tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080974803761325312023-11-16T12:21:51.380+00:00A layer of chipsErratically updated with love.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.comBlogger680125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-65133466441419585632016-04-06T04:55:00.000+01:002016-04-06T04:55:04.131+01:00The next train at Platform 1 contains more Indietracks bands<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTVsKO7eIumuNxLpT6YghddRAna2U0MfP8U56MqdAxcF9RX2D0CRuytykAcGZgaYo9dPGHkJn0lGDTB2Dj2nL1MiKfzdiDTpMOS2wtjAMuOUorkCe9YtzMjusqD_Ri1eXBctqA-2TbnJg/s1600/emmapollock-370x215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTVsKO7eIumuNxLpT6YghddRAna2U0MfP8U56MqdAxcF9RX2D0CRuytykAcGZgaYo9dPGHkJn0lGDTB2Dj2nL1MiKfzdiDTpMOS2wtjAMuOUorkCe9YtzMjusqD_Ri1eXBctqA-2TbnJg/s400/emmapollock-370x215.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma Pollock</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"More!" you shouted, and more! you get because the next load of Indietracks bands have been announced, and there's some doozies.<br />
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Emma Pollock and Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern are the big names added to the line up for the festival.<br />
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The other bands added are: Comet Gain, The Lovely Eggs, Boys Forever, Simon Love and The Old Romantics, Trust Fund, Iko Cherie, Wintergreen, Red Sleeping Beauty, Nervous Twitch, Humousexual, White Town, Jessica and The Fletchers, Witching Waves and Helen McCookerybook. <br />
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Days for the headliners have also been confirmed today: The Spook School (Friday), Saint Etienne (Saturday) and The Aislers Set (Sunday).<br />
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Early bird tickets are still available, so don't be an ugly duckling - <a href="http://www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets/">order yours now</a>.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-3170801352195528522016-03-13T17:00:00.001+00:002016-03-13T17:00:16.123+00:00The Goon Sax - Up to Anything (Chapter Music)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FyCiJAjP9Vg7cRjK2o94hsfbhVhUYFi4-Wzw_m8Z1nmNXQ88ei5kok00caWrGOronpEVoUsMcG6pQbczuGsnTZAEJBAgKgWM5uTd6lAwDUZNsjIB3WjbcoVCiIsrdSrNfx6PSL0ul-U5/s1600/Goon+SaX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FyCiJAjP9Vg7cRjK2o94hsfbhVhUYFi4-Wzw_m8Z1nmNXQ88ei5kok00caWrGOronpEVoUsMcG6pQbczuGsnTZAEJBAgKgWM5uTd6lAwDUZNsjIB3WjbcoVCiIsrdSrNfx6PSL0ul-U5/s320/Goon+SaX.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Imagine if you were 17 and were able and talented enough to put all those things you're experiencing and all those situations you find stifling and frustrating and exciting and confusing to music. And then release it as a record.<br />
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Welcome, then, to the Goon Sax's debut album 'Up to Anything'.<br />
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Leave aside the rotten name, this is a band with some pedigree as it has among its number the son of Go-Between Robert Forster, and the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.<br />
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'Up to Anything' aches with yearning, and the general silliness of teenage life. From the deathly serious subject of unrequited love in 'Sometimes Accidentally' and 'Boyfriend' to the dreaded rigmarole of entering a barbers ('Home Haircuts') when you're not entirely sure what you're supposed to do - never mind ask for. These are the big issues.<br />
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Oh, and whilst we're at it, 'Home Haircuts' features the best opening line to a song I reckon ever:<br />
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<i>"I went to the barbers to get shorn</i><br />
<i>And I came out looking nothing like Shane Warne".</i><br />
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Musically, think early Hefner, with the odd country-ish twist, it's mostly downbeat stuff here, and there's nothing wrong with that. 'Sweaty Hands' features the most wonderful lolloping bassline, for example. That's not to say The Goon Sax don't have their playful moments; 'Susan' is almost breezy, but of course it's all about the terrible pain of love and loss.<br />
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The highlight of the album is the beautiful 'Anyone Else' which tells the tale of a frustrated suitor, and veers magically between early Smiths and Galaxie 500.<br />
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I've not heard a record that brings back all those horrible teenage feelings for quite some time. I mean, for me it's all a very long time ago now, but listening to 'Up to Anything' little pieces of it come back to haunt you... but also bring a sense of comforting familiarity too. And isn't that what all the best music should do?<br />
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<a href="http://chaptermusic.bandcamp.com/album/up-to-anything">Listen to, and buy, 'Up to Anything'</a>.<br />
<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-40545457161971728142016-03-07T06:49:00.003+00:002016-03-07T06:49:25.568+00:00Indietracks interview: Owl photobombs; drunken hangs in train carriages; and Joel Gibb in a wheelchair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNa_Gr-CY1ryEO4-C8i-MG-s5UkC-ugZ6OZowOTVu5oiGdN_pMIix2NDoIZGWGvbhRN4bj2wDVZXUalnPEHcs4Q_hqbKntuM-KQlYUFdE3UKmDuCO3tpKtk3RJGhysx5hnuvVpyTs_b11Y/s1600/Indietracks-outdoor-stage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNa_Gr-CY1ryEO4-C8i-MG-s5UkC-ugZ6OZowOTVu5oiGdN_pMIix2NDoIZGWGvbhRN4bj2wDVZXUalnPEHcs4Q_hqbKntuM-KQlYUFdE3UKmDuCO3tpKtk3RJGhysx5hnuvVpyTs_b11Y/s400/Indietracks-outdoor-stage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Sure, you want to know what spurs the Indietracks organisers on towards arranging the best music festival in the world, don't you? Now you can.<br /><br /><b>TRIGGER WARNING: contains Hidden Cameras fan-fic.</b><br />
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<i>Is this the 10th Indietracks? How has it changed? </i><br />
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Nat: Yes, this year is our tenth weekend festival and we're all very excited to be celebrating our birthday with the railway this year! It's changed a lot since the first Indietracks, which was a one-night event back at Butterley station back in April 2007. Then, there was just one stage at Butterley and three bands playing. We've since moved the site to Swanwick and have around 50 bands playing over the course of the weekend. There are now four stages, including the large outdoor stage which we introduced in 2009 when we partnered with Elefant Records, and we've also expanded our range of catering stalls, introduced workshops and increased the number of discos.<br />
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The railway staff are also absolutely brilliant and try to introduce something new every year which we're always very grateful for - for example the outdoor beach, the steamroller displays, the owl sanctuary and guided tours of the museum. They're really keen to help us improve the festival, and always surprise us with a lovely new feature every year! This year we're also especially looking forward to showing a beautiful 30 minute documentary about the railway and Indietracks made by award-winning director Jeanie Finlay, which was filmed at Indietracks last year.<br />
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<i>Is it more and more of a challenge to find bands, or are you pleasantly surprised this year?</i><br />
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Ian: The bands find us! I'm always pleasantly surprised by the applicants each year, bands that have fallen under my radar or I've just never heard of - every year throws up some gems. I think the scene is wide enough for us always to be able to select a varied line up of new bands, established bands and a few reformed legends too. I guess it's the headliners that are always the challenge, it's so important to get these right and the field is a bit narrower for these slots. We've got a pretty long list of wants for the headline slots though and we definitely ticked off a couple this year with Saint Etienne and The Aislers Set - we've been after those two for years! Generally speaking I think the indiepop scene has evolved a lot in the last five years and we want Indietracks to move with it, not be stuck in the past. That philosophy means we are never in short supply of bands to choose from.<br />
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<i>What's the process for picking bands? I'm picturing fist-fights?</i><br />
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Andy: Haha, it's actually all very friendly! We try and make sure that we have a varied (and hopefully sometimes surprising!) selection of bands, so it helps that everyone in our team brings different ideas. There are plenty of spots to fill, so we can all be happy. The invitation process runs all year around, especially for the headliners - sometimes we're in touch with bands for years before the timing is right for them to come and play. We're especially excited to have Saint Etienne and The Aislers Set this year, as we've loved them for ages. We also invite bands to apply, and spend most of January listening to 400-500 applications and picking our favourites - there's a few amazing new bands on our first announcement that we discovered through the applications process. We also look at the Anorak wishlist, spot bands at shows and try and pick up on what people are excited about.<br />
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<i>Is there anything new in store for this year's festival?</i><br />
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Marianthi: Same old, same old, I'm afraid. The best bands, the best beer, the best friends, the best train rides, the best way to set yourself up for the revolution: by believing in the good in things. Indietracks is full of sparkly surprises every year and we are as dazzled by them as you are.<br />
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Indietracks came about partly because of a disillusionment with larger events. Do you think these larger events have made any concessions to cater for different music tastes or those without huge budgets, or are they lost forever?<br />
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Alice: Going to any festival big or small is an expensive affair, but thankfully now there are so many different events out there that you can find your little place in the world. I think the idea of a 'Festival' has changed so much in the last ten years, and people want a curated experience. They want more than a stage, dodgy festival noodles, a stall to buy a dumb hat and a Carling beer tent. Most big events have to have a wide musical remit to attract the numbers they need, I used to regularly go to Leeds Festival in my sadly distant student days and would find enough bands that I was excited about. But why would I feel the need to go to Leeds Festival now when I can go to a festival that fully caters for me? I'm sure Reading still has some OK bands playing, but why would I want to go there when I can go to End of the Road, Festival Number 6 or indeed Indietracks?<br />
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<i>How has the Midland Railway charity benefited from Indietracks over the last decade?</i><br />
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Andy: I think it's brilliant that the festival has introduced thousands of new visitors to the railway - a lot of people will come along to the festival because they love the bands, but will then really enjoy all the railway attractions; the steam trains, signal boxes, transport museums and miniature railway etc. The railway staff and volunteers work so hard to keep the charity going, so it's great to help attract so many visitors and that our audience really like all the railway side of the festival.<br />
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We're also the biggest annual fundraising event for the railway charity, and our visitors raise tens of thousands of pounds each year. This really helps with the cost of maintaining the site and locomotives, and also contributes to improvements such as the new Swanwick station building and the new bridge to the second platform. It's really expensive to maintain the railway, and the funds people raise by coming to Indietracks are vital in keeping the railway running - so thank you everyone! <br />
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<i>When you're old and grey and sat next to Hidden Cameras in sheltered housing, how would you like Indietracks to be remembered?</i><br />
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Nat: Hee! First of all I'd pull out my dog-eared photograph of me and Joel Gibb being photobombed by a confused-looking owl, and ask him if he remembers much about that night, and whether he still has their glittery silver costumes! Seriously though, hopefully Indietracks will still be going when we're old and grey, but if not then I hope it lives on peoples' memories as somewhere that made them happy. That's certainly how I'll always remember it - it's my favourite place in the world. <br />
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Ian: That we succeeded at something people thought could never happen. That we did it for the love of the music and because we could, not that we were trying to dictate a scene or define it. That we probably paid for the Cheddar Valley owner's children to go to University. That we gave bands ignored by the radio and press the recognition and the stage they deserved. That we made people happy and gave them the some of the best weekends of their lives.<br />
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Alice: I can't really imagine it being over, I'd like to think it would still be running in some shape or form. I'd like to hope that with the company of Hidden Cameras I could forget about the shirtless dudes drinking Buckfast in the campsite disco. But sadly that unsettling image is etched into my retinas. I'd hope that people would remember orange cider, owls in the bar, can crush o'clock, drunken hangs in train carriages, llamas, the amazing and friendly railway staff and it being the centre of our little scene.<br />
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Marianthi: Part of me doesn't want anyone to remember anything, and just enjoy being serenaded by a still-hot Joel Gibb in our wheelchairs. Another part of me wants Indietracks to be remembered as something that spurred people on to be in bands, make stuff, put on gigs, think about community and inclusivity, fall in love, believe in the railway, believe in good. I'd like it to be remember as a place where it was completely OK to be yourself and you felt safe and happy and amazed. And never, ever forget the glitter cannons.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-19140184597439219052016-03-01T11:50:00.001+00:002016-03-02T07:12:23.700+00:00Indietracks 2016: from Swanwick Junction with love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlweUiewh6b6Q5Wx2tOJ7Uxpmlpqcr8E-lNoaN41yuSLqMGTQb0211dSyl8OfNT8efRvYBK7mWYYruOWosIPTOwhzrdhcMN9mN_2u2c6C5441LXRU8fztNpgvE0CZCiI6sk00wjoU4lhJD/s1600/Indietracks-festival-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlweUiewh6b6Q5Wx2tOJ7Uxpmlpqcr8E-lNoaN41yuSLqMGTQb0211dSyl8OfNT8efRvYBK7mWYYruOWosIPTOwhzrdhcMN9mN_2u2c6C5441LXRU8fztNpgvE0CZCiI6sk00wjoU4lhJD/s1600/Indietracks-festival-001.jpg" /></a></div>
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Oh, look - the line-up for this year's Indietracks - the 10th (tenth) has been announced, and it's an absolute belter already.<br />
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Headliners are Aislers Set and Saint Etienne, but the supporting cast doesn't look top shabby either: Shopping, Expert Alterations, Flowers, Seazoo, Po!, Chrissy Barnacle, ¡Ay Carmela!, City Yelps, Soda Fountain Rag, Charla Fantasma, Vacaciones, Songs for Walter, Two White Cranes, Falling & Laughing, Maggie8, Lorna, Pete Green, The Charlie Tipper Conspiracy and Prizefighter.<br />
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Tickets are now available at an early bird discount price of £72 (weekend) and £39 (day), excluding booking fees. These cheaper prices are available until 9pm on Sunday 15 May. After this date, prices will be £79 (weekend) and £41 (day). Weekend tickets for children aged 5-15 are £10, or £6 for a day ticket. Children under 5 get in free!<br />
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Tickets are available by calling the railway directly on 01773 747 674 during office hours or by visiting: http://www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets/ <br />
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You know what to do. See you at the bar.<br />
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<i>We've got an interview with the organisers of Indietracks coming up at some point over the next couple of weeks sometime. To be precise.</i>A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-91301341909332703652016-02-24T11:25:00.001+00:002016-02-24T11:25:32.841+00:00Slowcoaches - Ex Head (Leisure + District)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOha9jni6QcgZWcAT5_eWSYaI9gwSwp-Aijea0UuUUhA7-MGEtQEBOK-cI_Xz4Fm_9KNC8kcvI_c25ggS8pzDjy6bjrrZlNNVIOHAb4xL8Tu8PXKFjFFfoDefAK-0iEIsX3a73Zwvt7IYG/s1600/Slowcoaches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOha9jni6QcgZWcAT5_eWSYaI9gwSwp-Aijea0UuUUhA7-MGEtQEBOK-cI_Xz4Fm_9KNC8kcvI_c25ggS8pzDjy6bjrrZlNNVIOHAb4xL8Tu8PXKFjFFfoDefAK-0iEIsX3a73Zwvt7IYG/s400/Slowcoaches.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Slowcoaches bid to take over the world takes a big step forward with this mighty single.<br />
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Ex Head blasts out of the blocks and never lets up. Heather Perkins' vocals might be smothered in the kind of fuzzed-out bliss that was popular right at the end of the 1980s, but they're still deeply affecting.<br />
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This is perhaps the most accessible Slowcoaches track I've heard, and comes across as a confident marker for what's to follow. Think late-Pixies, Husker Du or and even - gasp - the good bits of Senseless Things and if you like all that jazz, then you'll love Ex Head.<br />
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Slowcoaches are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/slowcoachessux/photos/a.346017535443466.82120.113555262023029/1101594333219112/?type=3&theater">out and about on tour</a> from 10th March, and I'll be stood and the back looking nervous when they play the Chameleon in Nottingham on 12th. Come and tell me it'll all be okay.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247148230&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-67205861825042147422015-02-19T19:00:00.000+00:002015-02-19T19:00:00.709+00:00It's the most wonderful time of the year...Oh, what's this that just dropped into my inbox? Why, it's the first bands confirmed for this year's Indietracks. I'm too tired and busy to make comment yet - suffice to say I wish it was Indietracks every weekend.<br />
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Here's the missive from Indietracks HQ:<br />
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The Go! Team, Cinerama, Martha, Tigercats and Euros Childs are among the first 17 artists to be confirmed for this year’s Indietracks. The festival takes place on the weekend of 24-26 July 2015 at a picturesque 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire.<br />
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The other bands added to the bill today are Desperate Journalist, Mammoth Penguins, The School, Bunnygrunt, The Catenary Wires, The Tuts, Los Bonsáis, Fire Island Pines, The Fireworks, JUNK., The Leaf Library and Eureka California. Dozens more artists will be added to the bill shortly. <br />
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Tickets are now available at an early bird discount price of £68 (weekend) and £37 (day). These cheaper prices are available until 5pm on Sunday 3 May. After this date, prices will be £75 (weekend) and £39 (day). Weekend tickets for children aged 5-15 are £10, or £6 for a day ticket. Children under 5 get in free! <br />
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Tickets are available by calling the railway directly on 01773 747 674 during office hours or by visiting: http://www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets/ <br />
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A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-73256791593171090972015-01-17T10:45:00.000+00:002015-01-17T10:45:11.032+00:00Bringing back NatOn 30th January we're welcoming back Nat Johnson and her band to Nottingham for a show at Lee Rosy's, where we haven't put a gig on for YONKS.<br />
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<span class="fsl">The date is part of Nat's Neighbour of the Year tour, and she'll be accompanied by her wonderful band on harmonies, flute, fiddle, lapsteel, horn and banjo. Nat will be playing a retrospective set featuring songs from her Monkey Swallows the Universe and Nat Johnson & the Figureheads days, as well as (of course) songs from the new album.</span><br />
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<span class="fsl">Support comes from Derby's Mighty Kids, and you can <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/298516">buy tickets here</a>. </span><br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bU4pkbMZSJw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-82080319803531341632015-01-02T07:37:00.001+00:002015-01-07T17:39:45.087+00:00Tigercats - Mysteries (Fortuna Pop!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP-fEwbE5WhCgcSGqZZr9-5z0TvwWMCnY2U8fLYkxw4m9tcBNjTLZIvY5Qm8vjExhJBeNOP8pG_HZCrsFgdxR4UJmnYidyUVJSg3TQBf4a2GWFfa8MezOsxqb05qq8xEmK1qnR74FkCI9J/s1600/Tigercatsmysteries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP-fEwbE5WhCgcSGqZZr9-5z0TvwWMCnY2U8fLYkxw4m9tcBNjTLZIvY5Qm8vjExhJBeNOP8pG_HZCrsFgdxR4UJmnYidyUVJSg3TQBf4a2GWFfa8MezOsxqb05qq8xEmK1qnR74FkCI9J/s1600/Tigercatsmysteries.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>What do you do when you get older and wiser and - frankly - better? Don't ask me about the last two, but if you're Tigercats, then you hole yourselves up in Soup Studios and make an album of such subtle genius that it makes your debut pop splash sound, at times, naive.<br />
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'Mysteries' is an album of understated scope and vision. Sure, underneath the measured brilliance of the songs here lies a pulsating pop heart, but there are huge differences compared with Tigercats' 2012 debut 'Isle of Dogs'. The addition of Allo Darlin''s Paul Rains could have had something to do with this, but maybe not. Maybe this band has done what so many others fail to; they've grown to polish what they already had and turn into into something a lot of more fulfilling for everyone concerned.<br />
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If 'Isle of Dogs' was your first, thrilling year of living in a big city, then 'Mysteries' is that difficult second one. There's world-weariness at work here, especially on tunes such as 'Wheezer', which sounds like a prime take from Architecture in Helsinki's excellent 2005 album, 'In Case We Die'. "I can't go a day without you!" sings Duncan Barrett as the horns (supplied by none other than demi-god Terry Edwards) and the keys fall over his head.<br />
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Other downbeat thrillers include 'To Sad to Tell You', all minor chords and longing, which explodes into righteous indignation now and again thanks to Rains' superb guitar playing. It ends of Barrett's stream of consciousness vocals and is pretty wonderful.<br />
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Every cloud, and 'Sleeping on the back seat' is the album's real pop gem. Telling tales of life on the road, this whirligig of a song is perfect. Rains again stars as his guitars spirals up and down in time with a story of longing, endless journeys and... singing to the radio with the car windows open. It might not have the instant hit of, say, 'Full Moon Reggae Party', but it's probably a better song.<br />
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'So Haunted' perhaps haunts back to 'Banned at the Troxy' from 'Isle of Dogs' (in style if nothing else), but paints such a vivid picture of claustrophobic frustration that by the time Rains' discordant solo comes in and out that you're pretty much immersed.<br />
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We all grow up, of course. But not many grow up as gracefully as this. Tigercats have clearly poured a lot of themselves into 'Mysteries', and the result is an often-revealing, soul-bearing exercise in perfect pop.<br />
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'Mysteries' is out on 2nd February on Fortuna Pop!<br />
<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-23508103725362470672014-12-08T16:34:00.002+00:002014-12-08T20:03:21.806+00:00Lost Pets<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZdGu7zeTBEqqGi2uBQmRzsG1HQwiVL1ltovgdBHrXzjbRbFfEd-Yzi46hWKmAIIjxWScSxnShq9C-KHJBYgQwF6ssUXIgmEWi5QOg-c3zyDavoQ7WED97k1yO4UXTtOqz0nBM19Mc9rtA/s1600/Lost+Pets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZdGu7zeTBEqqGi2uBQmRzsG1HQwiVL1ltovgdBHrXzjbRbFfEd-Yzi46hWKmAIIjxWScSxnShq9C-KHJBYgQwF6ssUXIgmEWi5QOg-c3zyDavoQ7WED97k1yO4UXTtOqz0nBM19Mc9rtA/s1600/Lost+Pets.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>I have to declare an interest here, the wife's the drummer. But there are four other people in <a href="http://lostpets.bandcamp.com/">Lost Pets</a>, and every one of them makes this three-track demo something to treasure as 2014 slips away from us.<br />
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Lost Pets have played three gigs, and only started practising six months ago. How, then - are these songs so full of pop magic?<br />
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Not that many would imagine 'Diamonds and Cobblestones' to be a pop song. A wistful waltz that could easily be played at the next Coronation Street wedding as the first dance, it's got Rebekah Barnett's tremulous voice across special guest Marc Elston's tremolo, whilst Hannah Bond honks her brass beautifully in the background. It twinkles and lopes and is downright beautiful.<br />
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Over on 'Get Out' Lost Pets get mean, a plaintive rant against a controlling other, with garage band drums, butter-wouldn't-melt glockenspiel and more Hannah Bond honking, but it's 'Richard Loves Doris' that really steals the show, with it's 'Be My Baby' drumming, bouncing bass and starlight glock. It's fun and cocky and wry and knowing and completely disarming innocent pop. You should try it.<br />
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Lost Pets play the Glasgow PopSouth! Weekender, which runs from 13th-15th February.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-42195616133498608642014-11-17T09:12:00.000+00:002014-11-17T09:12:07.144+00:00Interview: The Popguns: Hello, again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OZJBdN9eHdlx6Gw7q6ZCKEps-EOuCi5wXmOpoeQ0DPbSTRKUeOklFnrjUH4XGaTMsxS4sqkFU6C0XNasJuIPIlMGoVemTrNiP6Aoed7jYxO8eeVQljHTKUVPAGWUc9AWjb-NDWGyntAb/s1600/Popguns3BnW+-+Edit+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OZJBdN9eHdlx6Gw7q6ZCKEps-EOuCi5wXmOpoeQ0DPbSTRKUeOklFnrjUH4XGaTMsxS4sqkFU6C0XNasJuIPIlMGoVemTrNiP6Aoed7jYxO8eeVQljHTKUVPAGWUc9AWjb-NDWGyntAb/s320/Popguns3BnW+-+Edit+1.jpg" /></a>Work has taken its toll on me writing anything new for yonks, now. October was a very cruel month. But I've not been as quiet as The Popguns, whose first release for 18 years - the bolshy, chunky, altogether gorgeous 'Lovejunky' is out now on Matinee Recordings, to be followed by an album, 'Pop Fiction',<br />
to follow on 2nd December.<br />
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I emailed Simon from the band a few questions. He was good enough to reply...<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I first heard Popguns on the John Peel show, when Landslide was in the Festive 50. Is it true the single was held off being released because of the Hillsborough disaster?</b><br />
Sorry, I’ve never heard that one before. Maybe it was an excuse for not getting more airplay?<br />
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<b>What are your fondest memories of your first time around as a band?</b><br />
Going out on our first mini-tour after we’d done a Peel Session and people in strange towns were singing back our songs from the crowd. I remember playing Warwick University (I think) and people were singing along to 'Bye Bye Baby' which had its first play on Peel a few days earlier and was not out on record yet.<br />
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<b>And why did you stop?</b> <br />
Lack of commercial success. And ten years of indie rock and roll can take its toll you know. If I dwelt on that too much about that we’d probably stop again now so I won’t.<br />
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<b>What brought the band back together?</b><br />
The rest of the band kept begging me to do it again cos they loved the songs so much I guess. I was actually very reluctant initially as I had no new songs, but it all went down very well and then I had a rush of creativity for some reason so we carried on a bit more to do the new album. I never fell out of love with pop music but this experience has really brought that alive again. <br />
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<b>Do you understand why some people are wary about so many indie pop bands reforming at the moment?</b><br />
Not really, indie bands are not that dangerous at all. It was actually a real surprise that there is so much interest in indie music with all the Popfest stuff around the world. There’s plenty of room in the world for all sorts of music and all sorts of indie bands too. Not every band is everyone’s cup of tea, that’s for sure.<br />
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<b>What are the differences between making music and gigging now, and doing it all in the late 80s/early 90s?</b><br />
Plus ca change… and all that really. Live gigs are pretty much the same, playing a bit too loud and a bit out of tune in small venues to loud crowds and that’s the best bit really. Everyone at our shows are clearly out for a good time and that rubs off on us; it’s just a real pleasure to play our music and see the reaction without the thought that we need to impress some journalists or record companies. <br />
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Recording has been a bit easier this time with all the new tech and less pressure to deliver. The biggest difference is the internet I guess which helped keep our music alive and lets us keep in touch with our fan base. Twenty ears ago we relied so much more on the music press and crumbs of radio play to get noticed but now that’s not so important. <br />
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<b>Tell me about the new album. What influences have you taken?</b><br />
Firstly, I’m just really relieved and proud to have made the record I always wanted to all those years ago. In our opinion we never really did justice to ourselves with our recordings and this has to be by far our best album. I was always influenced by great female fronted pop bands (Shirelles, Blondie, Pretenders) and that hasn’t gone away and I can’t stop trying to create that same feeling in our songs. Inevitably the subject matter of songs has hanged a bit but you may not always notice (secret: They are all about The Popguns, ha ha). Actually, there’s one song, “Alfa Romeo”, about the life of trumpet player Chet Baker but I don’t think we could be filed under jazz just yet. <br />
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<b>And which new bands are you listening to at the moment?</b><br />
Of the bands that have come along since we split I guess The Strokes, Libertines and Arcade Fire would have to be 3 that capture what I think is great is about pop music. Although Arcade Fire may not quite fit the uncomplicated pop category. Two albums I’ve listened to a lot this year are 'Crimson Red' by prefab Sprout and 'Help Stamp Out Loneliness' by HSOL (a few years old I admit). My 15 year old daughter’s faves are Taylor Swift… and Arcade Fire and The Strokes! Yay.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152070583&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-37602737768678088212014-09-25T10:00:00.003+01:002014-09-28T15:41:40.613+01:00Allo Darlin' - We Come From the Same Place (Fortuna Pop!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfPNLvz8ijKq2SMe9JqbWAPATuZBdVZCFlDfiQRpSNwvvQsmNSWIOWbiMdJloscxguxws23yFQuCIKtguNVLj_7xxrXNnvKw_bsYsdvJBHrz0HLx-sYqQDr36rNtdQxz7CuPZj4eh8Vim/s1600/wecome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfPNLvz8ijKq2SMe9JqbWAPATuZBdVZCFlDfiQRpSNwvvQsmNSWIOWbiMdJloscxguxws23yFQuCIKtguNVLj_7xxrXNnvKw_bsYsdvJBHrz0HLx-sYqQDr36rNtdQxz7CuPZj4eh8Vim/s1600/wecome.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>"Nothing feels like it did before, and I am grateful for that," sings Elizabeth Morris on 'Crickets in the rain', and with that the downbeat tiredness (but still beautiful) of 'Europe' is put to bed. Locked away. It's time to move on, and life is good.<br />
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Allo Darlin', perhaps more than any other indiepop band (if, indeed, that's what they are), have been so closely watched over the last four years. Births, break-ups, marriages, moves and a triumphant emotional comeback-of-sorts at this year's Indietracks - all over the space of three albums. 'We come from the same place' is the perfect, rounded end to their first three albums, in which they've not so much grown up in the limelight, as had it shone so brightly on them.<br />
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'We come from the same place' is the sound of a band on top of their game - a band who can write just about any song you want them to. 'Angela' is a deeply delicate hymn to love, but is followed up by new single 'Bright Eyes' - the romping, stomping duet between Morris and Paul Rains (whose guitar playing is the real star of this album, by the way). A call-and-answer masterpiece, it's the feelgood hit of the Autumn: "It feels better hanging out with you." Indeed.<br />
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Elsewhere, on the title track, Morris's voice, not for the first or last time in the band's time together, soars and then breaks and then does that thing that invokes such emotion that it's hard not to believe anything is possible. It's the past four years synthesised into one perfect four-and-a-half minutes.<br />
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Morris is again to the fore in the reflective 'History lessons', in which she rails against nostalgia and vents her frustration that we can't and don't celebrate the here and now and, for that matter, the future. The indiepop scene would do well to take notice.<br />
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There's even a hint of Britpop in 'Half heart necklace', which, if not exactly a straight down the line rock track, gives Rains the chance to sketch distorted shapes with his guitar as Morris tells the tale of her childhood back in Australia.<br />
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Back to 'Crickets in the Rain', though, which is the real star of the show. Perhaps harking back to older Allo Darlin' songs (at least musically), it's the one with the killer chorus, and another in which the vocals crackle and spark just enough to keep your eyes moistening. And there's that guitar leading everyone a very merry dance, as again, Morris puts nostalgia in its place. No looking back now.<br />
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'Another year' ends the album, and still the themes are travel and moving on and not going back. If this song about leaving on a plane is a metaphor for the whole album, or whether it's simply a tale about moving to Italy - it matters not. Sure, there's self-doubt here, but, y'know... onwards.<br />
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Much has happened to Allo Darlin' since their self-titled album bounced into the world back in 2010. That they're still around, writing songs as complete and life-affirming as can be found on this flawless record, is something to cherish. Always looking forward, always moving on - and thank goodness for that.<br />
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Allo Darlin play <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/659956264100552/?fref=ts">The Maze in Nottingham on 19th November</a>, as part of a UK tour. 'We Come from the Same Place' is out on 6th October.<br />
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<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-47067691049776208122014-09-15T10:11:00.000+01:002014-09-15T10:11:46.787+01:00The Debutantes - S/T ep (Soft Power)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDI2Mdr32PA6sNo-k4ve_0hJ8qQlCeLo9UT5vlwAP5k1TY9UXK42nfM25Y4c0Vl7bQ37qXxP3uDP8IsUmPl-lDLT7XyK0qDcx0MMyTu1KLL9d1nj7eNcCYTW9vTLymUmbfLv52bTriC5-/s1600/The+Debutantes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDI2Mdr32PA6sNo-k4ve_0hJ8qQlCeLo9UT5vlwAP5k1TY9UXK42nfM25Y4c0Vl7bQ37qXxP3uDP8IsUmPl-lDLT7XyK0qDcx0MMyTu1KLL9d1nj7eNcCYTW9vTLymUmbfLv52bTriC5-/s1600/The+Debutantes.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
Oh, the pop music, the pop music these people make. The Debutantes are Leon and Sarah and Paula from September Girls, and this is their perfect debut.<br />
<br />
Whereas September Girls are all dark menace, The Debutantes are at the more blissed-out end of fuzzy, scuzzy pop. Opener, 'Burn the merchandise' revels in its prime-time pop-chime of Jesus and Mary Chain, whilst also hinting at Frankie Rose. The Be My Baby (there must be a more technical term than this) drums only add to the lengthening of the summer as the leaves fall.<br />
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'Gentleman's wash' is all new-wave atmospherics, with all feel of 'Japanese Whispers'-era Cure in there, and it's pretty much the jewel in the crown here. It's all fruitless yearning, like most of the best pop songs, and is followed up by the equally sensitive 'Kids', which is just gorgeous, like a freshly made bed with a bottle of wine under each pillow.<br />
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'X&Y' is both vital and meek and a rallying cry, and a sob into a pillow. It kicks out every remaining jam, and then comes back for seconds, whilst closer 'Adam's apple' is as near to September Girls as get through five fresh as a daisy tracks.<br />
<br />
It's a treat to listen to a new band be clever with pop music. There's a subtlety at work here which is often lost in the eagerness to get your music out <br />
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Now, if only Soft Power would stop releasing these things on cassette, which I have no way of playing. Still, you can get yours from 11th October, <a href="http://softpowerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-debutantes-s-t-e-p">listen here</a>, and watch here:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="209" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/99647095" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/99647095">Gentlemans Wash</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/leonbutler">Leon Butler</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-91721101325051653902014-08-30T17:52:00.002+01:002014-08-30T17:52:25.300+01:00Show offs<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRib8Zux7KLkIJn2Vb05QnNoQBPIIsyDguZBbMQIwOsStjU35rw_bDeVEC5ODNl-U8o64pYFiIVOfYH_EylF0Yf2zkbIA7_UANRpCYz5zGPdEz37u17XNN5Yy7OeaKbQloM0RGEacPswG8/s1600/withered_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRib8Zux7KLkIJn2Vb05QnNoQBPIIsyDguZBbMQIwOsStjU35rw_bDeVEC5ODNl-U8o64pYFiIVOfYH_EylF0Yf2zkbIA7_UANRpCYz5zGPdEz37u17XNN5Yy7OeaKbQloM0RGEacPswG8/s1600/withered_500.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a>I've got four gig promotions coming up before Christmas, and I'm kind of thinking of calling it a day after that (although I've said this before and never stuck to it). But it'll be a great way to go out, because...<br />
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On 4th October, of course, is our all-dayer. There are only about forty tickets left for this now, and if they go there won't be any walk-ups, so <a href="http://www.themazerocks.com/gig/nottingham-pop-dayer">you best spend your wages whilst you still have them</a>. <br />
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After that, it's Withered Hand with The Sweet Nothings at The Maze in Nottingham on 15th October. Withered Hand's new album 'New Gods' is a thing of complete wonder, and you'd be a complete idiot to miss this. Tickets are <a href="https://www.musicglue.com/the-maze/events/15-oct-14-withered-hand--the-sweet-nothings-the-maze/">available here</a>.<br />
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Into November, and at The Chameleon, we have Dignan Porch, Witching Waves, Eureka California and (hopefully) one very special guest. No tickets for this one - just be there early on Saturday 15th.<br />
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A few days later on 19th at The Maze again, it's Allo Darlin', Making Marks and Seabirds at The Maze. If this is where I exit stage left, then it'll be great to go out listening to my favourite band of the last four years. Do join me and <a href="https://www.musicglue.com/the-maze/events/19-nov-14-allo-darlin--making-marks--more-the-maze/">get your tickets here</a>.<br />
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I've spent the last week listening to the Allo Darlin' album constantly all week, and I'm deeply in love with it (review to come soon).<br />
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If anyone can get Alvvays over to the UK, thenm I'll change my mind instantly about putting on gigs. As it is, these four will do just fine. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/214858375374648/?fref=ts">See you at the all-dayer</a>!A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-54335496553498763772014-08-10T14:52:00.000+01:002014-08-10T20:50:58.444+01:00Indietracks 2014: Permanent revolution and the smashing of the Del Amitri ghetto<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWUFGnVJ4P3h36XYg3EsSdEHZvpkVvRrMIb7lUUV32F2vgWudop9wMaopDhtr7snBPXnPrHQ53jd6wQMCXfU7l4UrHwnOy5EO5jmgdNPqWD6khplRdMDUEf6PlHiqJkqcl4MTa-DTpIRb/s1600/Leon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWUFGnVJ4P3h36XYg3EsSdEHZvpkVvRrMIb7lUUV32F2vgWudop9wMaopDhtr7snBPXnPrHQ53jd6wQMCXfU7l4UrHwnOy5EO5jmgdNPqWD6khplRdMDUEf6PlHiqJkqcl4MTa-DTpIRb/s1600/Leon.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hobbes Flanclub's Leon, who was packing adult emergency poncho heat all weekend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Indietracks is dead, long live Indietracks. After much huffing and puffing by Various Quarters of Indiepop, this year's festival not only lived up to its predecessors - it probably surpassed it.<br />
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Imaging being caught in the indiepop ghetto (or, as it's otherwise known 1988), when everyone (and by everyone, it was nearly always men with quiffs that were just on the right side of damped down so they could go to their office job every day without any hassle) wore their gentle plaid shirts tucked into their 501s and played listless melancholia about a girl named Cathy from Carlisle who doesn't want to roll about in a meadow with you any more. There are probably denim jackets involved, and record sleeves that so desperately want to be Smiths records, that not even Smiths fans clinging onto the distant past buy them. That's what happened back then. I was there. Indiepop was dead (only to be revived briefly by a couple of urchins from Bristol and a set of bands that saw that sounding like a slightly left-of-centre Del Amitri really wasn't doing anyone any favours).<br />
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And so in 2014, Indietracks sort of reinvented itself and took chances with the line-up - and it worked. For every person wondering why Gruff Rhys was playing (and I'm no fan, but he was deadly entertaining), there were many more who were probably discovering Slum of Legs, Joanna Gruesome, Thee Ahs, The Hobbes Fanclub or The Royal Landscaping Society for the first time. Isn't that better than our tiny little scene building a Berlin Wall around itself and patting ourselves on the back for being as pure as the driven snow? I'd much rather persuade a Super Furry Animals fan to love The Blue Minkies than the other way around, for example.<br />
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Onwards.<br />
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Friday night is a complete triumph, and one of my favourite ever times at Indietracks. We see tonieee and Jo at the head of the road down to Swanwick and catch up about kids, life, holidays, and which bands we're looking forward to seeing. And then friends and acquaintances arrive and you get that Indietracks feeling all over again, and just let the weekend wash over you like a comfort blanket.<br />
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I'd not seen Spearmint since the early 2000s in a sweatpit of a venue in London, but they've lost none of the sparkle that makes them instant pop stars, mixing old and new and finishing with an obvious, but completely triumphant 'Sweeping the nation'. They've not lost it.<br />
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Allo Darlin' somehow continue to rise and rise and as the sun goes down and Elizabeth plays 'Tallulah' you realise that they'll be difficult to beat this weekend, and so it proves.<br />
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Saturday is roasting hot, and I'm lost in a haze of a delightful gallon of bitter called American Girl, which is ridiculously easy to drink and makes me lose all feeling from my knees down.<br />
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The Royal Landscaping Society overcome early sound problems to claim the hearts of the crowd with their Wake-meets-Brighter sadpop, and it's all quite wonderful.<br />
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It's sweaty everywhere, but nowhere more than on stage with MJ Hibbett and the Validators who pull out a performance from the vaults to completely charm the really-quite-large crowd. The new songs sound great, and the band seem genuinely chuffed with the reception, and that's always lovely.<br />
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Joanna Gruesome, despite a stop/start performance (sound problems again), distil more energy into half an hour than most bands manage in a lifetime, and then go all coy when Dean Wareham joins them onstage for 'Tugboat'. They're as thrilling as ever, and that almost goes without saying these days.<br />
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By this time, I'm resembling something approaching red cabbage, and so it is with a heavy heart that I give Slum of Legs a miss in the church, and simply settle down on the grass and... wait for the sun to go down.<br />
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First on the main stage on Sunday are Axolotes Mexicanos, an Elefant band who I've never heard of, and who I desperately want to hear more of. A hyperactive singer being translated by a deadpan band member and a fantastic line of fizzy, abrasive indiepop later, and I'm fully pepped, and head into the shed, where No Ditching are again impressive, before Hobbes Fanclub show up and play those perfect songs from their new album in such an exciting manner that I forget how hot it is and actually start to dance. I apologise now for anyone who saw this.<br />
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One ace set from Night Flowers later, and my Indietracks is done. It's work tomorrow, and there's a four year old to put to bed. He cries when he's told we're going too.<br />
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I was told by an organiser that 200 more tickets were sold for this year's Indietracks than last year's. If Indietracks really wanted to "sell-out" (and I mean that in both senses of the word), then I'm sure it could and the people that benefit from the money it raises would be eternally grateful. The fact that they don't is testament to a group of people who say more to me about my life than sniffy purists. Ultra-leftism (in indiepop terms) is all well and good if you can afford to go to more than one of these events each year, but it won't lead us to any kind of Glorious Revolution, and as my dear friend Lenin said, is awfully infantile. Indietracks probably won't get us there either, but we'll have a lot of fun trying. A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-27094211141969922862014-08-06T18:08:00.002+01:002014-08-06T18:08:30.423+01:00Slum of Legs - Begin to Dissolve (Tuff Enuff Records)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIymHh3Npf8kjjgMNH3cFFAK5JRrDsD_0UjFzQsWp60aQOcdp85_P_XftbYhH_zNg40KGHC7rQbBhiqh6WKISBZT4rKcIRGIYKGjDJdqCsZEf84Yxk8e0cKM2zusW6wJKVWI96jzym_UAg/s1600/slum+of+legs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIymHh3Npf8kjjgMNH3cFFAK5JRrDsD_0UjFzQsWp60aQOcdp85_P_XftbYhH_zNg40KGHC7rQbBhiqh6WKISBZT4rKcIRGIYKGjDJdqCsZEf84Yxk8e0cKM2zusW6wJKVWI96jzym_UAg/s1600/slum+of+legs.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
Welcome to futures and pasts. If Slum of Legs aren't the best band in the UK by the end of the year, there'll be something not quite right. They take the past 25 year of underground pop music and squeeze it out of tiny, tinny speakers. This single is magnificent, let's make no mistake.<br /><br />The stars of Indietracks (I missed them due to being too hot - ROCK 'N' ROLL), Slum of Legs make the kind of tense, taut glam racket that Prolapse used to specialise in around the same time as Quickspace, and which the dear-departed Shrag excelled in until their demise last year.<br />
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There are violins and crunchy synths, mad wig-outs, scenes of genuine emotion (most notably on the superior b-side 'Razorblade the Tape') and a kind of lonesome defiance that is so missing from much of the pop underground right now. Slum of Legs might just give you some hope for the future if you let them.<br />
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Meanwhile, and as an aside of some great importance, Tuff Enuff Records is on a run of hits so potent that you'll have to try hard not to become infected.<br />
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<a href="http://riotsnotdiets.bandcamp.com/album/begin-to-dissolve">Do not miss the chance to save yourselves</a>.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-32754087633902441252014-07-22T19:11:00.000+01:002014-07-23T06:28:57.327+01:00The Hobbes Fanclub - Up at Lagrange (Shelflife Records)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32Y0xFq59M6H7s1iOhIEiQlEbpZyftLvLO7abyRhdeT2d3DV_8tDZ1pohOokk1Q-bc-1yOp7onHGUqB3D8nTlDTiPY8861dyuzBgvjLj1kB_qegEjHZICErTJXH9D2K-cUqLvcVRI1R0z/s1600/hobbes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32Y0xFq59M6H7s1iOhIEiQlEbpZyftLvLO7abyRhdeT2d3DV_8tDZ1pohOokk1Q-bc-1yOp7onHGUqB3D8nTlDTiPY8861dyuzBgvjLj1kB_qegEjHZICErTJXH9D2K-cUqLvcVRI1R0z/s1600/hobbes.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>Right on cue, in the week before Indietracks, The Hobbes Fanclub, have melted my heart.<br />
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Indulge me for a few moments. At the back end of 1990, the week before all my friends who'd stayed on for 6th form went back to school to further their accountancy careers, I started a job as an apprentice plumber and pipefitter on an oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. This was exactly the sort of thing that I wanted to do; to get out of the stolid air of Grammar school and around Real People again.<br />
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The money I earned (£1.50 an hour, which came to £57.25 for a 40 hour week after National Insurance was deducted) opened up a whole new world of music to me. Sure, I'd bought records before with summer jobs, but that money ran out very quickly. Now, I was <i>earning</i>. I spent most of the next two years hoovering up records from the likes of Pale Saints, Ride, Slowdive, Field Mice, Boo Radleys... that sort of thing. I look back on this period, rather daftly, as "my time". We never thought we'd have a time back then, of course; our "time" was going to last forever.<br />
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And it did and it doesn't and didn't and it does.<br />
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The Hobbes Fanclub may or may not have been listening to exactly the same records as me at exactly the same time. I think Leon is a day older than me, which is REALLY FUCKING WEIRD, especially when listening to Up at Lagrange and hearing its influences.<br />
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'Your doubting heart' and 'Outside Yourself' might have been re-recorded, but they make up two halves of the perfect single, and sit so beautifully on this album that the rest sounds like a singles compilation. <br />
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'I Knew You'd Understand' is the Pale Saints at their most perky and winsome, and is both charming and yearning. It rattles along but lingers long enough to be caught and hugged. <br />
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'Run into the sea' is The Hobbes Fanclub's take on Jesus and Mary Chain, and it's sight better than that band has managed for 25 years.<br />
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And then there are the modern shoegaze classics such as 'Why should you tell the truth?' and the crushing, closing duo of the title track, which has early Boo Radleys written through out like Cleethorpes rock, and 'Sometimes', which wouldn't sound out of place on one of the first four classic Ride eps.<br />
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I'm referencing these bands partly because I'm desperately lazy, but also because this album brings back a million feelings and memories - and it does it almost effortlessly. It's a classic album, and it'll be seen like that (by me) for years to come. I might even grow that pillarbox red bob back.<br />
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In short: this is the sort of record I'd have obsessed over when I was 16, just as much as I'm obsessing over it right now. A masterpiece from start to finish.<br />
The Hobbes Fanclub forever.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-35215331051348368452014-07-13T13:57:00.001+01:002014-07-13T13:57:33.412+01:00Indietracks compilation - the 55 varieties<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifIBGshF5VO3nJn4BIasC9oQPfT92fydnUWa2VC8VmhSWSAJWfnApPEWhNJeEEiDq3s4GKTnry6N0fy-dzdfhoElxLfKIBlnGqPug4F38qj-QqIMIRCbw6Eah3GgR6aychgU5BuyWzXEKJ/s1600/Indietracks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifIBGshF5VO3nJn4BIasC9oQPfT92fydnUWa2VC8VmhSWSAJWfnApPEWhNJeEEiDq3s4GKTnry6N0fy-dzdfhoElxLfKIBlnGqPug4F38qj-QqIMIRCbw6Eah3GgR6aychgU5BuyWzXEKJ/s1600/Indietracks.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
It's that time of year again, when we all get to listen to those bands playing Indietracks who we've never heard of. Or maybe that's just me not being cool enough, and perhaps this time next month I'll be having a Lonely Tourist tattoo on both inner thighs.<br />
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<a href="http://indietracks.bandcamp.com/album/indietracks-compilation-2014">There are 55 tracks here</a>. It's almost a prog rock album. Of course it's not, and it's criminally cheap to download, so why don't you go and do that. Let me tell you now that it's worth it alone for the storming new Hobbes Fanclub track 'Why should you tell the truth?'. If this is a teaser for the album, then we're all in for a treat.<br />
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I've got about a year's work to fit in between now and Indietracks, and in the meantime there's this. Please do come along if you at all can.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gZqJrOrkN8vl269hUp-LtLLuJerKejTfA1PNKe42pm9XEhcklsHt9NUkmMEwcUR4Ln7KB5KcVaqQdjhq1eeyMnc_A_g4P4-jKXo4gruuRUjM5qGTIyuJIQwCqfZegU3YjDt44hkpRkpW/s1600/Gig+Poster-1.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></div>
<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-83091652383330901252014-07-07T14:35:00.000+01:002014-07-07T14:38:17.209+01:00Tyrannosaurus Dead/Joanna Gruesome split single (Oddbox Records)Everything is coming to a grinding halt.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgquw5bK5GWXIeMko7gJVnWEk1gSx9WoYzCauWMFwGA4NGoA2tFzroOF_Pps8yZhAxeZu5w9izPj_HcMzmli3ibEI_xCkskUQIosM3dxcECccd0Zb77p7_BpVQClcOjp3L0gI1wFquAJbls/s1600/oddboxtdead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgquw5bK5GWXIeMko7gJVnWEk1gSx9WoYzCauWMFwGA4NGoA2tFzroOF_Pps8yZhAxeZu5w9izPj_HcMzmli3ibEI_xCkskUQIosM3dxcECccd0Zb77p7_BpVQClcOjp3L0gI1wFquAJbls/s1600/oddboxtdead.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>But I'm sparked into a life again by a tremendous split-single from Tyrannosaurus Dead and Joanna Gruesome on Oddbox Records, which has made working 14 hours days seem less and less and important. Fuck it, it's not important at all to work 14 hour days, is it?<br />
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Jo-Gru commit last year's 'Weird Sister' opener 'Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers' to the single. Oh, it's all sweetness and light for about 12 seconds, then it creeps onto another level, all loathing, and power, and pep and - to be honest - deep, deep excitement. Joanna Gruesome are set to completely walk all over this year's Indietracks, and I can't wait to see them again.<br />
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Mind you, Tyrannosaurus Dead aren't half bad either. Their 'Post Holiday Dead Song' is somewhere between Seafood, Uresei Yatsura and the Pale Man Made, T-Dead make a beguiling sound, all drawling, cool vocals laced with a sad, vulnerable lyrics - all encased in a warm, comforting wall of fuzz.<br />
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They used to release singles like this all the time on seven inch when I were a nipper. Now it's all downloads and lost files on your computer. It's great to see Oddbox keeping the flame alive - this single is out on 21st July on the lovely plastic stuff.<br />
<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-58739384636989399042014-06-15T14:39:00.000+01:002014-06-15T14:39:14.039+01:00Men Oh Pause - Pulse Check ep (Tuff Enuff Records)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gdB7b6SijtclDgH80ZY1yJI0LtCbmz7el0UliXno7ed-Pi5gTi938XJLgwkLcNrcJf8-roZjtiUkmVoTEUkQuramSnXZz-0z6Y4ZqOyy_fxWWX89ZxHNVE5Ni67E00h2xxxNxOD37iP_/s1600/menohpause.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-gdB7b6SijtclDgH80ZY1yJI0LtCbmz7el0UliXno7ed-Pi5gTi938XJLgwkLcNrcJf8-roZjtiUkmVoTEUkQuramSnXZz-0z6Y4ZqOyy_fxWWX89ZxHNVE5Ni67E00h2xxxNxOD37iP_/s1600/menohpause.jpg" height="320" width="318" /></a>Forget C86 revivalism, there's a new sound in town, and it's called Men Oh Pause, who make the poppiest anti-pop this side of Young Marble Giants.<br />
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This <a href="http://riotsnotdiets.bandcamp.com/album/men-oh-pause-pulse-check-ep">defiantly <i>indie</i> four-track ep</a> from the often excellent Tuff Enuff shows Men Oh Pause resurrect the ghosts of Huggy Bear, Slampt!, Prolapse and several mid-90s US obscurities on the much-missed Troubleman Unlimited imprint. That's right - "imprint".<br />
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Featuring Jacindy Cartland from King Alfred, Man Of Leisure, Maureen Bourne from Leopard Leg and Flo Brooks from Chaps, Men Oh Pause sound almost too cool, with their playground chant vocals, underpinned by an impending sense of doom and/or claustrophobia.<br />
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"Sapphire and Steel" (named after everyone's favourite early 80s creepout sci-fio series) is the highlight here, a sinister Wurlitzer of a tune, that suddenly changes tack and turns into a growling drone pop delight. Imagine Free Kitten with a touch of the music hall. It's a heady brew alright.A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-50988522870330691432014-06-06T18:14:00.001+01:002014-06-06T18:14:45.198+01:00Comet Gain: for better, for worse, forever<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6Rnf9ebub8ySU587YJ9OdT89zzson78Gu7ULFknWyrwX2aIw4aKfHBhPSDoVq6OfQm55ADCMB6Dz6xbKKXLCP6uDONetmMBzpjaQZalUVhZGYULA8xMUcIDwj0e3V_ThoBGsbk52i7H3/s1600/Comet_Gain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6Rnf9ebub8ySU587YJ9OdT89zzson78Gu7ULFknWyrwX2aIw4aKfHBhPSDoVq6OfQm55ADCMB6Dz6xbKKXLCP6uDONetmMBzpjaQZalUVhZGYULA8xMUcIDwj0e3V_ThoBGsbk52i7H3/s1600/Comet_Gain.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>Oh, another Comet Gain album. For every fantastic night out that has been soundtracked by Comet Gain, there have been half as many drastic times where they've been more than a night nurse.<br />
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Over the last two decades, Comet Gain have been there for me, and even after a dozen or so proper listens of their latest classic, 'Paperback Ghosts' (Fortuna Pop!), this new runt to a litter of perfectly mis-shaped albums is way, way up there.<br />
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It's for the dreamers, schemers and miscreants. For those who have loved and for those that have lost and want to be lost. It's heartbreaking and genuine and a shot in the arm... and a kick in the head - just when you probably deserve it.<br />
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It has a song called 'Behind the House She Lived In', which is dancefloor filler that has the ability to reduce anyone to tears whilst they're flailing around at 1 in the morning. Then there's 'Breaking Open the Head Part 1' - a new wave shimmer and a complete attack dog of a pop song. Fights behind the youth club, a party you know you're not wanted at. A walk home from a terrible club on your own, in the rain. Go home and put a Comet Gain album on and FIGHT BACK.<br />
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And what is everyone else going to do because they haven't heard 'Casino Classics' or 'Realistes' or 'Howl of the Lonely Crowd' and now Paperback Ghosts? Those poor, lost fools. And they've never heard 'The Last Love Letter' - where David Feck's open heart is there in full, gory, bleeding beautiful detail.<br />
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When I first heard Comet Gain back in 1995, I was properly on my arse. On the dole, in a bedsit with no running water and having found myself newly single after splitting up with the person who I'd moved to Nottingham with. Times - and problems - change. Comet Gain keep on, keepin' on. And that is one of the most precious things in the world.<br />
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Needless to say, you <i>need</i> 'Paperback Ghosts' in your life - and whatever your life is like, this album will make it that little bit better. Go get.<br />
<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-89162355199304833622014-05-26T19:49:00.000+01:002014-05-26T19:49:11.185+01:00New gig, new dangerIn case you were worried, we're just about fending off the crypto-fascists here in Nottingham, although we think they stole some people from the audience at the criminally-attended Fever Dream/Cosines/Poirot's Boys show we put on the other week.<br />
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Not to worry, because, like the gluttons for punishment we are, we've got another show coming up. It sort of acts as an Indietracks warm-up for half the bill. The other half I'm deeply excited about seeing. It's been a while since we've been brave enough to put such a varied bill on, so if no-one comes to this one, we're going to start a popular revolution and sweep away the political elite. If we can be arsed.<br />
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Here, in a lazy way, is a teaser of what to expect. You can find the rest of the secrets to a happy life over on the right, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/470707389726454/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular">on facebook</a>.<br />
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<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/143507593&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true"></iframe><br />
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<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/138227571&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true"></iframe><br />
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<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1298495629/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="http://featureband.bandcamp.com/album/memory">Memory by FEATURE</a></iframe><br />
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<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/71974219&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true"></iframe><br />
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A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-32636851476168642022014-05-18T09:48:00.001+01:002014-05-18T09:48:11.439+01:00The Yearning - If I Can't Have You (Elefant)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHURfrUblIQA8ucHsEp7osNRoUsgHf07qB-WNKeQvhKcZqPkNPe_HQdZYyFIz87pr-DQoUAI0y67JvBikMYnzF6VVGP3DGbcCanN8fy-vvaWh7D8G-nm2B5GRLeludBXRNPyKLMK5YnCsH/s1600/Yearning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHURfrUblIQA8ucHsEp7osNRoUsgHf07qB-WNKeQvhKcZqPkNPe_HQdZYyFIz87pr-DQoUAI0y67JvBikMYnzF6VVGP3DGbcCanN8fy-vvaWh7D8G-nm2B5GRLeludBXRNPyKLMK5YnCsH/s1600/Yearning.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
Remember back in the late 1990s when Belle and Sebastian were making that series of wonderful pop records that you thought would last forever? Then you might remember that they spent the most of the next 15 years disappearing up their own backsides and writing songs that sounded like Leo Sayer b-sides.<br />
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It is with this in mind that we should thank The Yearning for taking up the baton so effortlessly. 'If I Can't Have You' is a download only single from their forthcoming album 'Dreamboats and Lemonade' (which beats those Heartbeat compilations hands down as far as a name goes), also out on Elefant.<br />
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It's a crackling flame of a song, that begins with a gorgeous keyboard part that backs a plaintive lament about the old unrequited love conundrum. Seems the heroine of the song is bound to settle for second best here, and isn't that a sad old thing to behold?<br />
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Labelmates The School are clearly a big influence on The Yearning, but there are also echoes of formative Camera Obscure and (yes) Belle and Sebastian on those first three electric albums which now seem to be a lifetime away.<br />
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The Yearning have lived up to their name in a single song, and I hope I'm not feeling a bit fragile when I see them at Indietracks this year. A beautiful, painful pop song.<br />
<br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-78003620929897357222014-05-05T12:04:00.001+01:002014-05-05T18:23:17.051+01:00INTERVIEW: Indietracks: "Stop worrying - everything is brilliant!"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl00TnTBk1XKO58LB39WDn8XvnzplP6_fcOYoIy1985-wgiY9HsediLo4538yXu-L8Bfk_5wReeX38SeyVQ-sV-wia0MjbuKhJYZ8tTLwO56YUDSRMn-I2vQxGHjcYgYjXfwWLYpEOeLw/s1600/The-Lovely-Eggs-at-Indiet-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl00TnTBk1XKO58LB39WDn8XvnzplP6_fcOYoIy1985-wgiY9HsediLo4538yXu-L8Bfk_5wReeX38SeyVQ-sV-wia0MjbuKhJYZ8tTLwO56YUDSRMn-I2vQxGHjcYgYjXfwWLYpEOeLw/s1600/The-Lovely-Eggs-at-Indiet-001.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a>We've all seen this shadowy figures, somehow completely pristine each year, placing the wristbands on your arm as you excitedly go through the Indietracks gate each year - but what do the festival's organisers really think about The World's Best Weekend? Andy, Ian, Marianthi and Nat - some of the people who put these whole delicious three days together each year, were good enough to answer a few questions.<br />
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<i><b>You're a person down this year, with Emma retiring. Has this affected how you've planned Indietracks?</b></i><br />
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Nat: We'll keep planning Indietracks in the same way as always, but we'll really miss Emma of course. She's always welcome to come back to the team! <br />
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<i><b>What can we expect this year? More of the same, or anything different?</b></i><br />
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Andy: Usually the Midland Railway come up with something new that we're not expecting ourselves! We turned up to find an owl sanctuary a few years ago, a beach last year, and a huge batch of glow sticks a few years ago! Plus there was the railway volunteer playing The Last Post on the bugle last year! From our side, we've tried to book a really exciting line-up, as always, and we've still more to announce. The steam trains, real ale, art and crafts workshops and Gopal's curry shack will all be there as always. There might be wood-fired pizza this year, but no promises! <br />
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<i><b>There's a lot made of the Railway, and how it relies on Indietracks for revenue. Does this ever play a part when you're picking bands? Do you go for crowd-pleasers to bring revenue in, for example</b></i>?<br />
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Nat: We only book bands we really love, and we've been lucky enough to find lots of high-profile bands that suit the perfectly festival so far - Teenage Fanclub, Camera Obscura, Edwyn Collins in previous years (to name just a few!), and Gruff Rhys, Dean Wareham, Allo Darlin', Withered Hand and others this year. We really want the festival to appeal to a wide audience and to introduce new people to indiepop, and booking high profile bands helps with this. We also want to give all the bands the opportunity to play to as large an audience as possible, and high profile bands encourage more people to come along. There's no pressure from the railway and they took great risks in the early days to back us financially in booking established bands. <br />
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<i><b>Where do you think you sit in relation to other, smaller festivals? Do you ever hear from organisers? Is there a secret revolutionary international union we don't know about?</b></i><br />
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Andy: Well, there's an Association of Festival Organisers, but it probably doesn't quite qualify as a secret revolutionary union! They're very nice but we're not involved at the moment. We know a few other small festival organisers, but we feel a lot closer to people like Wales Goes Pop!, Going Up The Country, the Birmingham and London popfests, the OddBox Weekend and the Nottingham, Leicester and Glasgow indiepop alldayers. Hopefully we share a similar spirit with those events, and it's great that there's so many good opportunities for bands at the moment. <br />
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<i><b>What do you say to people who think there should be more local bands playing?</b></i><br />
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Nat: We've booked lots of amazing local bands in the past - Haiku Salut, Standard Fare, Slow Club, The Sweet Nothings, Slow Down Tallehassee, Seabirds to name just a few. Looking at the wishlists on the Anorak messageboard, people are suggesting bands from all over the world. We try to book lots of international bands and bands from across the UK, including some that people might not get an opportunity to see otherwise. So we try to strike the right balance between local, national and international. If you're a great local indiepop band, please get in touch in future years! <br />
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<i><b>Would you/could you ever move the festival away from the site?</b></i><br />
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Andy: It's not something we've ever thought about. The Midland Railway have been so generous with their belief and backing for the festival, and the festival really belongs to the railway and our audience. Lots of people have worked really hard to build it up at that location. <br />
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<i><b>It must be extremely disheartening sometimes to try and please all the people all the time - or is this something you gave up trying to do years ago?</b></i><br />
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Nat: We're just really pleased that so many people have stayed with us! Everyone's actually been very supportive of the festival so far, and people seem most disappointed when their favourite bands clash, rather than because they'd rather we'd booked different bands. We're booking over 50 bands for each festival, so it's usually possible for people to find a band they like at any given time. Also, I think people understand that if their favourite band isn't playing, it's very possible that we've tried really hard to book them and it wasn't possible. We do try to book a varied and interesting festival and to please as many people as possible, and we pay close attention to the Anorak wishlist when we're booking bands. <br />
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<i><b>Tell me your all-time favourite Indietracks memory.</b></i><br />
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Ian: Impossible question. As one of the organisers you have a different set of memories and highlights than a festival goer. From boring stuff like things going smoothly or that line up sheet you stuck on the shed wall in the morning still being there at the end of the day to people you've never met telling you they've had the best weekend of their lives - that's hard to top. I'll never forget watching Teenage Fanclub playing ' The Concept' as it started to rain a little bit in 2009 and thinking how bloody amazing this whole thing is. Edwyn Collins is probably my highlight though, especially considering what happened before with the mainstage generator, the whole set was a joyous relief.<br />
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Marianthi: My favourite Indietracks memory is the moment I found out it was happening. I remember it so clearly: I was sitting lazily surfing the internet and this page popped up on MySpace or something. Something about an indiepop gig at a heritage railway site in Derbyshire. What? I really thought the universe was trying to tell me something at that moment. I think what it was trying to tell me was, "Stop worrying - everything is brilliant!" And it was. It is. Everything is brilliant because how can it not be when, for eight years now, we've had indiepop and trains and amazing, amazing people all in one place? It just fills me with love.<br />
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Andy: I've really enjoyed so many of the bands - The Hidden Cameras, Stars of Aviation, Haiku Salut, The Magic Theatre, Standard Fare and Camera Obscura have been some of my favourites. However, I also really enjoy discovering different and amazing part of the railway site that I never knew existed. My absolute highlight was finally and accidentally discovering the Butterley Miniature Railway in 2012. This isn't the light railway that runs past the main stage, it's a separate mini-railway in an beautiful area of country park a little way behind the museums - it's amazing and has its own proper stations, signals and everything. I discovered it purely by accident while getting lost walking back to Butterley, and it's so hidden and beautiful there. It's only open on Sundays and bank holidays and it's possibly the best kept Indietracks secret! <br />
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Nat: Aw, it's just too difficult to come up with one favourite memory! Every year is different, and every year I experience something which seems to make me love Indietracks even more. However I think my one of my favourite memories was the La Casa Azul set in 2009. It was the first year we'd had the large outdoor stage, lots of indiepop fans had come along from Spain due to the Elefant tie-in and everyone was dancing along to his wonderful cover of Love Is In The Air. We weren't quite sure what to expect from his set but it was an absolutely magical moment. To me, that sums up the essence of Indietracks - lots of unexpected magical moments where people come together through the sheer love of music. It sounds cheesy - but it's true!<br />
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<a href="http://www.indietracks.co.uk/tickets/">Early bird tickets</a> are still available for Indietracks (but only until 11th May). If you've not been before, and want to get as close to experiencing full communism for three days, then I suggest you put down that sandwich and do the honourable thing. A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-1565834038027758652014-04-28T17:21:00.002+01:002014-04-28T17:21:29.642+01:00Trick MammothI'd love to be able to tell you what a welcoming, diverse, friendly and supremely well-organised weekend Wales Goes Pop! was, but I've simply not stopped working since the long drive back from south Wales to Nottinghamshire.<br />
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I managed to surface this afternoon to listen to Trick Mammoth, all the way from the N(ew) of Z(ealand) - Dunedin to be precise. They describe themselves as 'flower cult pop', and who am I to argue?<br />
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To these ears they sound a little like Free Loan Investments, and whenever can that be wrong? It's that's sort of wriggly indiepop that might sound all innocent on first listen, actually probably wants to kick your balls out.<br />
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Trick Mammoth have a single out as part of the WIAIWYA 7777777 singles club series (which I simply can't keep pace with, so I've given up like some kind of idiot), and an album called 'Floristry' out on Fishrider Records in New Zealand and Occultation Recordings (spooky!) in the UK.<br />
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I'd be deeply delighted if they came over to the UK and played some time. And that <i>is</i> an invitation, yes.<br />
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A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908097480376132531.post-92062947900959865582014-04-17T18:14:00.002+01:002014-04-17T18:14:25.776+01:00The Proper Ornaments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJVRhkBWURuD6aLdmRri7-2n6RtSdrG5CrozFfG-W-gKv-iIfOHqASQ9lTVQae9PqD50__NeLtnizAGrHs7-IwbStw4oPIHhyphenhyphenVJp2FG2S8GYZHQgBEZRfwyc-v-jR0SvFBE3Js3pi7OaiK/s1600/Proper+orns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJVRhkBWURuD6aLdmRri7-2n6RtSdrG5CrozFfG-W-gKv-iIfOHqASQ9lTVQae9PqD50__NeLtnizAGrHs7-IwbStw4oPIHhyphenhyphenVJp2FG2S8GYZHQgBEZRfwyc-v-jR0SvFBE3Js3pi7OaiK/s1600/Proper+orns.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
Ornaments were something your Nan had when you were little. Those weirdly popular inanimate depictions of flower ladies set in an indeterminate past. They gathered dust and you got a proper bollocking if you ever dropped on the floor and it broke into pieces.<br />
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Ornaments seem a thing of the past. You don't see many ornaments in IKEA, do you? Although if you go to IKEA then there's something altogether WRONG WITH YOU, anyway.<br />
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I'm rambling. The Proper Ornaments are duo from London who, at first glance, look frightfully hip. All skinny legs, a mess of hair and cheekbones you could slice some ham on. But then you listen to them, and they make the sweetest sound ever.<br />
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What is it? Well, it's mixture between 1960 West Coast pop, shoegaze, the rattle and thrum of early Stereolab and the Jesus and Mary Chain's gentler moments. This heady brew is made all the better by the fact that I've now got FOUR days off work and I'm heading to Wales Goes Pop in a few hours, where The Proper Ornaments are playing on Saturday night, before the BLOKES move in to nod knowingly to The Wedding Present.<br />
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Anyway, The Proper Ornaments have an album out on 9th June through Fortuna Pop!, called 'Wooden Head', and it's a glorious sweep through downbeat majesty. I've just listened to it in the bath twice through, and, frankly, there's no higher accolade.<br />
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From that album, here's Summer's Gone from the album.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/143780892&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />A layer of chipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05093396895247679776noreply@blogger.com0