Dancing About Architecture 01.10.06
Posted by Ian Wright on 01.10.2006
The new Bloc Party Album, Arthurball, Franz v. Oasis, charity albums and I love you but I’ve chosen darkness.
The bit at the start
Ho hum, another week, another column. Unsurprisingly 2006 is much like 2005 only with me being slightly nearer to my inevitable death.
Wow that was morbid.
My point was that I need something in 2006 to differentiate it from last year and, this being a music column, it'll probably be music. That's where you come in.
If you've got any tips for 2006 let me know and I'll run them next week. Then, if I'm still here, we can take a look at your predictions at the end of the year and see how they turned out so you can feel smart/foolish for all to see.
Sound like fun?
Well do it anyway.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album
Interpol – Antics.
Not as good as the debut but still pretty great.
Experience the workings of other people's minds.
The 411 Year in Review parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, I'm in there somewhere with my top gigs and albums of last year.
It's the roundtable, featuring me and some others.
If Tollah is allowed to obsess over Avril surely I'm allowed to have a crush on someone that is actually talented and attractive.
Following the success of the inaugural Arthurfest (unfortunately not a tribute to the Dudley Moore/Liza Minnelli films but rather named for some magazine I've never read) in LA last summer the organisers are putting on a Winter version of it.
Arthurball will take place at various venues around LA from February 24-26. The biggest names announced thus far are *swoon*Joanna Newsome*heart* and the 515ers.
Who, you ask, are the 515ers? Well they're a side project of Chris Goss of Masters Of Reality.
Still nothing huh?
Josh Homme is also in the 515ers.
Ah, now you get it. Good.
Also announced are Ball are Born Heller (featuring Josephine Foster), Brightblack Morning Light, Tarantula A.D., Biff Rose, Mi & L'au, Colleen, Growing, OM, Pearls & Brass, and the Unknown Instructors, featuring Mike Watt and George Hurley of the Minutemen with plenty more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Another Bloc Party
So maybe Silent Alarm didn't set the world alight as was predicted but Bloc Party are gonna take another stab at bringing the music of Gang of 4 to the masses when they go into the studio this month to start work on their second album.
In an interview with the NME Kele Okereke said that he believes that the album will be more considered and focussed than their debut.
"With 'Silent Alarm' I wanted to talk about how it felt being a 20-year-old in the western world. I think a lot of kids, me especially, just kind of felt in their 20s that they had all this passion, and it was very hard to find a focus. And that's what I want 'Silent Alarm' to represent."
"I don't want things to be as brash as they were. Slightly more considered: that's where the next record's going. But that's not to say we're going to turn all MOR!"
"There are some great songs on 'Silent Alarm' that I'm really proud of, and with the next record we're looking to explore those ideas more fully. I think 'Silent Alarm''s a great album but I know now from the things that we've seen and heard throughout this year that we have it in us to make better records."
Wow, doesn't he sound pretentious, after reading that I feel that I should like his band more than I actually do. I've recently grown a beard (well, more like not shaved for a month), next time that I listen to Silent Alarm I'll be sure to ponder his lyrics while stroking it thoughtfully.
By "it" I mean the beard, it's not like I'll be listening to a Joanna Newsome record.
The best band name in music…
… is I love you but I've chosen darkness, I've never heard a note from the Austin band* but I'd buy one of their albums on the strength of the name alone. And in a little while I'll get the opportunity to do just that as Fear Is On Our Side , their debut album, will be released on March 7th on Secretly Canadian.
The tracklist is as follows:
01 The Ghost
02 According to Plan
03 Lights
04 The Owl
05 Today
06 We Choose Faces
07 Last Ride Together
08 At Last Is All
09 Long Walk
10 -
11 Fear Is on Our Side
12 If It Was Me
Just to fuck with DJ's who have to say the name I really hope that they release track 10 as a single.
* What is it about bands from Austin and cool names. The second best one is "…and you will know us by the trail of dead" and they're also from there.
Appease your western, white guilt here.
You've heard of Médecins Sans Frontierès right? Maybe you've seen those Africa set episodes of E.R., that was those guys. They're a very good cause and here's your chance to help them out while getting your hands on some pretty fantastic music.
Jnana records will, in the next couple of weeks, be releasing a mammoth (seriously, 5 discs) in aid of the charity and their work with African AIDS victims and features unreleased material from Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan, Current 93, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Damon and Naomi, Teenage Fanclub, Matmos, Six Organs of Admittance, William Basinski, Isobel Campbell and Antony. It's currently available for pre-order on the label's website for the knock down price of ˆ24.99 plus postage which is insanely good value.
Here's the tracklist (which will make this column appear to be much longer than it actually is).
>>Disc 1
01 irr.app.ext - "Fly Away and Then What?"
02 Damon and Naomi - "A Song for You"
03 John Contreras - "Brian"
04 Mirror - "Forgotten Language of Light"
05 Fursaxa - "In Lieu Of"
06 Baby Dee - "When You Found Me"
07 Howie B - "Yesterday I Was a Cow"
08 Tom Recchion - "Sea World"
09 Matmos - "A Song for the Appeal"
10 Blue Eyed Black - "Sweet Shadow Heart"
11 Eric Lanzilotta - "An Exploration of a Spacious Yet Enclosed Domain (excerpt)"
12 Little Annie - "Freddy and Me"
13 Colin Potter - "It's Coming"
14 Keiji Haino - "fleeing panic-stricken shriveled equal temperament"
15 Allen Ginsberg - "On Another's Sorrow"
16 Devendra Banhart - "A Sight to Behold"
17 David Surkamp - "With Out Borders"
>>Disc 2
01 Jarboe - "Mantra"
02 L - "The First Flower People"
03 Richard Buckner - "Do You Want to Go Somewhere"
04 Cyclobe - "Indulge Yourselves With Our Delicious Monster"
05 Six Organs of Admittance - "You Will Be the Sun"
06 Dolly Collins - "Poor Sally Sits a Weeping"
07 William Basinski - "Because"
08 Edward Ka-Spel - "Sticks & Stones (version)"
09 Larsen - "Il Sogno Di Momi"
10 Vashti Bunyan - "The Same but Different"
11 Angels of Light - "Song for My Father"
12 Thighpaulsandra - "Star Malloy"
13 Suishou no Fune - "In the Clouds"
14 Pantaleimon - "Change My World (Alternative Mix)"
15 Aube - "Movement"
16 Mr Durt - "Denial"
17 Michael Yonkers - "Somebody"
>>Disc 3
01 Bevis Frond - "Someone Always Talks"
02 Sarah Hallman - "Snowballin'"
03 Faun Fables - "The Transit Rider"
04 Luke Doucet - "Unbelievable"
05 Jad Fair - "Right on the Line"
06 Unveiled - "Endless"
07 Antony - "Hole in My Soul"
08 Charlemagne Palestine - "Espoir Guerison"
09 Alex Neilson & Richard Youngs - "House of Constant Song"
10 Anomoanon - "Hit the Road"
11 James William Hindle - "Back Home Again"
12 Isobel Campbell - "The Beat Goes On"
13 The Bricoleur - "Prah Pip Ta"
14 Sorrow - "Long Dark Shadow"
15 Teenage Fanclub - "I Need Direction (Alternative Version)"
16 Mary 5E - "Therapy"
17 Sundial - "Crazy Horses"
>>Disc 4
01 Jeremy Reed - "Helioqabalus"
02 NQ Arbuckle - "Huntsville Affair"
03 Shannon Lyon - "No Thing"
04 The Hafler Trio - "The Work of Washing"
05 Marissa Nadler - "Judgement Day"
06 Max Richter - "Flowers for Yulia"
07 Bill Fay - "It's the Small Things Now"
08 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Song for Doctors Without Borders"
09 Lynn Jackson - "Waiting for the Sky to Fall"
10 Nurse With Wound - "Ubu Noir"
11 Clodagh Simonds - "The Glacial Lake"
12 Shirley Collins - "Come My Love"
13 7 Year Rabbit Cycle - "Pirates"
14 John Terrill - "Stoney Mansion"
15 Brett Smiley - "Our Lady of the Barren Tree"
16 Linda Perhacs - "Parallelograms"
17 Current 93 - "Sunset"
18 Pearls Before Swine - "Our Lady"
19 Thurston Moore - "Sex Addiction"
>>Disc 5
01 Marc Almond - "Our Love My Love"
02 Simon Finn - "Crow Flies"
03 Stephanie Volkmar - "The Gate of Polished Horn"
04 Small Creatures - "City of Dreams"
05 Thee Majesty - "Thee Seeding Ship"
06 Jim O'Rourke - "Naoru"
07 Scott Stapleton - "Shadow Makes a Snow Angel"
08 John Maslen - "Everything Was Handed Down"
09 Jooel - "Over the Sea"
10 Ghostigital - "Bump"
11 Amy Curl - "The Robin's Tiny Throat"
12 srmeixner - "Wild Spaces (excerpt)"
13 Mount Vernon Arts Lab - Untitled
14 Coil - "Broccoli"
15 Shock Headed Peters - "Aaron's Rod (Spared)"
16 Ghost - "Daggma"
It's about that time someone told that prick to shut up.
So, a quick recap. Oasis' frontman is an ignorant arsehole who seems to view intelligence and thoughtfulness as a bad thing and has spent much of the last year slamming anyone who has come onto the scene since his band were "good" (about 8 years ago for those keeping score) with really poorly thought out insults. Most of his targets were seemingly too busy putting on makeup/wearing tight cloths to respond. However Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos did respond last week to Liam Gallagher's comparison between him and 90's pop band Right Said Fred (the "I'm too sexy" guys).
A quote attributed to Kapranos appeared in yesterday's British tabloids comparing Gallagher to "neurotic young girl at a high school".
It appears he said, "He knows he can get in the papers from being as obnoxious as he can. When I read the press that surrounded them earlier in 2005, it sounded like an extremely anxious, neurotic young girl at a high school who though that she had younger, better looking competition and was just bitching about everything about her."
"I think everybody, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, every contemporary band was at the end of some form of vitriol from him. I'm not particularly bothered by him, it just seems like bitchery from cheap neurosis."
I've said a lot of less than complimentary things about Franz Ferdinand (including attributing one horrible "joke" quote to them regarding cancer patients) and their music here in the past but Kapranos is right on the money here. Oasis no longer make the sort of music that warrants press attention so it's up to Gallagher to make the headline by acting like a douchbag.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
The Hold Steady
If you're in the mood for some mid-70's Springsteen action and songs about hood-rats then give these guys a go.
02-01 Washington, DC - The Black Cat *%
02-02 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *%
02-03 Athens, GA - Tasty World *%
02-04 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *%
02-06 St. Augustine, FL - Café Eleven *%
02-07 Gainesville, FL - The Covered Dish *%
02-08 Orlando, FL - The Social *%
02-09 Ybor City, FL - Masquerade *%
02-10 Tallahassee, FL - The Beta Bar *%
02-11 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *%
02-13 Houston, TX - Walters on Washington *%
02-14 Denton, TX - Hailey's *%
02-15 Austin, TX - Emo's *%
02-18 Phoenix, AZ - The Brick House %
02-19 San Diego, CA - The Casbah %
02-21 Los Angeles, CA - The Avalon #
02-25 Sydney, Australia - Gaelic Club #
02-26 Melbourne, Australia - St. Jerome's Laneway Festival #$
02-27 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel #
03-01 Perth, Australia - The Rosemount #
03-02 Adelaide, Australia - Jive #
03-03 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo #
03-04 Sydney, Australia - TBA #
03-05 Sydney, Australia - St. Jerome's Laneway Festival #$
* with Swearing at Motorists
% with Plastic Constellations
# with Les Savy Fav, Thunderbirds Are Now!
$ with the Avalanches, Broken Social Scene, New Buffalo, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Youth Group
Mogwai
Get "My Father My King" NOW.
01-10 London, England - ICA ^
01-11 London, England - ICA &
01-12 London, England - ICA @
01-13 London, England - ICA *
01-14 London, England - ICA $
01-21 Moscow, Russia - Apelsin
01-24 Tokyo, Japan - Unit ~
01-25 Tokyo, Japan - Unit #
03-01 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium %
03-02 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts %
03-03 Lexington, KY - The Dame %
03-04 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom %
03-06 New York, NY - Avalon %
03-07 Baltimore, MD - Sonar %
03-08 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle %
03-09 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel %
03-10 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge %
03-11 Atlanta, GA - Whirly Ball Atlanta %
03-12 Atlanta, GA - Whirly Ball Atlanta %
03-14 Houston, TX - Numbers %+
03-15 Austin, TX - Stubb's (Matador SXSW Showcase) =
^ with Errors
^ with Part Chimp vs. Alexander Tucker, DJ Keith Cameron
& with Uncle John and Whitelock, DJ Dr Kiko
@ with Gruff Rhys, DJ Dr Kiko
$ with Electric Wizard, DJ Gary Aspden
~ with Melt-Banana
# with Afrirampo
% with Growing
+ with Torche
= with Belle and Sebastian, Cat Power
Arctic Monkeys
Aside from the hooker song I don't really like ‘em but they're gonna be big
…
maybe.
01-23 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre *
01-24 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre *
01-25 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Ulster Hall *
01-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Academy *
01-28 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange *
01-29 Newcastle, England - Academy *
01-31 Nottingham, England - Rock City *
02-01 Leeds, England - Leeds University
02-02 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University *
02-04 Manchester, England - Academy *
02-05 Manchester, England - Academy *
02-07 Sheffield, England - Octagon *
02-08 Birmingham, England - Academy *
02-09 Norwich, England - UEA *
02-11 Cardiff, Wales - Great Hall *
02-12 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange *
02-13 Bristol, England - Academy *
02-15 Portsmouth, England - Guildhall *
02-16 Brighton, England - Dome *
02-17 London, England - Brixton Academy *
03-13 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03-15 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
03-17 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa (Domino SXSW Showcase) #
03-18 Chicago, IL - The Metro
03-21 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
03-22 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
03-23 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
03-25 New York, NY - Webster Hall
03-26 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
03-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03-29 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café
* ShockWaves NME Awards Tour with Maxïmo Park, We Are Scientists, Mystery Jets
# with Test Icicles, The Beautiful New Born Children, Archie Bronson Outfit
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds on Today FM, Monday to Thursday, 19:00 – 22:00 GMT
Lucas – Pieced From Faded Memory
…and you will know us by the trail of dead – Source Tags and Codes
The bit at the end
I got threatened with a banning on the forums for referring to cocaine as a "cunt's drug" yesterday, which I found a bit amusing. Go figure.
I don't have any gigs to go to till January 31, that's a pretty big gap in my world, I think I've got the shakes just thinking about it.
Take it from personal experience, if you ever break up with someone and they ask why don't jokingly cite the name of one of the bands I wrote about this week as an answer if she's never heard of them. It doesn't help.
