Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Bats album launch.
The eagerly anticipated album launch from Dublin's own Bats occurs this Saturday and is unlikely to disappoint. For extra fun join us and the tower crew for The Redneck Manifesto's first gig in well over a year in Whelans before the bats gig.
BATS 'Red In Tooth & Claw' Promo from Rupert Morris on Vimeo.
This isn't NME... P A R T T H R E E
I realise that this could probably go on for some time, but here's installment number 3 anyway...
Refused: very few bands release albums as important as Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come and then split up before they can even get the credit for the masterpiece they created. After the group disbanded they ordered all 'stupid reporters' and magazines to burn any pictures they had of them, as Refused were 'fucking dead'.
Jeff Walker, he was in Carcass, surely that's enough?
Jerry Garcia: Legendary guitarist from the Grateful Dead, met a sad end but while he was here represented everything that was cool to come out of the summer of love. His death was felt across the globe.
Arthur Lee: Singer on one of the greatest psychedelic rock albums of all time, Love's Forever Changes, Lee met his end at the age of 61 in 2006 due to leukemia. Sadly Lee was in the midst of a comeback before illness struck.
Double Leopards: Tape loops, drones, mouth noise, feedback and even the odd flute. Brooklyn's Double Leopards, certainly a less abrasive variety of the 'No Fun' league replace out and out noise for more 'mystical' drones. Certainly the highlight of a crowded 'wannabe' scene.
Magik Markers: With a rather large back catalog of CD-Rs and other releases it was 2007s Boss released on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label that earned the band respect of music press world wide. Their noise based rock and haunting vocals make them shoo ins for fans of something a little less straight forward.
Refused: very few bands release albums as important as Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come and then split up before they can even get the credit for the masterpiece they created. After the group disbanded they ordered all 'stupid reporters' and magazines to burn any pictures they had of them, as Refused were 'fucking dead'.
Jeff Walker, he was in Carcass, surely that's enough?
Jerry Garcia: Legendary guitarist from the Grateful Dead, met a sad end but while he was here represented everything that was cool to come out of the summer of love. His death was felt across the globe.Arthur Lee: Singer on one of the greatest psychedelic rock albums of all time, Love's Forever Changes, Lee met his end at the age of 61 in 2006 due to leukemia. Sadly Lee was in the midst of a comeback before illness struck.
Double Leopards: Tape loops, drones, mouth noise, feedback and even the odd flute. Brooklyn's Double Leopards, certainly a less abrasive variety of the 'No Fun' league replace out and out noise for more 'mystical' drones. Certainly the highlight of a crowded 'wannabe' scene.
Magik Markers: With a rather large back catalog of CD-Rs and other releases it was 2007s Boss released on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label that earned the band respect of music press world wide. Their noise based rock and haunting vocals make them shoo ins for fans of something a little less straight forward.Monday, August 24, 2009
This isn't NME... P A R T T W O
Continuing into the chasm of 'cool'...
Serge Gainsbourg: Poet, musician, actor, director, Gainsbourg has influenced countless musicians and been sampled by producers countless time worldwide. He was married to Jane Birkin, once burned a 500 Franc note as a protest against taxation and announced live on television that he wanted to 'fuck' Whitney Houston, while she was in the studio. Its hard for him not to be cool.
Keiji Haino [灰野 敬二] defines the word 'experimental' and is a self proclaimed 'musical master'. His noise experiments range from psyched out rock dirges to looping drones to his on stage movement performances. He's cool, but you know that already.
Ulver: hard to single out one of them, the trio have been pioneers of the Norwegian music scene for nearly two decades. From their early black metal 'trilogie' to their more experimental, current form, Ulver have constantly lived to smash all preconceptions of them and their music. As the band themselves noted; 'If this discourages you in any way, please have the courtesy to refrain from voicing superficial remarks regarding our music and/or personae. We are as unknown to you as we always were.'
Masami Akita of Merzbow: Noise merchant, frequency beast and animal activist. Has been filmed staging a musical 'performance' at an ancient temple in Korea, much to the displeasure of visiting tourists. Anyone who happily sits down to listen to one of his albums [that isn't Merzbuddha] from start to vision is deaf or demented or both.
Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth: It's hard to leave any of Sonic Youth out of such a list for reasons that don't need explaining, but I'll begin with Mr Moore. And where to begin? 51 years of age, a member of one of the most pioneering and influential rock bands of our time and still going strong, releasing albums and performing. He does everything from pop to noise, how can you not like him?
Glenn Branca: Described by Kyle Gann as being of the school of 'totalist post minimalism' he's about as punk-rock as classical music can get. Certainly 'no wave' and certainly inspirational Branca coughs cool.
Serge Gainsbourg: Poet, musician, actor, director, Gainsbourg has influenced countless musicians and been sampled by producers countless time worldwide. He was married to Jane Birkin, once burned a 500 Franc note as a protest against taxation and announced live on television that he wanted to 'fuck' Whitney Houston, while she was in the studio. Its hard for him not to be cool.
Keiji Haino [灰野 敬二] defines the word 'experimental' and is a self proclaimed 'musical master'. His noise experiments range from psyched out rock dirges to looping drones to his on stage movement performances. He's cool, but you know that already.
Ulver: hard to single out one of them, the trio have been pioneers of the Norwegian music scene for nearly two decades. From their early black metal 'trilogie' to their more experimental, current form, Ulver have constantly lived to smash all preconceptions of them and their music. As the band themselves noted; 'If this discourages you in any way, please have the courtesy to refrain from voicing superficial remarks regarding our music and/or personae. We are as unknown to you as we always were.'
Masami Akita of Merzbow: Noise merchant, frequency beast and animal activist. Has been filmed staging a musical 'performance' at an ancient temple in Korea, much to the displeasure of visiting tourists. Anyone who happily sits down to listen to one of his albums [that isn't Merzbuddha] from start to vision is deaf or demented or both.
Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth: It's hard to leave any of Sonic Youth out of such a list for reasons that don't need explaining, but I'll begin with Mr Moore. And where to begin? 51 years of age, a member of one of the most pioneering and influential rock bands of our time and still going strong, releasing albums and performing. He does everything from pop to noise, how can you not like him?
Glenn Branca: Described by Kyle Gann as being of the school of 'totalist post minimalism' he's about as punk-rock as classical music can get. Certainly 'no wave' and certainly inspirational Branca coughs cool.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
This isn't NME... P A R T O N E
Every year in the pages of NME the writers relish their roles as apparent know-alls of the music scene and inform us of their 'cool' list, a romp through every nu-rave and indie act in the UK, and as dull as it is informative. So, to counter their ineffable coolness, here are some faces I propse for the alternate 'cool' list.
Attila Csihar: Not only is he a member of the highly influential Mayhem, and was vocalist on that album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Csihar has recently joined the ranks of 'funeral doom' duo Sunn 0))) and lent his vocals chords to, arguably, their greatest acheivement yet in Monoliths and Dimensions.
John Zorn, part musical genius, part complete lunatic, all jazz odyssey.
MF Doom aka Viktor Vaughn aka King Geedorah etc. So upset with the way the rap 'game' had changed in his absense, from lyrical skills to dollar bills, Daniel Dumile took on the persona of a super villain in order to out brag his hip hop counterparts, who were more concerned with money, cars and diamonds.
Morton Feldman; an inspirational composer and musician whose works and compositions are essential to contemporary classical music.
Karlheinz Stockhausen: little should need to be said about such an innovator as Stockhausen. His work has influenced every contemporary minimal artist under the sun and will continue to do so for generations.
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