Blogs
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New Music Tuesday - May 05, 2009 Introducing The Northwestern and Theophilus London...
By David Renshaw on 5 May 2009
Once again Gigwise is back with our round up of what's new, hot and tickling our fancy in the world of new music.
The Northwestern
FAO: Fans of Hope Of The States- Sam Herilhy and Simon Jones are back! Aside from the instrumental act Troubles and Michael Siddell playing violin for Lightspeed Champion a solid piece of post-HOTS action has been ruefully absent so it is with open arms we greet The Northwestern. Herilhy's gravelly vocals are back but where they were once wrought with emotion and grandiosity they are now sitting a top Summery chords and triumphant pop hooks. 'All The Ones' is currently streaming via the bands Myspace page and has a collective and triumphant air to it, like Arcade Fire dancing with Polyphonic Spree it's unashamedly big but fun and frivolous at the same time. A single is due in June but the band tour before then starting in Winchester on May 29th and ending up at East London's 93 Feet East on the 9th of June.
The Northwestern@ Myspace
Theophilus London
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Put An End To Musical Snobbery! Music should be about simple pleasures...
By Tristan O\'Hana on 29 April 2009
Have you ever heard a song, loved it and bought the album? Of course you have. Have you then told a fellow discerning music lover about this exciting, new found interest, only to be slammed by the fact you’ve only just heard of them, and that the album you bought is 'in fact' complete and utter shite compared to their earlier work? Many have, and I tell you, it’s just not right.
Your personal experience might differ from this example - hell, you might have such an extensive music knowledge, owning almost every alternative album ever commited to plastic, that you’ve never had this happen at all. In which case, you’re probably the one dishing out the critiques. These are the people who, I reckon, should shut it.
Music is there to be enjoyed. Who cares if you were the first person to like Radiohead when they performed in dingy Oxford dives as On A Friday in 1991? I sure as hell don't. Or maybe you immersed yourself in rare 1976 Fall out-takes the moment you emerged from the womb? The list of examples is infinite. The fact you were into bands before they had barely formed might be impressive (to you at least), but this doesn’t give you the authority to preach at me for getting into them later on.
In a way, this judging on what you know compared to your friends' lack of back catalogue, is snobbery. You’re being a snob to your own friends. The time has come to stop this garbage and stick to the ‘if it feels good, do it’ way of life. Or rather, ‘if it sounds good, listen to it’.
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New Music Monday - April 27 2009 Introducing Graffiti Island and Magic Magic...
By David Renshaw on 26 April 2009
Here to shift the remnants of your weekend hangover with a box-fresh Monday morning dose of new music.
Graffiti Island
When another blogger recently wrote about Graffiti Island the posts subsequent comments were essentially list of abuse. Now anonymous keyboard warriors are nothing new but it shows how divisive Graffiti Island are - "This is shit" reads one closely followed by the baffling "They sound like Hare Krishnas". What these people were failing to hear however was the most exciting band around right now. Graffiti Island make music that couldn't sound more nonchalant if it tried and you get the impression they would never do anything so pathetic as trying. Like Johnny Cash fronting Beat Happening this London based three piece craft demonic and hypnotic scuzzy gems that positively drip with style. They are currently streaming two tracks online, 'Demonic Cat' is a typically bass heavy affair with the morose vocal telling of "666 lives" whereas 'Bad Potion' is a riotous garage rock workout that flies by in a whirlwind of energy. Go listen to them, come back and abuse them if you want- I trust that you'll fall for them too.
Magic Magic
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Off With The Joy Division Oven Gloves, No More Dull Musical Influences! Reed and Destroy: Hitting out at the arse cracks of the music world...
By Paul Reed on 23 April 2009
First and foremost, lets get my feelings on ‘Primary Colours’ by The Horrors out of the way. I’m actually going to join the chorus of positive critical noise and say that it is a truly great record, an exciting and unexpected leap forward for a band sculpting esoteric influences into some glorious, spine tingling pop.
So why is it frequently being described as ‘The third Joy Division’ album? Why would this be a good thing? Aren’t we fed up yet with the shadow cast over popular music from two mediocre albums and the tragically romanticised suicide of a young man?
In most musical circles, critiquing Joy Division is akin to walking into a house party loudly cracking jokes about Josef Fritzl before proceeding to take a massive steaming dump in the corner: You just don’t do it. This awed revisionism seemingly started with Interpol (who actually resemble The Chameleons much more than anyone else) but when will the unhealthy obsession end?
The ethos and mystique of the band have always appealed but the actual tunes? They have about five decent timeless songs if that. They are a black and white analogue band in a Technicolor digital age, monochrome and dreary, the perpetual student Peter Pan band whose followers need never grow up.
While we’re on the subject- Why do bands like The Cars get constantly discarded from the new wave Talking Heads / Blondie/ Television axis of cool?
Their derided status has nothing to do with how good the songs are, the first album is a breathtaking pop classic but they have been unfairly evacuated from hip influence territory. Its like new bands indulging us in their fan worship of The Smiths all day long but they won’t dare mention Prefab Sprout or The Slits taking all of the feminist punk kudos, leaving The Raincoats out in the cold save for the consolation prize of a passing mention in Kurt Cobain's journals.
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Twitter Is Bringing Band Rivalry Into The 21st Century And it's fabulous to watch...
By Jason Gregory on 21 April 2009
There were many (myself included) who expressed suspicion when Oasis’ Liam Gallagher became the latest Twitter convert.
His arrival last month was timed conveniently with the press launch of his new fashion label, Pretty Green. Consequently, a majority of the singer’s (presuming it was him, not a PR imposter) tweets were about fashion. Yes, fashion. “Desert boots will be available this summer,” he wrote on March 19th. Thanks Liam, I’ll make a note of that.
More of the same, including an update about the arrival of a dodgy Parka sample that he wasn’t “100% happy” with, followed. (Well, at least we know he’s a perfectionist.)
But more recently, Gallagher seems to have changed his tune on Twitter. Like many celebrities, he’s starting to use the micro-blogging service the way most of us do (and should): as a platform to say what we’re actually doing. His posts are now far more personal as a result. Earlier this month, for example, he painted us a wonderful image that, one presumes, was conjured up as he sat next to the pool sipping a Pina Colada. “In South Africa starting to look a bit like Des O’Connor, need to get out of the sun. Gig tonight.”
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New Music Monday - April 20 2009 Introducing Detachments and Friendship...
By David Renshaw on 19 April 2009
Welcome once again to another New Music Monday where we let you know all about our new favourite acts, read on...
Detachments
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Give It A Name: Underoath Blog From The Road Sharing their experiences as the tour reaches Europe...
By Underoath on 17 April 2009
Tampa rockers Underoath are currently slaying audiences on the European leg of the Give It A Name tour. Tim from the band took time out from his busy schedule of 'hanging' to tell Gigwise how the shows had been going so far. The band have also recorded a tour diary and sent us some pictures.
The only day since, that was as eventful was our kickball ball game with a brewing rivalry with TBS from our last tour. My team killed the first game and then we got killed in the second. It seems these days you're only as good as your last effort, so in that respect I'm on the losing end of things.
All in all, this tour has been amazing so far. It's good to see all of our old friends, and make some new ones. It's a good day to be where I am. I feel blessed.
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Soundcity: Light Nights Mean We're Almost There All the latest from the man behind the festival...
By Dave Pichilingi on 15 April 2009
Hello wise gig people. Isn't it great the evenings are getting brighter. Makes you feel more alive but also reminds us just how close SoundCity 2009 is and then the panic starts to set in again. Not for you of course, why would you panic? In fact why should I panic. I just keep harping the same mantra to the SoundCity team day after day like drip drip water torture.....'All will be fine....All will be fine....All will be fine'.
In this column a few weeks ago I announced SoundCity will be delivering the world premiere of Awaydays. To coincide with this we will also be launching a brand new exhibition from acclaimed photographer Kevin Cummins. Entitled 'The Crucial 30' the exhibition will feature 30 iconic portraits Liverpool legends such as The Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, Big in Japan, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Las and many more. The exhibition will form part of the opening celebration of SoundCity and will take place in the Hard Days Night Hotel and 3345 Parr St Studios.
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Is Amazon Ready To Take A Bite Out Of Apple's iTunes? 29p songs aren't enough...
By Jason Gregory on 14 April 2009
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It was an announcement that, on the face of it, couldn’t have come at a worse time for Apple.
Just as the company unveiled a new price range for its iTunes music store last week, which means songs will now cost between 59p and 99p, Amazon rather quietly launched plans to sell more than a 100 tracks on its rapidly rising online MP3 store for just 29p.
The bargain basement price (seriously, 29p!) includes songs that range from pop to classical and new (Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’) to old (Neil Young's ‘Rockin' in the Free World’), and is expected to last indefinitely.
In the ongoing war to crack Apple’s digital download dominance, Amazon’s move last week was an audacious one - but is it enough? Indeed, are Amazon even ready to take a bite out of Apple’s iTunes store?
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New Music Tuesday - 14 April 2009 Featuring Delphic, The Depreciation Guild and Bombay Bicycle Club.
By David Renshaw on 13 April 2009
New Music on a Tuesday this week due to the four day weekend. So, wasting no more time let us introduce you to the new face of dance music as well as the side project of another hot new band- we're going through the looking glass. As usual we have five tracks to keep an ear out for, the best the toilet circuit has to offer this week and a brand new video, this week from the ferocious two piece The Big Pink.
Delphic
Being a band from Manchester must be awful. If you want to make gloomy art-rock then you're the new Joy Division, if it's romantic introspection then expect the Morrissey comparisons to come a knocking and if you want to make swaggering lad anthems then Noel Gallagher himself will sign you up and your career will vanish quicker than you can say Proud Mary. So it's with some hesitation I approach writing about Delphic as the words 'New' and 'Order' loom ominous and large. However despite that very obvious comparison Delphic are doing things very differently to a lot of new bands. They release their debut single 'Counterpoint' this week on the Belgian label R&S and have also created their own subsidairy label Chimeric through Polydor which future releases will go through. 'Counterpoint' is a shimmering and pulsating six minute dance track that feels celebratory in its reluctance to conform. A three minute edit would sidle up nicely with Friendly Fires house-pop but Delphic don't do things the easy way. Having formed from the remains of another hyped band Snowfight In The City Centre they are taking tentative steps into the music world, putting their craft first and losing themselves in it. Delphic do however have support slots lined up with Bloc Party and Little Boots next month as well dates in Paris and London in June at the Kitsune showcase.
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