Simian Mobile Disco- Temporary Pleasure
After releasing their debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release in 2007, Simian Mobile Disco have gone on to become the unlikeliest pair of geeky superstar DJs in the world. While that album might not have quite been ingrained into the minds and dance floors of a generation in the same way as, say, the debut from Justice, it definitely occupied a firm and happy place in many a hardcore clubber and music fan alike.
Spotted Dick Week 2
Like a boomerang, a tramp that you once gave money to and Freddy Flintoff’s injury woes, Spotted Dick keeps coming back for more and will continue to do so. So here’s this week’s playlist of songs; some new, some old and some emo.
http://open.spotify.com/user/g-town/playlist/6tf3lscqc8r0afvGnf3d9O
Bob Dylan- “Blonde on Blonde”
After causing something of a stir by what is now infamously know as his “going electric”, Dylan released two albums (“Bringing it All Back Home” and “Highway 61 Revisited”) in 1965, but it is this album of 1966- with its increasingly surreal lyrics and often woozy mixture of blues, rock and melody- that is considered by many to be one of his finest pieces of work.
Franz Ferdinand- “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand”
It’s been a long time coming, this here third Franz Ferdinand album. They may have stormed British popular culture with two highly successful albums in two years but after four years in relative oblivion, does anyone still care about four guys who were already the “wrong” side of 30?
Yes, of course they do. Silly question.
Radiohead- “Amnesiac”
Recorded mostly during the same sessions for “Kid A”, Radiohead described these two albums, released in 2000 and 2001, as “twins separated at birth”. Considering that “Kid A” is on fairly good terms with bleakness, it shouldn’t be taken lightly that “Amnesiac” is the creepy, fucked up sibling of the two.
TV on The Radio @ Shepherds Bush Empire 19/11/2008
TV on The Radio’s most recent long player, “Dear Science”, seems to have disappointed a number of fans equally as much as it has been, or will be, featured in end of year best of lists, yet, judging by the hysteria of an excited buzz mixed with furiously busy touts, tonight the stage is really set for them to prove their worth.
Fucked Up/Rolo Tomassi @ Camden Barfly 6/11/2008
Anyone smart enough to brave it to Camden tonight not to see a Pete Doherty solo set is in for a treat with this XFM showcase at the perfectly scummy Barfly. Although advertised as a “secret headliner”, it seems everyone is pretty confident that it’s Canadian hardcore punk outfit Fucked Up that will be taking to the stage by the end of the night.
Vampire Weekend/Wild Beasts/El Guincho @ The Kentish Town Forum, London 25 October
The rise and rise of Vampire Weekend has been a thing of wonder: last year they were swimming about in the peripheries of the music press and then, suddenly, BAM!- it’s customary for radio DJs to play at least one of their songs each hour and they’re on every British festival this summer inciting chirpy sing alongs all the way from a rainy Pyramid Stage performance to a triumphant, sweaty Leeds festival set. Whereas some bands (a certain multi-racial five piece from Florida spring to mind) received a hell of a roar in the hype department of the NME office but eventually only delivered a whimper, Vampire Weekend have consistently come up with the goods. After the festival season undoubtedly won them numerous fans, tonight the question is whether Vampire Weekend can cope in the spotlight in their own right headlining three sold out nights in a row at the Forum.
Shred Your Face at Camden Electric Ballroom, London 20 October
It’s a rainy Monday night and the self styled “Shred Your Face” tour rolls into Camden town for what is surely the biggest gig of the jaunt.
First on to an already pretty packed venue is Times New Viking who impress those who made the effort to come early. The band seem to take a particular perverse joy in creating glorious pop songs almost of the Belle and Sebastian variety and then smothering them with walls of feedback, splashy cymbals and fuzzed out vocals so that the listener has to almost decipher those gorgeous melodies.
Holy Fuck/Kelpe- Kings College London 18 October
The first time INFTC saw Holy Fuck, it was as a barely advertised add-on band in a sweaty, dirty nightclub to a few gurning clubbers who had lost their mates on the way to the bar. Now, a year on, it’s perhaps a little surprising that the band have sold out a headline show at the relatively large Kings College Union. They may not boast the hits or even accessibility of many of their contemporaries, but one thing is clear when seeing them live- they are certainly interesting and experimental enough to hold attention unwaveringly.