Monday, December 24, 2001
I've added some links on the side. Visit them!
And if you only visit one, visit AMG All Music Guide. It's SO cool. They have reviews to CD's you would've thought no one else ever heard of! And musician/band biographies. Also, (which I found muchly interesting) it outlines what defines different musical styles or movements. Like....I love punk rock, but before I read their thing on punk rock, I could never quite explain what it was to people. Plus, it shows punk rock's roots, the old skool punk rock, the new skool punk rock, and its relationship to music such as ska, which I didn't even know was related to punk.
AND, if you look up reggae, surprisingly enough, it has roots in ska.
Amazon.com- I find this helpful if I've heard of some music, and want to hear a clip of it
RollingStone Magazine online-this site has some interesting articles, if you're willing to sort through all the ones about N'Suck to get to them. Also, it has some good pictures, and biographies of some artists.
Sunday, December 23, 2001
Alt-Country is Good Crizap
Wait! Don't skip this just cos it has "country" in the title. Alt-Country and regular country are two different things. First of all, if you're looking for an alt-country cd in the music store, it's normally in the rock section. That's because it IS rock, with a slight country flavor--a flavor that works VERY well with rock, but that I (and many others) are not overly fond of alone. So don't just dismiss alt-country out of hand.
The Refreshments = Good Crizap
Technically, these guys aren't alt-country, because they came, made music, and disbanded, all before the term Alt-Country was even coined. If, however, they were still together today, they'd fit the label nicely. These guys rock, but there's this country tang to it. Some people compare them to the Gin Blossoms (another band from Tempe, Arizona), which while they do have some characteristics in common (the guitar sound, most notably) does not even begin to describe the Refreshments. First of all, the Refreshments are funny. All of their songs are about mexico, drinkin', women, or some combination of the three. Instead of taking this seriously, like many country bands, The Refreshments frequently have a laugh at their own expense. Also, they bring in some unexpected references guaranteed to get a chuckle out of anyone. Such as this segment of the chorus of "Banditos", on their album, Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big, & Buzzy (this song, by the way, is about knocking over a bank in Mexico):
"Give your ID card to the border guard/yea, your alias says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard/of the United Federation of Planets/because he won't speak english anyway."
You don't find Star Trek references in much country music. Or even in much pop or rock music. The Refreshments are original, witty, the lead singer's voice is smooth and pleasing, and the guitar is kick-ass.
Other Album: The Bottle and Fresh Horses Both albums are all good, but some other
Standout tracks are: "Birds Sing", "Broken Record", "Down Together", and "Mekong" though I could go on listing more all day.
The Old 97's = Good Crizap
I first saw these guys on the David Letterman show, and again, I was instantly hooked. These guys are probably about the most well-known alt-country people, unless you, again, go back before the term was coined and pick out Johnny Cash or something. But Alt-country doesn't sound like Johnny Cash any more than modern rock resembles rock oldies. They're related but not the same. Just clarifying, in case you have something against Johnny Cash. Anyhow, what they played was "The King of All of the World" a catchy, pop jewel, off their new album, Satellite Rides. (The title of the album, as well as many references in the lyrics are explained at www.old97s.com, they're very intriguing. As well as the normal stuff on a band website)
Rhett's song writing is excellent, showing a maturity and intelligence that is often rare these days. His voice sometimes does have the country "twang" at times, but with or without the twang, it is a beautiful voice. The songs are catchy, both slow and upbeat alike.
Other albums: Too many to list.
Som other standout Tracks: (The only track I've ever heard that isn't on Satellite Rides is "Timebomb" which is quite good) Also, Bird in a Cage, Rollerskate Skinny (Some omitted, because I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome, and I'm getting really tired of all the html.)
(More forthcoming)
Saturday, December 22, 2001
British music is good shizit
Americans are egocentric. That's why so many countries around the world listen to music by our artists, but we listen to only a small percentage of other countries' music. Now, there are some language barriers, but that is not a problem with the UK. So I'd like to (hopefully) bring up some awareness for some of these faaaaaaaaabulous bands. (Oh, and if someone wants more info, ask Saran Wrap, my partner in crime, because she's actually English.)
Idlewild = Good Shizit
Amazon.com describes them as "R.E.M. for street punks," in their review of Idlewild's latest album, A Hundred Broken Windows. Although this album is a slightly new direction for them, it is definately worth taking a test-listen. This band was first brought to my attention when I was watching the Late Late Show (this show, and Late Night are very good shows to scope out semi-obscure artists who have some following, but are not popular enough to get very much play on the radio), which had them on as their guest. They played "Little Discourage," and I was immediately hooked. The song has powerful guitar, and the lead's voice is very good. In fact, the lead singer's voice reminds me of Michael Stipe's, which could be part of the reason for Amazon.com's above reference to REM. Many of the songs on A Hundred Broken Windows have a well-produced, pop-like sound, underlied by a harder, dark edge. Some other standout tracks are "Let Me Sleep (next to the mirror)", a more upbeat song, and "Roseability", which has a slower, more gloomy/dreamlike sound.
Travis = Good Shizit
Again, I was introduced to this band when I was at a friend's house, where they had MTV2, and they were playing a song off of Travis's latest album, The Invisible Band, "Side". First of all, the video was muchly interesting, instead of being a carbon copy of everything else, like most videos (there were some guys following UFO's around in a van, at the end of the video, the band is abducted by aliens). I appreciate that. Plus, the song itself was beautiful. I'm not always into mellow music, but Side sort of drew me in. Fran Healy's voice is soothing, and none of the instruments are overbearing. If it helps anyone, I don't know anything about Radiohead, but Travis is frequently compared to them. "Sing", the Scottish band's second single off The Invisible Band, is also beautiful in its simplicity, as is "Cage", another catchy song in Travis' repetoire.
Travis has two other albums, Good Feeling, and the highly critically acclaimed The Man Who, which contains another one of my favorites, "Driftwood." Some other standout tracks on The Man Who are "Turn," and "Why Does it Always Rain on Me?
Other good British Bands to Check Out:
Coldplay - They're more than just "Yellow", people. Parachutes is a beautiful album.
Stay tuned for more. (I stopped short because I'm tired, and that html is a sonuvabitch to do correctly when you're tired)
Friday, December 14, 2001
King Adora, Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, One Night Only - 13/12/01
Support: The Candies, Kid Gallahad.
The Review
The first support act - The Candies - were good. Nice rhythm, cool songs... though we all knew why we were there.
Kid Gallahad were this surprising (this may be bizzare-sounding) but ultimately brilliant combination of Jamiroquai-stylee funk, some self-assured almost speaky-parts, and great rock with electrifying guitar. The result put me in mind of Jamiroquai's lead singer, Jay Kay, plonked in the middle of a nicely rocking indie band, like Ash or even JJ72 live, and it surprisingly totally working. Definitely one to look out for.
Then came King Adora themselves.
And were the crowd gagging for it!?
You definately have to give KA credit for being masters of the show.
They played rather a short set (Maxi said "And yeah, we still play fucking short sets"), and no encore, which was disappointing, but you've got to admit it was clever of them.
Always leave the audience wanting more.
Though short, it was a good set... about 6 of the best songs from the album 'Vibrate You', and 4 or 5 new songs, one notibly called 'Come'.
You've also got to give them credit for being to the point.
The set was fiery, electric, and had some great lighting and hot fireworks.
The light misting of smoke (from machines, cigarettes and weed) just added to the perfect seediness of their music. What better accompaniment to songs about sex, sex and sex?
Ok, in case you have the wrong impression, there is more to KA than sex. Great music, clever lyrics, daring to face issues (one of their songs is about male anorexia), glam glam glam, smudgy seedniness, sex appeal, sex... oops.
But overall this was one gig I'm glad I didn't miss. Maxi at one part said something along the lines of "bands like Travis can play Wembly Arena and shit, but they'll never have what we have here now," much to the whoops and screams of delight and desire of the crowd.
King Adora gave their all to the audience, and the audience gave themselves entirely.
The Experience
Queueing was freezing cold. I had decided to not bring my big pink duffel coat, as I'd only have to worry about putting it somewhere when we were in the venue, and that would've sucked. So I was wearing... big pink cordroy flares, tight, sleeveless pink t-shirt (says "What ya gonna do about it?" on the front), black woolen sleeves (look a bit like fingerless gloves), Vans trainers, and my blue Vandals hoodie... along with pink eyeshadow and glitter aplenty!
Yes, I was freezing. But I was glad I didn't bring my coat with me... it would've been a nightmare inside with that!
We stared queing about 6:30pm, the doors were due to open at 7:30pm. We had been to Leicester Square and had a Burger King before we came, as we hadn't had time for dinner.
The queue itself was interesting... there was plenty of pink and fishnet, goth and punk, and more gay men and ladybois than you could shake a stick at! This pleased Kat who has a thing for gay men.
And, of course, there was plenty of hunky males. A couple of note...
Werewolf Boy. As the name suggests, he looked a bit like a werewolf... no, he wasn't that hairy (from what I could see), but he put me in mind of a werewolf in its human form (e.g. Oz from Buffy). And he had a very cool goatee thing happening... it's hard to explain, but it wasn't your average goatee. He had dark spikey hair and dark eyes (almost black, it seemed). And he was wearing skater-clothes. Nuff said.
Blondie. I know, I'm so original with the names. As the name again suggests, this was a blonde example of the male of the species. he have lovely jaw-length, floppy hair, bleached blonde, with dark roots. And this fantastically expressive face. Gorgeous bone-structure... and all-round yumminess.
Anyways... back to the gig!
I'd never been inside the Electric Ballroom before. It's actually pretty cool in there...loads of bars (always a plus), and it was a nice size too... not too big, not too small. I'd say it was close in size to Brixton Academy though a bit smaller. We secured ourselves a space near these steps that were to the left of the stage (if you're facing the stage). We could have gone right at the front, to the left, but that would've put us right in front of the speakers, and we'd learnt not to do that from Muse@Brixton Academy earlier in the year. We also got drinks (lemonade for me - I was actually just thirsty).
The Candies were nicely rocking. Their lead-singer could've been straight out of Supergrass in the looks department. And their guitarist was painfully cute. He was also painfully skinny. Someone send 'im a sarnie!
During the break we moved from next to the steps as I was frankly getting pissed off about being right in the path of everyone it seemed. Literally every minute someone was pushing past me. And a woman on the steps had knocked a cup of beer over one of my friends. So we moved further back and towards the middle.
Kid Gallahad had a nice vibe around them as they played... seemed a bit more confident than The Candies.
During this break we moved yet again, as during Kid Gallahad we:
(A) couldn't see very well, thanks to Fat-Necked Tall Guy.
(B) had a pole that held wires up knocked over, landing on my friend's shoulder and my other friend's head. Luckily they were both ok, though I think Barb's gonna have a bruise on her shoulder... but she boke it's fall, otherwise it would've landed heavily on Kat's head!
So we were on the move again... this time we managed to get ourselves onto the steps. We had a good view of the stage, and we weren't squashed. It started to get more packed as we waited for King Adora to come out... one of the security guards walked along the front and told the crowd to get back, but as soon as he'd passed one section, they just pushed forward again. It looked pretty hellish.
Finally King Adora came out. Massive scream from the crowd. Massive surge forward by the crowd... luckily, being on the steps we avoided this.
Though do not be fooled into thinking that because we were on the steps we had it easy - oh no! Now I will tell you about Scary Hair Woman. She was tall, say 6' something, lanky, with this nasty long black hair, that looked somewhere between a badly-looked-after wig and failed dredlocks. She danced insanely to the music between bands. As she danced she kept hitting me with her cup of beer, prolly spilling loads on me too. She was also right in front of Barb and myself.
Question: She was tall, why did she need to be on the steps?!
Answer: she didn't!
Grrrrrr@her.
Also, to add insult to injury, she was one of the people who had been pushing past me all the time earlier... and she had done it about 6 times during the short while we'd been standing by the steps!
Ok... back to KA...
They launched into their songs, electrifying the audience into one massive mosh-pit and crush it seemed. Again we were glad for the steps. I also saw the tiny, cute guitarist from The Candies standing the the audience next to the stairs. At one stage he was looking up at me, talking to his friend (this was before KA came out). When KA were playing he didn't move a muscle, only moving when the crowed surged around him, battering from left to right, and I thought "boring sod". But by the end of the night he was bobbing his head, and no doubt tapping his foot, in the universal sign language of "actually, I quite like this." So he was forgiven...
I was so glad they played 'The Law', which is one of my favourites, and I had it in my head all that day.
Maxi flirted outrageously with the audience. Eyes flashing wide once in a while at some lucky soul. Licking of lips. Pointing as he sang "you". Winking.
When standing on the staircase, not only can you see well, but you can also be seen. You are separate from the mob, and out in the open. And when the lights come from the stage, they would hit us on the steps.
Maxi and the other guitarist (I always get the name of the bassist and other guitarist mixed up) kept looking up at us. Maxi even aimed a wink at us. "Kat" saw it too. Bizzarely I winked back.
Maxi was also practically shagging his guitar.
Maxi may not be the most handsome man on the planet, but his charisma and presence could make him seem it. And I guarantee that everyone in that place who liked males, wanted him at at least one part of the night.
Their gig was sex.
They whiped up the crowd in a frenzy of heavy breathing, parted lips and lust that match their music pace for pace.
Their music does the title of their album: 'Vibrate You'. I don't think you could escape that wherever you were in the building. It was in the walls, the floors, the ceilings, the doors, the windows, the mirrors on the left wall, the rails of the steps, the balconies above, the bar at the back, and the hearts and loins of everyone there.
Were Maxi's "loins on fire"?
I think so.
Was it worth £13?
And then some!
Did I want Maxi?
Hell yeah.
Would I recommend the Electric Ballroom as a venue?
If you like intimate gigs, definitely. Though steal my spot on the stairs while I'm there, and be prepared to pay the price...
Would I recommend King Adora live?
Fuck yes.
