My loves The Futureheads are back in action!! Oh yes, oh yes.

The boys have finished recording their fourth album and first single “Struck Dumb” is due out next month. But because they love their fans, they’re giving away the track for FREE. Really, that’s got to be the best word in the English language. Top ten, at least. Download, listen, love-ove-ove:

DOWNLOAD The Futureheads – Struck Dumb

Ironically enough, while home for Thanksgiving this weekend I happened to stumble upon a Futureheads ticket from three years ago that went unused. Why? Well, Barry got tendonitis in his wrist, the US tour was canceled, and my dream of seeing The Futureheads went bust yet again. Fate, you are so cruel to me.

For one week only you can download a brand new Futureheads track titled “Struck Dumb”.  It isn’t a departure from their most recent album which will satisfy most of you who have stuck with them this long.

Download here – Link

Listen:

The Futureheads — Struck Dumb

We’ve had “festivals” before. We’ve had “big-names” before. However, there was something about SoundCity that set it apart immediately. For me it was a chance after 13 years to watch some bands that I actually wanted to see!  Looking back at 13 years, there was Paul Weller (with terrible sound) and Jose Gonzales (with terrible sound), but neither would have been first on my list if they’d been playing Manchester. So there was a lot riding on this.

I identified a list of bands I had to see, essentially a list of four; Doves, The Courteeners, Super Furry Animals and Echo and The Bunnymen. The remaining bands would be a bonus.

We joined the first day at around 7pm. Within moments of arriving The Farm kicked off their set. It was exactly what we expected, a competent cabaret-esque trawl through their hits from a bygone age. Please, don’t get me wrong, it was good. Enjoyable. But I don’t understand why promoters/organisers in Dubai believe they have to book bands from the baggy or Britpop eras! Been there, done that, grew up. There have been several successful events and club-nights around the city over the last few years that have proved decisively that there is a market for current, challenging independent music. But like I said, The Farm – enjoyed it. Of course they closed with “All Together Now”. (Now a surprise appearance by Pete Wylie would have been a treat).

The Futureheads. Next band up. I didn’t know what to expect. From Sunderland apparently. The certainly put the effort in and had the crowd bouncing. I think the 21 age limit on entrance had certainly been blown several times – the “mosh-pit” was certainly well populated by sixth-form students.

(Just a quick comment on “mosh-pit”. When did that enter the English language? It sounds American to me. With a rock-tinge. It was always “down-the-front” when I went to concerts. You didn’t go down to the front to “mosh”, you went there to get crushed to death, spat on or brutalised by a pyscho. Mosh. Hmmm. Let’s leave the moshing to death-metal fans).

Back to The Futureheads. Like I said, lots of effort. Good fun. And their closing cover-version of “Hounds Of Love” was excellent. They’ve certainly got something to offer.

Then came Doves.

These were the guys I was waiting for. My mate Phil brought me their first album over from the UK back in 2000 and I’ve been following them ever since. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with some of the albums. Initial dislike, followed by appreciation (for the more recent releases); Kingdom of Rust having received minimal iPod or CD Player play-time since it arrived. The same Phil had informed me by SMS a couple of days before that their live sets were really good at present, so I was looking forward to the show. They didn’t disappoint. Snowden, Kingdom of Rust, There Goes The Fear, Cedar Room……..every track a gem, and played live, sounding even better.

For those of you who missed it, my sympathy. You’re not going to see anything like that in Dubai for at least a year. This wasn’t music-for-bed-wetters (a la Coldplay or Keane) or thinly-veiled stadium rock (Kings Of Leon). Doves are the real deal.

They should have played for longer (that’s one complaint about the festival – the headliners were not on long enough). But eventually they had to give the stage up to the old-guard.

Phil Oakey. Bald. Tall. Hot. Must have been very hot in that long, dark woollen overcoat. The girls. Still can’t sing. Still look great. It was a greatest hits medley, end-to-end. It was also entertaining. (In a similar, cabaret act vein as The Farm). They broke the hits with a stunning rendition of Empire State Human, but that was it for the good stuff. We had to suffer “The Lebanon” of course. They are iconic. And respect is due. They were entertaining.

So there closed Day 1.

Overall. A great evening. The event was slick. The band changes quick. Unfortunately this was not to continue.

Indie pop totalmente nonsense, nota-se pelo nome da banda.

Faixas do álbum:

1. I Love You Cause I Have To

2. Modern Woman

3. Celebrity Sanctum

4. Somewhat Off the Way

5. Apples & Oranges

6. Godhopping

7. Lounger

8. Paul Newman’s Eyes

9. Pastimes & Lifestyles

10. Glimpse at the Good Life

11. Who Shot the Baby?

LINK – Please Describe Yourself

Parece com? The Futureheads, Hot Hot Heat

Clipe da música I Love You Cause I Have To.

Enjoy o/

Ok, so Weezer are back with another hilariously misjudged take on the geek-rock/punk-pop formula they once had down to a t, and you can see it HERE.

The video is pretty much what you might expect here…femme fatale type lures band members towards certain harm…Rivers comes along, sweeps her off her feet and then, in a somewhat surprising move for Cuomo, rejects her in favour of his injured hombres. It’s all set in quite a kooky 1950s style, think Pleasantville, only with more nerds…

‘(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To’ is yet another disappointing return from what seems to be a career that is failing. Rivers can, and does, write brilliant pop songs but it seems that ‘The Green Album’ provided the last coherent move of the bands career. But to believe this seems…wrong. Despite the complete lack of consistency for the past decade it seems that Weezer somehow cling to affections in a manner that the likes of Ash, The Futureheads and The Darkness could only have dreamed of.

Does Rivers Cuomo have any taste?

My hopes for the new record are low, and that is being fairly generous. ‘The Green Album‘ was in hindsight not as glorious as it first seemed, ‘Maladroit‘ was patchy and ‘Make Believe‘ so bad that the biggest Weezer fans I know listened once and have vowed never to go back. ‘The Red Album‘ was Cuomo’s chance to prove his worth and he flunked it, the question is despite the saccharine sweet desperation of the latest single will people still give a fuck about this lot after what promises to be yet another ropey album?

I’m beginning to doubt it.

Vamos lá. Acredito que Futureheads não seja uma banda muito popular aqui nas nossas terras tupiniquins ou sei lá o que, e por isso decidi escrever sobre seus dois primeiros álbuns. Isso e a falta do que fazer.

A banda britânica é foda. Tem um ritmo louco e frenético, que com batidas dançantes, cativaram a critica especializada em 2004 com seu primeiro trabalho. A banda composta por Barry Hyde (vocais e guitarra), Jaff (baixo), Ross Millard (vocais e guitarra), Barry Hyde(bateria) cativou a muita gente la de onde vieram, o que os deixou famosos no circuito indie inglês.

Em 2004 tiveram a façanha de fazer uma obra-prima poderosa, o seu álbum com o mesmo nome da banda é frenético, transloucado e divertido pra caralho. Depois disso, só cresceram e mais e mais, e já lançaram o terceiro álbum no último ano.

Vale e muito a pena ouvir os álbum dessa banda dançante que tem toques de Franz Ferdinand, mas que é única com suas canções elétricas.

The futureheads – 2004

O primeiro álbum oficial da banda chegou arregaçando tudo que havia nas prateleiras inglesas. Agitado pacas e cheio de ritmos dançantes, o álbum the futureheads definitivamente era uma obra-prima na época (e ainda é hoje, claro) e alavancou a banda para o sucesso definitivo, como músicas tocadas até na minha sempre querida série The O.C.

O álbum com 15 faixas começa muito bem, tem um decorrer mais do que perfeito e termina em grande estilo. Aí vai cada faixa mais detalhadamente.

1. Le Garage – Um coral feito por bechin vocals começa em uma espécie de trio em ritmos diferentes e vai dando um crescente na música até a introdução vocal de Barry que dá ênfase as notas dos instrumentos que estão ainda que quase caladas ao fundo da canção. Mas isso dura pouco, pois eles estouram duma vez e começa toda agitação que tomará conta de você nos aproximadamente trinta e dois minutos de cd.

2. Robot – A música tem uma letra simples, mais intrigante, irônica e muito mais. Tem uma intro de mais, com a bateria e a guitarra crescentes, chegando o vocal e um amontoado de bachin vocals fudido. Aliás, vou comentar logo, o vocal dos quatro integrantes é parte essencial para o grupo sendo quase que um instrumento. O ritmo é animado, e a música fala de certa forma sobre imaginário coletivo de forma divertida e sem pretensão.

3. A to B – Com uma letra muito nonsense o melhor da música está mesmo na bateria. A proposta é de ser uma música apenas dançante e sem pretensão (como a maioria dos caso nesse álbum), daí temos uma batida ritmada e regular que as vezes dá um baque que aumenta mais ainda a diversão de quem a ouve. Do meio pro fim o vocal dá uma sussurrada e volta ao enlouquecedor refrão “A to B”.

4. Decent Days and Nights – Uma das faixas que mais se destaca do álbum, sendo esse destaque um ponto muito positivo, ela é divertida e muito dançante – talvez a mais dançante do álbum todo. A letra pode até parecer chata, mas é bacaninha e joga tantos “you” por ai, que parece que foi feita por meio dadaísta, onde recortarem os “you” e colaram nos espaços que faltavam. Mas ela tem um sentido muito legal e de investigação. A batida é de mais, os instrumentos se abrigam em um mundo próprio causando pelo menos uma batidinha de pé de quem a ouve.

5. Meantime – A melhor faixa do álbum disparada, Meantime não é tão dançante quanto Decent Days and Nights mas é mais cativante e tem instrumentos mais originais, como a guitarra e seu som discreto mais que destaca a composição. A intro é coisa de louco, com o baixo em ênfase e as duas guitarras fluindo os caras chegam ao vocal já de maneira perfeita, logo depois se juntam e cantam juntos o melhor refrão do álbum em termos de áudio (e não necessariamente de letra ). Mas a letra não deixa de ser apaixonante e a melhor do cd por isso. Trata de modo direto a relação de um casal que era falsa em seu cerne, mas que tinha um motivo pra isso e que tentam, pelo menos um lado, resolver a situação ocasionando no refrão divertido e dançante, por causa das batucadas excepcionais da bateria que lembram um hit famoso do Franz Ferdinand em sua filosófica, a musicalmente maravilhosa take me out.

6. Alms – Com um vocal seco de intro, logo depois de uns segundo a sós com a gente, a voz encontra uma guitarra barulhenta que fica assim até a o ritmo transloucado que a deixa tão atraente. Outra letra simples com o objetivo de balançar corpos apenas.

7. Danger of the Water – A faixa mais lenta e mais linda. Os “vocais-instrumentos” fazem uma espécie de ritmo único enquanto não entra nenhum instrumento até que a tranquila guitarra aflore ao fundo. A letra é linda, os vocais são lindos e simples. Não é dançante, mas é emocionante ouvi-la, principalmente quando se aproxima de seu final e vai ficando mais angustiante a cada ritmo novo da guitarra. Quando encontra uma singularidade nos vocais, parte para um violento e tocante grito de desespero. Maravilhosa.

8. Carnival Kids – Rápida, seca, objetivo simples, essa canção provavelmente é a mais corrida do álbum e só para um pouco seu ritmo “cansante” quando os instrumentos descansam (ou será a banda?). Fora isso continua frenética quase estourando os sapatos de quem tenta acompanhá-la.

9. The City Is Here for You to Use – Mantêm o ritmo que a banda cria em torno do álbum todo e até tem um momento que se destaca, mas nada de mais. ótima faixa com os vocais maravilhosos e que não é muito dançante, mas é divertida.

10. First Day – De fato a melhor letra do álbum, é tão maravilhosa que assusta. Assusta pelo fato de ser toda cantada em apenas 2:04 segundos. A letra é enorme e diz tanta coisa sobre conformismo, consumismo, alienação e por ai vai.
E a alienação é o mais importante, pois é a alienação que é chamada de Taylorismo ou alienação de produção é o centro da letra que se une ao conformismo de quem está no primeiro dia e precisa de um emprego. E por mais absurdo que possa parcer, consegue ser a faixa mais rápida do álbum, ultrapassando a Carnival Kids. Mas é muito esquizofrênica e nos leva a impressão de paradoxo, pois o trabalho traz idéia de tédio e a música de rapidez.

11. He Knows – Faixa muito boa, tem alguns baques musicais maravilhosos. Mas fica por ai.

12. Stupid and Shallow – Essa é divertida pacas. Ritmo cativante de mais. Cativa até quem não é fã de indie. Falo isso porque um amigo meu que odeia minha múscicas é fã dessa, você tira base daí.

13. Trying Not to Think About Time – Divertida, vale dar uma conferida como em todas e nunca foge da atmosfera que o grupo criou para o álbum.

14. Hounds of Love Vocais sem som, Letra mais que bacana. Ritmo mais contido e um dos mais cativantes. A faixa que o cd precisava pra ficar completo. Não está muito nos moldes das músicas anteriores, mas se firma muito bem nas vozes dos integrantes ao fundo e causa um sentimento de satisfação na gente.

15. Man Ray – Encerra mais do que maravilhosamente o álbum, que adoro.

Fechando, O álbum com o mesmo nome da banda é perfeito musicalmente. Sim, é tão bem produzido que não há uma faixa sequer que não esteja bem compassada e nos moldes estruturais para que o álbum tenho uma ‘cara’ única e marcante. As músicas, quase todas, são marcantes e as vozes mais ainda. The futureheads se firmou no cenário Indie com esse cd. Quer mais alguma coisa?

5/5

The Futureheads

Self Titled LP

Hounds of Love

I really shouldn’t be wishing away the summer, i mean it’s not like we get much of one is it?! But right now I am… well wishing for September that is, why? Well the first weekend of September 5th and 6th sees Offset Festival return to the beautiful surroundings of Hainault Forest Country Park for their second year and WANARB are very excited about it! (and quite rightly so).  Boasting a fantastic line up with Mercury Music nominees The Horrors headlining alongside legendary Post-Punk rockers The Slits. Plus with other acts such as The Futureheads, A Certain Ratio, Bombay Bicycle Club, DANANANANAKROYD,and another 150 bands across 7 stages there’s plenty to get excited about!

Click below for full line up

Tickets are still available for the event  and can be purchased here with weekend tickets starting at an amazingly reasonable £45.00. If for some reason you can’t afford that then all is not lost. The lovely people at Offset have kindly given us a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader.  So keep checking the blog as all you’ve got to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer one simple question which we’ll be asking sometime next week.

For the full Offset 2009 line up click here

Following the interest in my post on James Ford last week, Tuesdays will be the home of The Producers. Ford co-produced Florence And The Machine’s debut album with Paul Epworth, and he will be the focus of this week’s installment.

Epworth started his musical career as lead singer for little known band Lomax, which disbanded after two years in 2004. After that he moved into production, and has gone on to produce some of the best indie albums of the last five years.

First up was The Futureheads, at the time a little known band from Sunderland. The band became famous for a cover of Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, but it was another single that first grabbed my attention:

Decent Days And Nights – The Futureheads

Following Kilamangiro by Babyshambles, Epworth moved on to even better things, with another debut album, this time from Londoners Bloc Party. The album was met with critical praise, and the band have since gone on to become one of the biggest acts around. Epworth would return to produce third album Intimacy also.

Banquet – Bloc Party

Epworth kept his hand in the making of his own music, in the form of remixes, under the moniker Phones. He remixed the above track, which was featured on the album Silent Alarm Remixed. Amongst many others (Definitely check them out, there’s a few belters), he remixed The Rakes, also producing their debut effort, Capture/Release.

Retreat (Phones Remix) – The Rakes

Epworth rounded off an incredible trio in 2005 with Maxïmo Park’s first full-length, A Certain Trigger. The album itself was very well made, and this was backed up by the release of a B-Side and rarities compilation, which just showed how well Epworth and the band had put A Certain Trigger together.

Graffiti – Maxïmo Park

2006 saw Epworth move slightly away from the angular guitars, with The Rapture’s sophomore album, Pieces Of The People We Love. Whilst it was not quite as well received as their first album, it was still solid.

Get Myself Into It – The Rapture 

Following a brief dip in form working with artists such as Kate Nash, Paul has returned to form with two albums this year, from Jack Peñate and Friendly Fires, the latter’s eponymous debut album being superb, despite Epworth only being present for two singles, Skeleton Boy and:

Jump In The Pool – Friendly Fires

Tonight’s Today – Jack Peñate

I for one will be keeping a close eye on the artists Epworth works with in the future, big things are coming.

A few years ago the Sunderland music scene was thriving. Bands were popping up all over the place. The Golden Virgins, Field Music and The Futureheads are just three of the many bands that were making waves and gaining deserved recognition on a big level. Things were looking very promising for city in 2004 when music publication the NME voted Sunderland the 8^th coolest city and the best underground music scene in the UK. It all culminated in 2005 when local favourites The Futureheads sat in the UK Top 40 Single Chart alongside the likes of LL Cool J, Usher and Snoop Dog. Not long after that, BBC Radio One chose Sunderland as the location to mark the return of their Big Weekend festival, the UK’s largest free music festival, which brought the likes of the Foo Fighters to play the city. Held at Herrington Country Park, in the shadow of Penshaw Monument the event was attended by 30,000 visitors.

Now, however, things have gone all quiet. The bands have started to dry up, and with no real big venue in the city, there is very often, little to get excited about. But are things really that bad? Is there hope for the music scene in the city, and how can things be improved to help encourage more young people to find music.

One of the big contributing factors in helping groups like The Futureheads and Field Music was the Sunderland Music Project. A place were liked minded individuals could get together to play and listen to music. It was here where The Futureheads, amongst many other local bands began to put on their own gigs. Sparking a hive of activity in the area. For the past nine years Kenny Sanger has ran The Bunker, a building housing rehearsal and recording studios, which also delivers music industry training, music projects, live music promotions and have an independent record label among other things. He believes Sunderland has something special, which needs to be nurtured: “There is a lot of talent and the scene is quite close knit and somewhat underground compared to other Cities. There are many opportunities for bands to play, but generally at bars or makeshift venues.

“Music Projects are a great step for musicians and a great alternative to more formal music education at school. The Bunker and other professional rehearsal spaces are a good way for bands to network and learn from more experienced bands.  However (The Sunderland scene) needs an infra structure, a network of music support businesses like managers, promoters and labels. It also needs a variety of specialist and dedicated live music venues of various sizes.”

One of the main men behind the emergence of an underground music scene in Sunderland is David Brewis. Alongside his brother Peter, he has had a big part in helping North-East bands such as The Futureheads and Maximo Park develop their sound, as well as offering young people an opportunity to discover music at the University. “I think there are a handful of musicians with good ideas and there is willing and enthusiasm from a few promoters and venues. There’s also the start of an infrastructure for music (a studio, cheap rehearsal space, venues willing to put on new bands). However, I think that there is a general lack of expertise (promoters with little experience, few good sound engineers, no middle ground between incompetence and self-serving-noodling) and a pervading culture of ‘Sunderland is rubbish so anything will do’, which in turn leads to a laddish, boozy inverted-snobbery and a lack musical bravery.

“I think that a lot of the enthusiasm in Sunderland goes to waste because there is no aesthetic imperative to it – i.e. “we want to put gigs on and promote local bands so it doesn’t matter if the band is rubbish and/or not to my taste – there’ll never be a really great record label (eg. Factory, Domino, Drag City, Thrill Jockey, Matador, Postcard, Stiff, Stax, Motown, Island – all the product of one or two people with an aesthetic vision) in Sunderland while that is the case.

For things to improve David believes that venues need to improve the facilities and staffing, and an element of trust must be established between venues and bands: “I think promoters need to earn the trust of venues and bands by properly promoting their gigs and need to earn the trust of audiences by refusing to put on anything they don’t believe is really good (or has the potential to be really good) – even if that means only putting on one gig a month.”

On top of that he firmly believes that young local bands need to focus more on writing songs and practicing then making it big. He added: “Bands need to go home, listen to lots more music, stop thinking about “getting signed” (because it is meaningless), write better music, practise more, learn from their mistakes and stop blaming other people. If the bands aren’t good, then audiences won’t get excited about new music (and in turn, won’t be inspired to do their own things) and there’ll never be enough fans of new music to fill any of our existing venues.”

Of the few new bands beginning to make waves, along with The Small Screen Light Show, is Frankie & The Heartstrings who started playing gigs in December last year and have already begun to create a buzz around their sound, supporting The Week That Was and The Futureheads. Michael from the band thinks that Sunderland will always be behind their close neighbours Newcastle: “(The Sunderland scene) is not something we’re particularly interested in, there are no bands, venues, promoters, or fanzines that really turn us on. We much prefer playing gigs in Newcastle. Our influences are generally wasted in Sunderland; nobody listens to The Yummy Fur or The Fall here. It makes it hard for people to understand our angle. Even if Sunderland attempted a renaissance it would take years.”

Many believe that one of the main reasons the city is often considered left behind their nearest rivals is the lack of a larger sized venue, such as the 02 Academy. However, opinions over if such a venue in Sunderland would be successful are split. Michael added: “As great as it would be have touring bands come to Sunderland. Who would go to see bands like the Fleet Foxes and Camera Obscura? Independent’s NME nights were a complete flop; they couldn’t even fill the place for the Mystery Jets”

David Brewis shares this opinion: “02/Academy would soon realise that they couldn’t maintain venues on both Sunderland or Newcastle – because bands wouldn’t want to play both and audiences would choose one or the other; there are not enough people in Sunderland who are interested in live music (other than the occasional mega-gig, be that Oasis, Elton John, Arctic Monkeys. whatever) – a lot more work needs to go into developing audiences for more esoteric music – if we can’t fill a 150 or 400 capacity venue, how can we regularly fill a bigger one?”

However, Kenny disagrees. He believes that such a venue would generate a bigger interest in the music scene: “A venue with a capacity of 2,000 which is located in the City centre would attract national artists and would offer younger local artists the chance to support them. It would also generate interest in the music scene and audiences filter down so that smaller local gigs were better attended.”

Big venue or no big venue, Sunderland has something special. An underground music scene, filled with talented musicians and knowledgeable people prepared to help others gain the information and skills, with some care and development the future of music in Sunderland could still be bright.

Hey there, this is the first post of my blog ‘Jam Hot’ (I’ll explain the name later). I’m starting it partly because I love finding cool new music and telling people about it- that’s not to say I believe I have the best taste in music, I just like the feeling of sharing stuff that hopefully other people will like. I am also partly starting it because I like having something to do, and with there being no work availible since leaving school, I thought it would be a slightly more constructive exercise than just sitting around scratching my arse every now and then.

So, this being a music blog, let’s have some music! It would be impossible to state exactly what genre of music I am into, as I listen to loads of stuff from electro to folk via indie and ‘alternative’ – whatever that term actually means, so I’ll start with a few tracks from my favourite areas- electro remix and post-punk indie.

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (P.E.S.T. Rave Remix) – Florence And The Machine

This song has grabbed me recently; the original has two annoyingly catchy hooks, and whilst this remix works on only one of them, it’s a pretty tidy track nonetheless, one to crank the volume up on.

See The Light (Calvin Harris Remix) – The Hours

I came across The Hours’ first album via FIFA 08 (EA Games have cracking soundtracks, some of them better than the games they accompany), and I was a little disappointed. However, the job done by Dumfries’ finest on this track from their second album is immense. It’s an epic, sprawling track, and it’s quality struck me on a flight to Dusseldorf during the night-time take-off, absolutely spine-tingling stuff.

Lose Ctrl (Ft. Santogold) (Lurfkkk Break-Edit) – Missy Elliot 

Great beat. Enough said.

Down With Moonlight – The Rakes

Ten New Messages is quite possibly my favourite album, and rather than posting a single i’ve uploaded this much overlooked track, which has a driving bassline and drumming to match from Lasse Petersen. I would have loved to see this lot supporting Franz Ferdinand. Talking of whom…

Turn It On – Franz Ferdinand

The Glasweigans have gone up higher and higher in my estimation with each album, as they are producing something different and of a high standard every time. Check out Blood, an album of dub-step reworkings of their third album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, particularly the Trentemøller remix of lead single No You Girls.

Sale Of The Century – The Futureheads

These guys from Sunderland have grown tired of major record companies, so decided to release their third album on their own label, Nul Records. Their music started out as brash post-punk, reminiscent of Gang Of Four amongst others, although their last effort was slightly more radio friendly, which itself is more than a little ironic. This I think is the best all round track from the album. 

Now, time for the explanation of the name of this blog! It comes from the lead-in to Beats International’s track, Dub Be Good To Me ( Below). Beats International was the vehicle for Norman Cook’s (Fatboy Slim’s) talents after he left the band The Housemartins, following creative differences between Cook and Paul Heaton, who himself would go on to form The Beautiful South.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this, and hopefully there’s been something which might entice you back in the future. Do feel free to leave any comments, and if there’s something you think I should hear, don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail at rob-murray@live.co.uk

Dub Be Good To Me – Beats International

Bonus cover version! (‘Bonus’ = a track I can’t be arsed to comment on, for future reference):

Dub Be Good To Me - Dido & Faithless

Estoy en la depre total. Y como no estarlo después de todo lo que me está pasando estos días. Primero, publican el video de Jacko on fire, luego, los canadienses nos vetan y ahora necesitamos visa para a entrar a su país, luego la canción inédita de Maicol, y para acabarla de amolar, creo que Jacko Wacko si murió de a devis de a devis. Creo que no es una farsa. Bueno, además de otras cosas ya neta que han sucedido esta semana, pero que no son de su incumbencia. Y con toda esta depre de por medio es que decidí hacer el post con esta rola como pretexto.

Videotape ha pasado a ser esta semana una de mis rolas mas especiales al ladito de Somewhere Only We Know, de Keane e In The End, de Linkin Park. Pero Videotape trae una doble carga emocional para mi, la primera, relacionada con mi hermano y la segunda relacionada con Lechuga Verde.

Desde que la conocí en ese concierto, nuestra forma de romper el hielo fue hablar de música, de la cual ella sabe mucho más, y de la escuela evidentemente. Pero fue la primera, la que sería parte de todas nuestras futuras conversaciones.

Mi anécdota de Videotape con Lechuga Verde dice, masomenos, que un día en el CUM, de la nada, apareció Lechuga Verde y me invitó al concierto de Radiohead, pero no pude ir desgracidamente, cosa de la cual hoy me sigo arrepintiendo. Pero, en vista de que no asistiría, y sabiendo que Videotape es mi canción favorita de Radiohead,  Lechuga Verde no se dio por vencida y prometió llamarme justo en el momento en el Thom comenzará a tocar dicha canción y así fue. Gran decisión. Eso sería el comienzo de algo lindo. Fin de la anécdota. (Inserte abucheos grabados)

El dios todopoderoso Shuffle puso esta mañana un tracklist de ensueño: Where Is My Mind? de The Pixies, seguido de Videotape, de Radiohead (de ahí este post), Arriving Somewhere But Not Here de Porcupine Tree, Recent Bedrooms de Atlas Sound y Showbiz de Muse, una tras otra. OMFG!!!!!. Y en vista del relativo éxito que ha tenido el hecho de subir canciones, tal vez no entre los que nos leen, pero si entre los ‘melomanos’ hambrientos de música que dan con nuestro sitio os dejaré aquí algunas canciones muy chingonas que conocí gracias a Lechuga Verde y otras que no.

Videotape de Radiohead

Why Don\’t You Find Out For Yourself? de Morrissey

Let Me Kiss You de Morrissey. En su afán por meterme a Morrissey en la cabeza, estas dos han sido mis favoritas de todas, esta segunda en especial.

I Can\’t Stop This Feeling I\’ve Got de Razorlight. Mi favorita junto con Wire to Wire de esta, que es otra de sus bandas favoritas.

The Beginning Of The Twist de The Futureheads. Este si es un regalito de reyes. De lo mejor que le escuche a Lechuga Verde, algo mas del agrado de la concurrencia de este blog. A varios les agradará

Arriving Somewhere But Not Here de Porcupine Tree. Junto con Short Stories With Tragic Endings de From Autumn To Ashes, esta rola de Arbol de Puercoespines, es una de mi canciones favoritas mas largas y una de las mejores de este grupo. Este si ya es regalito mío

Citizen Erased de Muse. Cuando escuche por primera vez esta canción, me encontraba en una situación difícil con una chica, yescucharla fue un madrazo seco. Ahora me ha pegado de nuevo. Escuchen los ultimos 2 minutos, con un ritmo totalmente diferente al del resto de la canción, que inspira un sentimiento de relajación melancólica cabrón. Y que tal los lyrics de esa última parte:

Wash me away
Clean your body of me
Erase all the memories
They will only bring us pain
And I’ve seen, all I’ll ever need

I told you in my last installment of this project that I was busy transferring my iTunes onto my new Macbook…..I still haven’t finished. I didn’t anticipate just how long this was going to take. Ok, so I may be slowing the process down by making sure every track, album and E.P has artwork (a little OCD I know) but still…

I don’t want to repeat myself, but as I said last time, it has been quite the treat finding all the old gems I’d forgotten about. Some of which I’m going to share today. Want to know more about this project? Click HERE.

45. The Futureheads – Hounds Of Love [3:04] [time remaining 825:05] (Drop Io) (Alt Link YSI)

There are very few cover versions I actually approve of, let alone like. The Futureheads covering Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds Of Love’ is one of those and its quite high up the list. To say I’m a big Kate Bush fan would be a lie as I only really know her hits, so maybe I’m not the person best qualified to judge whether this version is brilliant or sacrilege. Whatever the argument, I think The Futureheads nailed it with their trademark harmony filled sound.

46. Fleetwood Mac – Everywhere [3:42] [time remaining 821:23] (Drop Io) (Alt Link YSI)

Fleetwood Mac are a band that have accompanied me across the majority of my life. A favourite with both of my parents and even the majority of my friends, something about them is so timeless and endlessly perfect. I truly had difficulty deciding on which track I would include in this project and eventually caved, going for perhaps their mos famous, ‘Everywhere’. Beautiful from start to finish, this will never grow old for me.

47. James – Laid [2:38] [time remaining 818:45] (Drop Io) (Alt Link YSI)

This is without doubt my favourite track by James and never fails to make me smile, mainly for the opening three lines. I was only 10 years when ‘Laid’ was released, so missed it the first time round. I discovered it a few years later along with Brit Pop and it was one of the main songs to help train my musical ear for the better. Thank god that happened.

48. Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough [3:43] [time remaining 815:02] (Drop Io) (Alt Link YSI)

This is a real given and I think its quite likely that if everyone had to do their own 1000 Minutes Project, this track would feature on the majority of the lists. Its unbelievable that a song so old (28 years!) can still fit in so seamlessly with some of the most current music out there, as if it too had just been released. Is and always will be, a classic.

tbc…

SOUNDTRACK: RA RA RIOT-The Rhumb Line (2008).

I have a hard time describing this album.  It has a lot of ingredients that don’t make sense individually, yet which work very well. I would almost resort to calling them pretentious rock, but that seems so derogatory.  Vampire Weekend falls into this category of highly literate pop too, and we know how much  I love that album!

Ra Ra Riot play catchy indie pop, but their main instruments are cello and violin. And yet they’re not anything like Rasputina’s string-laden goth music.  Rather, they write catchy poppy songs that are punctuated with strings.  I even wanted to say they don’t have a  guitarist, (they do) but I guess that just shows how well his licks meld with the rest of the music. And, indeed, on some tracks, the guitar is up front and wonderful.

They also get labelled pretentious because one of their songs (and one of their catchiest) has lyrics from e.e.cummings, or rather, they use his poem “dying is fine)but Death“ as the lyrics for the song “Dying is Fine.”  They also cover Kate Bush.  Now the Futureheads covered Kate Bush a few years ago, so perhaps Kate is the next go-to artist for covers.

Ra Ra Riot wins extra points for covering a fairly unknown, and utterly bizarre song, “Suspeneded in Gaffa.”  This happens to be one of my favorite Kate songs, so I’m a bit critical.  However, they do a very good job of making it a pop song (There’s enough weird stuff in Kate’s version to never give it mainstream acceptance).  And the strings work very well for it.

Ra Ra Riot was also featured on that paragon of good taste: the show Chuck [And since I have mentioned the  music of Chuck on many occasions, I would be remiss if I didn't send a shout-out to this site which lists all of the songs in Season One--gotta update Season Two fellas].  Chuck played “Can’t You Tell” in a romantic scene, and it worked quite well.

So, after all that, what can I say about the band.  They may be too commercial for some, but I think their combination of strings, intelligent lyrics and good vocals is pretty great.  Incidentally, in case you were wondering, a rhumb line  (or loxodrome) is a line crossing all meridians at the same angle, i.e. a path of constant bearing. Following a rhumb line requires turning the vehicle more and more sharply while approaching the poles (thanks Wikipedia).

[READ: May 26, 2009] South of the Pumphouse

So this book is by Les Claypool, lead singer and bassist of Primus.

Claypool’s lyrics are typically stories, full of weird characters in weird situations.  Oh, and fishing.  Lots of fishing.  And that sums up this book pretty well.

The book is set in El Sobrante, California, a redneck haven that has not progressed along with the rest of the state.  Earl is a fisherman and meth addict.  In that order.  Fishing is Earl’s life.  His father fished every weekend, and Earl and his brother Ed went with him.  Rain or shine.

Since he was a kid, things have changed in their fishing waters: many of the fish have been fished out (due to commercial fishing mostly), and there have also been new limits capped on the size of the fish you can bring home. Back in the day, you couldn’t keep the small fish, but now, you also can’t keep the really big ones.  And so the days of Earl and Ed’s uncle catching a 300 pound sturgeon are long gone.

For sturgeon is what their family always fished for.

Earl’s brother Ed was a more sensitive kid.  As soon a he was able he left El Sobrante for Berkeley (there’s a joke about Phish, which is clearly gentle ribbing from one member of Oysterhead to another), where he proceeded to do just about the most unthinkable thing: he married a black woman.

When Ed and Earl’s father died recently, Ed made plans with his brother, who had not seen in over a year)  to go fishing.  He anticipates a day of memories, catching up with his brother and a mushroom experience in an old familiar hangout. When Ed learns that Earl’s old buddy (and tormentor of Ed) Donny Vowdy will be coming along, his dreams of a beautiful trip go down the tubes.

When Don shows up, he picks up where he left off: calling Ed Pee-Wee because he dressed like Pee-Wee Herman (in actuality he was dressed like a mod, but Don didn’t know what Quadrophenia was).  He proceeds to make gay jokes and racist jokes and sex-bragging jokes.  Ed grows more and more angry as the day goes on.  Things only get worse after Ed takes his ’shrooms; his buzz is killed over and over by Don’s comments.

As the day progresses and nobody catches anything, the teasing and bickering grows more intense.  And yet, for all of Don’s awful qualities, he is a pretty funny storyteller.  And one of his more outlandish stories finally warms up Ed’s cold shoulder.

But just as soon as things start thawing in the boat, one act causes everything to come crashing down in a violent storm.  And at the same time, Ed’s line snags a giant.  THE Giant sturgeon that lives south of the Pumphouse.

The book was an easy read.  The chapters were short and the action moved along very briskly.  Although the first chapter felt a little sluggish, by the time the story really kicked in, I couldn’t put the book down.

For the record,  I don’t care about fishing at all.  But a good story is a good story regardless.  It’s not a masterpiece; it’s not going to win any awards, but it’s clearly a story that Les had to get out, and I’m glad he did.

I also appreciated that he gives Donny the line from Primus’ greatest hits album.  When Donny tells a joke to the boys that no one laughs, he busts out:  Well, they can’t all be zingers. (The book and CD were both released in 2006, so I’m not sure which came first).

“Any chance of making it a little bit later mate? I’m running late” admits The Futureheads bass player and founder member, David ‘Jaff’ Craig when I ring him on Saturday afternoon. He is busy preparing for his bands acoustic charity gig which is to take place later in the evening at Sunderland’s Independent Nightclub.

When I arrive there are plenty of people completing sound-checks and frantic last minute preparations to ensure the club’s ready, but still no Jaff.

A couple of solitary beers later and in strolls the towering bassist, instrument and suit jacket in hand. “Sorry mate, I’ll be with you in a minute,” he says in his ever friendly Mackem brogue before we retreat to the band’s dressing room.

As we sit down I am the one answering the questions on what sort of day I’ve had and what part-time work I do. “Me and Baz (Barry Hyde) used to work at Kwik-Save for a few years” he tells me. “Then I got a job being a brick layer’s labourer. It was pretty hard,” he adds with modesty.

As our conversation turns to his true vocation in music, he depicts the transitional period the band have undergone in the past year having been dropped by their record label and releasing This Is Not The World on their own label.

“Warner brothers basically paid about nine hundred grand for us to get a fan base of a certain amount of people. The first two albums they lost about a million quid on us” he explains. “We can go out on our own and these people know who we are so that was nine hundred grand’s worth of free promotion.”

As the lads take to the stage to a rapturous home town welcome we are treated to a set of stripped-down versions of singles spanning all three albums, opening with the post-punk stomping, The Begining Of The Twist. The gigs intimate feel is reinforced by inter-band banter and crowd interaction between songs, including Barry’s self styled  Bob Geldolf appeal for donations.

The capacity crowd are treated to hits, Skip To The End and Hounds Of Love, alongside fan favorites First Day and Carnival Kids, all of which induce a mass audience sing-a-long throughout.

A full acoustic set has become a rarity for the local lads who can command venues ten times the size of this evenings setting. But Jaff enlightened me on how they got involved:

“The guy who’s organizing it all, Dave Harper. He come to us and said ‘look I know this girl who’s brother’s just died of Marfan Syndrome” he begins passionately, “Its hard to diagnose and it doesn’t get much funding. Anyway, he said ‘will you play?’ “

However, as fans and the band alike expect such a high standard for an electric live show, which requires roadies and guitar techs, “You can’t be arsed to tune your own guitars” he shrugs, the band decided to play unplugged.

After tonight’s performance attention turns to the groups fourth album. “We have 12 songs up and running now. Barry says he’s got another five. Ross says he’s got five. So we should have about 25 songs to pick from. We are going to go a bit DIY, get it raw sounding.”

Its is these kinds of ethics that have endeared the band to fans locally, nationally and globally and with the band still clearly as hungry as ever, the future looks bright for The ‘Heads.

Catch my full interview with The Futureheads, here.

Originally written for Detour on 23/03/09

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