Tuesday 27 January 2009

stuff on things

So, I'm heading off to Peru next week. Flashing Lights and Flash Drives won't be on for a bit, but I'll be updating this blog, mostly with awesome YouTube videos and links to stuff that will definitely interest you guys who check out the show (or even this blog). The reasons I haven't updated in a while are aplenty, but let's just say that I worked myself up into too much of a tizzy over the returns of Battlestar Galactica and Lost. Yessir!

The painting above is by Sean Clauretie and it's part of an exhibition at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles of purely Beastie Boys influenced art. Check out this page and fall in love with everything you see, no matter how expensive. Some amazing artists here.

Keep an eye on Hear New Music - a new mix is coming from Mr England. Honestly, just burn it onto a CD and drive about, it's a good feeling.

Listening to old Giles Peterson podcasts lately - get on it! Oh, and if anybody wants to get a bunch of vinyl for my birthday... here you go.

I've been recently listening to all this stuff:

The Ruts - Dead Man's Dream
Ghetto - Sing For Me
Tom Waits - Cemetary Polka (Live in Austin, TX)
Leatherface - Small Yellow Chair
Polar Bear Club - Our Ballads
M.I.A. - Bamboo Banger
Faye Wong - Repressing Happiness (thanks to Passion of the Weiss for the heads-up)
Band of Horses - The Funeral
Roy Ayers - Time and Space
Beastie Boys - And Me
Miles Davis - Yaphet

Friday 16 January 2009

It's nearly over. It's nearly over. It's nearly fucking over.

Never forget (amongst other mistakes):

Lil Wayne - Georgia... Bush

Monday 12 January 2009

one more for today...

Last week...

London Posse - Money Mad

...but shit, any excuse.

coupla things to listen to

So, back in the day there was a label called Drive-Thru Records that practically defined late-90s/early-noughties pop-punk with bands like New Found Glory, The Movielife, Allister and The Starting Line. Now, most of the big bands of that era have moved onto surprisingly different things: The Movielife split off into I Am The Avalanche and Nightmare Of You; Allister split up (and surprisingly, ex-bassist Eric Mueller writes for the pretty great Can You See The Sunset); New Found Glory went through label troubles and mediocre albums before suddenly becoming cool again and recording a comedy hardcore album. The Starting Line fizzled out as Drive-Thru became less and less relevant before going on hiatus (read: splitting up) last year. One of the results of this break is Person L, who sound nothing like you'd expect a side project from The Starting Line would. This is pretty far removed from pop-punk and closer to, say, Jupiter-era Cave In? Let me know how you feel about it. Person L's new album is apparantly out in February, and you can hear live renditions from the upcoming new songs on their myspace.

Person L - Help Yourself

Last night, I saw a couple of my friends live - they play in We, The Last Men if you're interested in checking them out - and was pleasantly surprised by the other band on the bill. They're called Empires, they're from Glasgow and last night they were earning descriptions like "Editors doing post-hardcore" or "Morrissey fronting American Football". Live, they do sound a lot heavier and you do get to hear that Kinsella Bros. influence peaking at random points, but you may not get that from the songs on their myspace. No worries - they're good songs. Check them out here, then hassle them to play your town.

Empires - Statues

And last for today, Alcest. They've got a new album coming soon on Prophecy Productions, which will be amazing if it follows in the same vein of 2007's Souvenirs d'un autre monde. To get you psyched, put seven minutes aside and listen to this. It's more gorgeous than a very gorgeous thing.

Alcest - Printemps Emeraude

If you guys don't know, I abandoned Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land for Roberto Bolano's 2666. Very good decision - fuck Heinlein.

Monday 5 January 2009

more catchy tunes about dying alone

Bomb the Music Industry! is the brainchild of Jeff Rosenstock, formerly of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches (who once recorded a live album of Radiohead covers), and they are great. Like, really really good. And in the need to bring another Radiohead comparison around, Rosenstock's record label, Quote Unquote, was working that whole pay-what-you-like-for-the-album angle way before In Rainbows. Rosenstock hasn't just used Quote Unquote to merely release new BTMI! stuff - the label's roster includes Chotto Ghetto, We Versus The Shark and Cheap Girls, who have all released pretty interesting stuff for the label.

After a pretty quiet 2008 (unless you count the frankly puzzling accusations of copyright infringement), the label has just released a sampler for what they've got coming out in 2009, which means newies by O Pioneers!!, Matt Kurz, Shinobu and, of course, BTMI! If you've never listened to Rosenstock's band, here's the crash course: they are depressing yet joyous, have four million members (look at their myspace page just to see what I mean) and sound a bit like Mitch Clem's record collection getting swallowed alive by an iBook. They're great, they're touring the UK at the end of this month, and their new album, Scrambles, is available online from Quote Unquote on January 22nd, with a physical format out later this year from Asian Man Records.

Bomb The Music Industry! - Fresh Attitude, Young Body

BTMI! official website
Quote Unquote Records
Asian Man Records

Thursday 1 January 2009

the tardy list

End of year lists are like egos. Everyone's got one. And they're normally bigger than you think. Hence, in image form:





Hyperlinked to fuck - enjoy! (Sorry for the botched image job. The songs are def worth it)