tune in my book.
4. Octa Octa – Let Me See You (SILK011)
A few glitches, a few breaks, a repeated refrain and some gameboy sounds make this a grinding housey joy which is completely danceable and totally addictive.
5. Pharoahs – Uhh Uhh (SILK012)
Imagine what the whole of the Factory Records roster would sound like in the minds of LA hipsters who had only read about them in imported music magazines. This is a proper Hacienda floor-filler for people who never went to the Hacienda. “Call the cops….!”
6. Maria Minerva – Luv So Strong (Ital remix) (SILK013)
Estonian-born, London-based bedroom-disco DJ, producer and singer, Maria had a busy 2011, putting out a whole load of music and even making it into the Guardian Top 40 tracks of the year. This is from her Silky mini-album “Sacred and Profane Love” and is a remixed version by Ital, who landed the dubious accolade of being my #1 Track of the Year with his excellent “Ital’s Theme” (Silk 001)
So here we are at the top three. These three were always going to be in the medals, but i’ve been deliberating over the final placements…not that it matters to anyone but me, I suppose !
So laydeezungennelman, I give you The Top Three…
3. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
To call Wild Flag a ‘Supergroup’ is being a bit generous to be honest, sure, Sleater-Kinney were incredible and deservedly legendary, but the Minders? Helium? W(ho)TF?! – it’s like calling Franz Ferdinand a supergroup ‘cos a couple of them were in The Yummy Fur! However, that they are a super group is indisputable. This debut (and I hope it’s not just a one-off project) is packed full of killer indie-rock tunes and is the sound of a group of friends getting together and having a whole lot of fun. There are none of the politics of Sleater-Kinney and no preachy messages, but when it’s such a huge lot of fun to listen to, this angle is not missed. Most of the band members are in their 40s but play with the hunger and sheer wide-eyed enthusiasm for MUSIC of a bunch of teenagers and shouldn’t that be what we all aspire to?
2. Josh T. Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen
As fromtman for the much revered (by me especially!) Lift To Experience, Josh T. Pearson is somewhat of a mysterious cult figure. After giving the world just one album in the form of Lift To Experience’s “The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads” in 2001, a sprawling, psychedelic masterpiece of a concept album, he withdrew from the spotlight. So, us fans had been waiting a good 10 years for a follow-up and here it finally is. “Last of the Country Gentlemen” is extremely sparse and almost unnervingly intimate. Looonnnng (8 songs on a double LP that comes in at over at hour), s-l-o-w-w-w-w, drawn out songs of breathtaking honesty; love, lament, self-deprecation, self-loathing, and perhaps a touch of self-pity. Like it’s creation, it demands a lot of investment from the listener, but with a bit of patience and an empathetic ear, this is one very very special album.
1. Peaking Lights – 936
I first got a glimpse of the Lights from a track on a NNF singles club 7″ in 2010. I was bowled over and got the album as soon as it came out. I earwormed them back in June as my favourite album of the year at that point, and as the long Japanese summer wore on, the woozy dubbiness of “936″ became a constant presence on my turntable and has remained so even in these chilled winter months. Peaking Lights are a husband and wife duo with an amazing record collection (cheers to GHE for the heads up on the incredible PL mixtapes) who live deep in the Wisconsin woods and build their own analogue synthesisers. They have no boundaries to what they chuck into the cauldron and mix up psychedelic noise and washed out dreampop with proper dub beats and real melody to create instantly hummable and completely original pop music.
So, there you go and it looks like 2011 has been another bumper year for for my beloved Not Not Fun records. My loyalty to the NNF cause was never in question of course, but they did seem to be treading water for a while back in 2010. Thanks in no small part to the influence of Amanda’s amazing new dance label 100% Silk, NNF have reinvented themselves this year to excellent and eclectic effect. Roll on 2012 !
The impressively bearded one (AKA Will Oldham, AKA Philippe from Guess Who?) returns with his best album since his masterpiece “Master and Everyone” in 2003. Stripped back and sublime stories of love, god and fucking as boys, all delivered in that disarmingly rich and unmistakable voice that could surely be used to stop wars and unite nations and faiths.
6. Burzum – Fallen
XXWarning!XX Those with a stronger moral compass than I may want to skip this review altogether. The artist under discussion is a seemingly remorseless convicted murderer who has just served 15 years in prison for killing his former friend and bandmate, Euronymous, in 1994. He has also expressed extremely dodgy nationalist tendencies and is basically Not A Very Nice Man. Separation of artist and music is a difficult one that I don’t want to get into at Christmas (Hello, Phil Spector!), I just thought i’d give you the option of staying well away.
Black Metals’ most infamous bogeyman Varg Vikernes proves one again that he is incapable of making a bad record. This is his second album since his release from prison. (On a side note, he also made two albums when he was in chokey that are totally instrumental and kind of organey and ambient, as that was all the equipment he was allowed, and even they are great in my book – although not many other peoples!) and is his best since the seminal “Filosofeum” in 1996. The deliberately lo-fi sound is still retained, but this time it is shot through with memorable melodies and glimpses of light. Perfect for ironing to and evidence that Burzum still totally owns the genre he helped create 20 years ago.
5. The Horrors – Skying
The Horrors’ last album “Primary Colours” was my #1 album of 2009, so I was pretty excited at the prospect of some new material, but I have to admit that it took me a while to come around to this album. It wasn’t the fact that it sounds like Simple Minds – which it does a bit – I just missed the dark grandeur of the previous album. Repeated listens on the old iPod (gotta love the vinyl with free download code combo.) made me realise that what it lacked in gloomily epic indieness, it more than made up for in pure pop genius. “Skying” is packed full of glorious synth-swathed modern indie-pop classics. I also love the fact that they are changing and experimenting with each record and honing their craft as a band, to the point where they just might be the best band in the UK at the moment?
4. Noveller – Glacial Glow
As previewed in Amylee’s ‘chill out’ ‘Spill challenge, Noveller is one young woman (Sarah Lipstate), one guitar, a shitload of effects pedals, a looping machine and one hell of an imagination. This is an extremely fragile and beautiful album that works as a complete set but also has individual highlights. Unlike other similar artists and albums, it has real depth of character and emotion and doesn’t outstay its welcome. Perfect late-night listening.
