I think and hope and pray that i’m over my brief Daz obsession.
I need to get the cunt off the top of my page.
So I’ll have to post something.
I’m also in a bit of a strange mood, and I think I should go to bed before I upset the entire internet.
It’s probably best I don’t say too much.
Here’s a song I was sent.
It’s quite nice.
IN FLAGRANTI - GENITAL BLUE ROOM
Keywords: Italo; Wobbly Bass; Eurotrash Girl
Yes. It’s all about the wobbly bass.
I’m getting quite worryingly fascinated by Daz Sampson
Jeff Mills has long been a hero of mine, and watching his devastating DJ skillz is as near a religious experience as you can have in a club.
So when I got an email offering two tickets to watch the premiere screening of his new collaborative film with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra in New York I was more than chuffed… imagining myself sipping champagne in Virgin Atlantic 1st Class on a day return to meet the man himself.
But no. It seems the condition for my getting the tickets is that I give them to one of you lot.
Which makes it COMPETITION TIME! In the first part of a new regular (daily?) feature, where PR flunkies send me expensive gifts, and I (occasionally) pass (some of) them on to you.
,-)
So the prize I have up for grabs is two tickets to the screening of the collaborative film ‘Blue Potential’ at New York’s Trabeca Grand on May 1st. Jeff Mills himself will be hosting the event, and speaking. So if you’ve ever wanted to ask him if he’s ever tried spinning plates; or if he’s ever picked up friction burns on his fingers; here is your chance.
Alternatively, if you are unable to make it to New York (I did check, and flights are sadly not included), the prize winner will get a copy of the DVD.
It does look like a really exciting project, and personally I can’t wait to hear classics like ‘The Bells’ done in a classical stylee. If it’s anything like the Philip Glass interpretation of Aphex Twin’s ‘Icct Hedral’ this will be something to look forward to.
You can watch a trailer for the film here , and read some information about the project here. (This may be worth reading!)
The question:
‘Jeff Mills is rhyming slang for which popular recreational drug?’
ah, no. It seems like i’ve been given a question to set.
Which is….
“What bridge did Jeff Mills and the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra film ‘Blue Potential’ under”?
SEND YOUR ANSWER to: james at headphonesex.co.uk
And may good fortune smile upon your every move.
The FIFTH correct answer will win the prize.
EDIT: It took, er, a while. But eventually Andy popped up with the fifth correct answer. Well done Andy! You lucky lucky man.
Here’s the rather wonderful orchestral version of ‘The Bells’ for all who weren’t quite as lucky as lucky, lucky Andy.
JEFF MILLS & THE MONTPELLIER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA - THE BELLS
I really have to talk about Saturday’s gig before it slips my mind. I mentioned before that my mate Steve had been raving about the Bromheads Jacket live experience, and after finally seeing it for myself I can confirm…..it’s absolutely nuts.
Back to them in a tick though. Unfortunately I missed most of new Marquis Cha Cha signings The Oxfam Glamour Models, but the next band up were The KBC. And they were mighty impressive. You’ll be hearing more of them for sure. It was also the first sign of the madness to come, with some fella nicking their megaphone every 2 minutes, and a scrap kicking off at the front for no particular reason that I could work out. (A lot of) punches were thrown, clothing was ripped… and the band (kind of) played on.
Check out some tracks on their myspace page… ‘Poisonous Emblem’ and ‘Days of Disillusion’ come HIGHLY recommended. Definitely the best band i’ve seen third on the bill in the back room of a pub.
The crowd had swelled considerably by the time Bromhead’s took the stage, and the expectation in the air was palpable. After a bit of a false start with an untuned guitar they launched into their set of spiky punk tunes to scenes of utter delerium.
It took about half a song for the first people to get on the stage, and before long it was completely overrun. Some guy spent an entire song ambling around taking pictures with his phone… people helping themselves to backing vocal duties… and more stage diving then i’ve seen in my life. I seriously hadn’t seen that kind of fervour ever except watching their fellow Sheffielders Arctic Monkeys.
The music? Well to be honest I was so transfixed by the other goings on that it almost seemed irrelevent. It wasn’t though. It was great. 2 minute blasts of spiky punk with great tunes and sharp, funny lyrics.
I’ve already posted both set closer ‘What If’s & Maybe’s and debut single ‘Woolley Bridge’ before, so I won’t repeat myself. You can hear them both on the band’s myspace page though. And you should do. Though I really liked both songs before, they’ve totally entered a new dimension for me now I’ve seen them live.
Next time they’re in London I am so there.
I can’t leave you without an MP3 though….
I’ve been looking for this second track for a while, and finally managed to track it down via this blog… it’s the Bromheads Jacket version of ‘When You Wasn’t Famous’ from the b-side of The Streets 7″.
As that ‘Untouched by Work or Duty’ blog points out, it’s more an answer record than a cover, with the lyrics entirely changed to reflect, well, not being famous, and not getting laid. Although “a girl did show my her boobs at Frog* once”
*Frog is a wanky London Indie club.
Also contains the immortal line:
“The closest i’ve been to pulling a celeb yet,
a dream I had when I was 12,
I shagged Alanis Morrisette”
BROMHEADS JACKET - WHEN YOU WASN’T FAMOUS
So it was a great night. A sign of which was that I left covered in blood.
Both my own (thanks to the flying elbows of this hooligan):
And the pot of fake blood liberally dispersed by proper hooligans the Oxfam Glamour Models
Speaking of them, you should really buy their single. All the sleeves are hand made & I had to buy two copies they looked so good.
And the hits just keep on coming…
Another must buy on DFA is this absolute beauty by new signing ‘Shit Robot‘.
Deep scuzzy funk, a ravey piano breakdown. I keep getting flashes of different things - a bit of Carl Craig, a bit of Tech-House (except not ‘cos that’s shit). Oh I dunno, you try describing this dance music bollocks every day. It goes bleep and phwaft and geeeeeh and whakkawhakkawhakka in all the right places is all you need to know. And it sounds dirty not shiny. Which is obviously a good thing also.
Unfortunately my vinyl has a bad case of the jumps for about 20 seconds in the middle…. don’t let that put you off though. This is some quality shit.
SHIT ROBOT - WRONG GALAXY
EDIT: REMOVED BY REQUEST
The more Italo B-Side, ‘Triumph’, is brilliant as well, and has James Murphy chanting like an African Warrior and DFA on the knobs. It’s out this week. You do the math. (Hey, i’ve always wanted to say that! Despite, or perhaps because of the horrendous grammatical inaccuracy.)
Co-incidentally i’d just been digging another shit band the previous day, for this track by ‘Shitdisco‘ was by far & away the highlight of the double CD given out on the Camden Crawl.
As per usual xxjfg were on the case 6 months before the rest of us losers, but although I downloaded & listened I didn’t get the full impact at the time. I think this is why I can never see myself giving up CDs & vinyl for MP3s. Now, of course, the single is sold out. And that makes me sad.
I can’t imagine a dancefloor - or car journey, church service or elevator ride for that matter - that wouldn’t be improved by dropping this bad bwoy. The band sound like they’ve spent more time listening to The Ramones than Bobby Orlando and Donna Summer, but despite the scuzzy sound it’s far more disco than most over-produced rubbish that claims to make you want to rollerskate. At the moment, in the first flushes of my relationship with the track, it sounds like just about the best thing ever. Trying to put my objective hat on for a minute… oh fuck the objective hat. It’s the best thing ever.
Check out the excellent new single (Reactor Party) on their myspace. It doesn’t start off all that promising but then goes all bleepy bubbly mental. The ‘Errors’ mix of Disco Blood is damn good as well, but suffers from being not as damn good as the original.
EDIT: Co-incidentally Greenpeaness has the Clor remix of Disco Blood up right now…
I did a spot of shopping today. Bad for my overdraft…. Good for you!
One of the things I picked up will get some of you salivating. For ever since Tim Sweeeney played it on Beats in Space a couple of months back, it’s become one of the most eagerly anticipated records I can remember.
I have considered Carl Craig to be a God for many years, and each remix he has brought out recently (Cesaria Evora, Recloose, Francois de Roubaix and THAT Theo Parrish record in particular) has shown him to be on better form than ever. This is no exception. It’s a bit special.
I didn’t really give Delia & Gavin’s album much of a chance when it came out, however having picked it up on CD recently i’ve really started to appreciate what a masterful work it is. It’s an analog synth lovers dream, with layers and layers of fantastic beatless hypnotic sounds. On the surface what Carl does seems so simple (taking a loop… adding a drum), however when those drums kick in it’s just bliss. The jazzy piano shit at the end is ace also. The man just has too much funk.
This demands to be played in full.
DELIA GONZALEZ & GAVIN RUSSOM - RELEVEE (CARL CRAIG MIX)
EDIT: REMOVED BY REQUEST
I also got a Goldfrapp 12″ with two Carl Craig mixes in a similar kind of vibe… highly recommended as well.
Now it seems I can’t switch on teh interweb these days without hearing about this Norweigan fella called Lindstrom. But despite this my ears have remained resolutely Lindstrom-free, and i’ve not listened to any of his stuff (yes, even ‘I Feel Space’). It seems as though I will have to check him out after all though, as his new Franz Ferdinand remix 12″ is a corker, and the best there’s been since the Headman mixes of ‘Matinee’. For a change Alex Kapranos actually sounds integral to the track rather than a contractual obligation, and I can imagine that high pitched ‘de-de-der’ noise really messing with your head at high volume. Awesome. I was going to post the normal version, but the extended one is longer and therefore better. Innit. Although to be honest I want an extended extended mix running to about half an hour!
FRANZ FERDINAND - I’M YOUR VILLAIN (LINDSTROM EXTENDED MIX)
I was going to post more, however i’ll let you digest these first.
Shit that Lindstrom mix is hot.
1: Watch this video (or as much as you can bear). It’s apparently the UK’s Eurovision entry. He’s decided to go for the ‘creepy nonce hanging round the school changing rooms’ angle. Which i’m sure will score him highly in certain parts of Eastern Europe.
2: Have a browse of his messageboard
EDIT #2: Sadly our Daz’s forum seems to have been wiped & moderated. It was good while it lasted!
EDIT #1: EUROVISION UPDATE
Forget Daz (if only!). Finland are a shoe-in.
For this, my friends, is ‘Hardrock Hallelujah” by Lordi.
They’ve got fucking Godzilla on drums!
And ‘Almost East European’, whoever you are, I will forever be in your debt. For you have introduced me to Iceland’s sensational Silvia Night.
Is she
a: Royally ripping the piss
b: Dangerously psychotic
Surely it’s a?
Is it?
Oooh, it looks like I’ve just got 1000 hits in a day for the first time. Just when the blog’s going downhill too. “It’s not as good as it used to be” I hear them muttering in the pubs and bars. “He doesn’t update it very often does he”. “And where’s that review of Guillemots he promised?”
Well Guillemots was too long ago for me to remember. Which is a shame as I also wanted to mention their highly entertaining support act ‘Misty’s Big Adventure‘. They should have been annoying rather than entertaining, featuring as they did a man painted blue with stuffed gloves stuck all over his body. But no, they were definitely entertaining. This is what they looked like (kind of):
You can watch one of their videos here.
And this is what Guillemots looked like.
But no, that was all some time ago. As indeed was last weeks ‘Insomniac’s Ball’, which I had come on here intending to write about.
To be honest, as an event it was crap. But.. but… well, we’ll get to that later.
First up was White Rose Movement. Well they shouldn’t have been first up. For an event that was billing itself so much as an all nighter, I didn’t expect arriving at 11pm to have missed pretty much all the bands. So by the time I finally got in at 11:30 and pushed through the ridiculous crowds I ended up missing quite a lot of their set. They weren’t nearly as good as at King’s College a few weeks back. But still ace.
The event was also billing itself as some kind of festival, however much as I tried to find some acid, some mud and a stone circle, the event’s only concession to the festival spirit was to charge 4 quid for a can of Stella.
Nursing my precious lager I went off to see British Sea Power, who were really great, but they stood in the dark and were kind of forgettable. They also seem to have lost all their foliage - with only one branch remaining to decorate the stage with. Mind you there aren’t many trees in South London, and perhaps they left their twigs behind.
So at this point I was a bit ‘yeah, i’ve paid 25 quid and seen two bands. great.’ But then. But then. There came Art Brut.
My god were they good. I think I have just become their #1 fan.
I arrived in their room a bit late only to be greeted with what can only be described as a frenzy. The entire crowd chanting ‘Art. Brut. TOP OF THE POPS’. Arms and feet everywhere. And the band ripping through their amazing debut album (’Bang, Bang, Rock ‘n’ Roll‘). Eddie Argos (what a name!) in turns ridiculous, hilarious and just plain rock’ n’ roll; had the audience in the palm of his hand. Only someone quite that uncool can be quite that cool. If you know what I mean? He does look like Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor after all!
Christ knows where this geezer appeared from… he looks like he’s out of a Public Enemy video!
One top moment was Eddie reading through the entire lineup mid-song (it must have been ‘Bad Weekend’ I think) with everyone screaming ‘Top of the Pops’ back after each band. I dunno, I guess you had to be there.
Anyway, like I said, they were flipping good. I felt like Eddie’s little brother…
So that was the bands finished with not particularly late, and all that was left was to endure some absolutely dreadful DJs. I mean really dreadful. Before long there was only one room open, and by the time we left not much later on that was nearly empty as well. If they’re going to make such a big thing about going on ’till 6am, I expected a bit more than for the last band to be on at 2, followed by inept DJs playing crap music. Completely random drum ‘n bass, tedious house music, 60s tracks, boring indie hits, all attempted to be mixed together and trainwrecked every time. I don’t mind crap mixing if you play good records (well that’s what i do after all!), but the records were rubbish and the mixing was worse. And tickets for this thing cost a lot of money…
Anyway, i’m off to the Camden Crawl tomorrow (tonight?). Which i’m looking forward to as it was great last year. Any recommendations from the lineup will be gratefully received.
65 Days Of Static > 747s > Absentee > Akira The Don > The Aliens > The Automatic > Captain > Cazals > Cord > The Delilahs > Dogs > Elle Milano > Fields > !Forward Russia! > The Fratellis > Good Books > Guillemots > The Holloways > Howling Bells > Humanzi > Klaxons > Larrikin Love > Les Incompetents > Lethal Bizzle > Louie > The Maccabees > The Marshals > The Mitchell Brothers > Morning Runner > Mumm-Ra > Neat People > New Rhodes > Pink Grease > Paolo Nutini > The On Offs > The Paddingtons > The Pipettes > The Pistolas > Plan B > The Rifles > The Rogers Sisters > Rumble Strips > Shit Disco > The Slits > S.Rock Levinson > The Spinto Band > The Sunshine Underground > Sway > Switches > V//Formation > Wolfmother
Sorry for the huge number of photos in this post by the way… hope your browsers can take the pressure!
Forgive me father. It’s been almost a week since my last post.
If it’s any consolation, I have been spending the time productively rotting my liver.
To be honest you’re not going to get much out of me now… but here’s a couple of cheeky cheesy cover versions to ease you through your wednesday.
THE KOOKS - CRAZY (GNARLS BARKELY COVER)
This guy’s voice is going to get annoying after a while, particularly since their latest single is on constant radio rotation. However I have to say they’ve done a bloody good job with this…
SUGABABES - LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND (HARD-FI COVER)
Not that I can quite imagine the Sugababes sneaking into a club through the toilet window… but it does seem to work quite well translated to an anthem for the Bacardi Breezer generation.
I have to share this with you also. Since it is one of the biggest musical travesties I have ever heard.
KAISER CHIEFS - WHAT TIME IS LOVE? (KLF COVER)
And I say that as someone who actually likes the Kaiser Chiefs.
Fuck me it’s awful.
“Get Hype to the Rhythm”
Yeah daddio!
Finally, i’m having one of my sporadic clearouts on ebay… i’m planning on moving somewhere soon, and there’s no way that ALL this shit can come with me. There’s a load of records up now (mainly Rephlex / electronic stuff) but i’ll hopefully be listing a lot more CDs & vinyl in the next few days / weeks.
BUY ME!!
