James was in a band called Juno, who, being a great new band once, were featured on ANBAD.
Then, just before their name would have been a perfect tie-in with the movie of the same name, they split up. To get over the trauma, James writes an article painting a rosy picture of the music scene in one of the UK’s traditionally most exciting musical cities...
Glasgow as a city speaks pretty loudly for Scotland, and it seems that a few bands seem to speak for the city but with an accent heavily on the morose.
Those Darlins
Here’s the next batch of our favourite albums, singles and downloads of 2009. We’re hurtling towards the top 20, as today we give you our selections from 40-21.
Dananananaykroyd, Die! Die! Die!, Future of the Left, Kasms and Rolo Tomassi at the one festival? Surely not. Infact, I almost don’t want to write anything about the East London artrockfest that is Offset, as my teeth are clenched together with jealous rage. I got a message through my last.fm account detailing who and what the fuss was all about, only to realise that it was taking place the very weekend that I had just agreed to a family gathering, stating “Nothing worthwhile happens in September anyway.” Clearly completely wrong.
The 5th and 6th see this beauty come to Hainault Forest Country Park, Redbridge, London, with a ridiculously cheap price. A festival where I would actually want to go and see bands? I thought it was but a distant dream. It better be this bloody good next year – it’s in my diary already.
More info about Offset Festival 2009 is here – I suggest you go and check it out if you are in any position to – just don’t email me any pictures or I might vomit.
Exciting! You could try watching our new video on the Pitchfork website?
Also: we just played in Slovakia. It was pretty wild. John is in a wheelchair. That’s all.
Thoughts: Every music festival seemingly pushes a couple of bands to the forefront of everyone’s playlists, and of course SXSW ‘09 has been no different. A couple of bands used their time in Austin to create quite the buzz for themselves but some of the loudest buzz of all has been reserved for DANANANANAYKROYD - the Scottish sensation that tore through every show they played down south. Unfortunately I had to hear all this second hand as I missed them at every turn while I was down there, but now that I’m catching up I’m kind of falling in love with the band. Think a slightly brighter version of Los Campesinos!, singing in multi-part harmonies with almost pop-punk music playing behind them. This is the kind of music you can flat out go crazy to, which explains why their lives shows were raved over. Along the twee and pop-punk elements there’s a little bit of emo, some screaming, and a pinch of pop thrown in, making this the type of band that might fit a bit better on the Warped Tour circuit. But that’s not always a bad thing, and this time around I have to say I’m pretty enthralled by the sounds they’re making. They’ll never be mistaken for hipper then thou indie bands, but they seem like they’d be a shit ton of fun and there’s definitely room in my musical landscape for bands like that.
Hey everyone! Here’s the video for our new single Black Wax. GOOD DOGGY.
(I maintain that it’s not as good as my ‘Middle Eastern Stills’ version.)
Ashton Kutcher’s twitter is an illuminating read. It made me cry manly tears.
http://twitter.com/aplusk
Being on tour for a while makes you forget how fantastic music is. Going to your own shows becomes a strange ritual where you are flung head-first into a vat of Groundhog Day familiarity, emerging a few hours later with a glaze of confusable goo lining the inside of your clothing.
So, last week I went to some ‘live gigs’ and listened to some records, and rediscovered musical bliss in it’s purest form. It was awesome, and I’d like to publicly announce that Sky Larkin’s album ‘The Golden Spike’ is fucking amazing and everyone should get out of the internet and buy it, then listen to it.
Also (finally!) got to see Fucked Up - twice! The bruises are still planted firmly on my hips, arms and legs.
In other news, my Dad’s ringtone is our song ‘The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash’. I’m thinking of creating a furry CGI character to accompany it and putting it "on the telly" for a few quick buck$. Bye now!
Dave Martin recommends the post rock dynamics and baritone vocals of RedJetson
Tom Brogan profiles Ivor Cutler / Eleanor Friedberger crossover, Miss McGarry
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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