There comes a time in a man’s life when he can no longer face the endless pile of CDs being proffered for review by eager PR companies and young bands…when the thought of listening to yet another group of skinny indie boys with guitars fills him with despair. After the best part of five years writing for ‘Is This Music?’ I have reached that burn out point. Record reviewing is a little like Sisyphus and his rock - you think that all the records ever must SURELY be reviewed by now only to have the solo efforts of a member of Stltskin drop through your letter box with the next post. So I’m packing up my typing fingers and heading off into the sunset….but not before I’ve dispatched this final pile of records…..
First up is a split single by Projekt A-Ko and Horowitz on the wankiest (”wackiest”, surely? - (Ed) label in the UK, Filthy Little Angels. Projekt A-Ko are ex-members of Urusei Yatsura and sound exactly like their old band, apart from the part of ‘Nothing Works Twice’ when they rip off The Pixies. In a word: Pointless. (”a return to former glories”, surely? Ed).
Horowitz are more forgettable indie guitar scraping, the kind that used to get Single Of The Week in Melody Maker in 1991.
I have to declare an interest in The $hit, as I’m friends with the members of the band. Brian International and helpers pick up where Pop Will Eat Itself left off with a electro/punk Black Country blast. It’s great, and I’m not just saying that because I know them.
Topplers Records have got another compilation out. I liked the last one and I’m going to guess that this one is also excellent, as I can’t be arsed to listen to it. Ask for ‘See Dee Too 2008′ at your local record store or at the Topplers site, I’m recommending it unreservedly.
‘The date of the coming out of one of the most awaited release [sic] of 2007 is in fact near!’ says the press release for “Technicolor Dreams’ by the previously unheard of A Toys Orchestra. I suppose family members might have been getting impatient for this slab of MOR soft rock, but I can’t imagine anyone else queueing up outside their local Zavvi on the day of release. They’re Italian apparently.
Phew, here comes M.J. Hibbett and his trusty The Validators with ‘Do The Indie Kid’. Almost a decade ago I described Mr Hibbett as being like a cross between Billy Bragg and Belle & Sebastian - I can now say that, with Bragg having settled into a kind of middle-aged safeness and Belle & Sebastian’s best work long behind them, he’s better than both. He even has a song about how shit it is being a drummer in a band, appropriately sung by The Validators’ drummer. Excellent, all told.
From a punchy single to a bloated 4 CD selection of unreleased material from noise artists Opaque. Does anyone really need several hours of what is, essentially, the same drone/noise piece over and over again? The answer is probably ‘no’, but if you think want to spend £16 on ‘The Cult Of Survivors’ then head over to www.myspace.com/0p4qu3 where you can make a purchase.
I once played a gig with Metronomy during my brief stay on the South Coast. He was a lovely bloke but his music left me utterly cold. Single ‘Rapid’ doesn’t do much to make me feel any different, and dribbles on for three unexciting minutes. Nice chap though.
Martina Topley Bird? ‘Poison Remixes’? Fuck off. (Er… ok, fair enough - Ed)
Oh, here’s a single from Los, an utterly terrible load of shit from the south of England fronted by a shouting harridan. Bloody rubbish on every level and a total waste of vinyl. It’s called ‘Under The Dragon’s Wing’ so you know what to avoid at HMV.
Once upon a time there was a band called Sixteen Deluxe, they were an amazing mixture of pure pop and effects pedal laden guitar overload. When they split up guitarist Chris ‘Frenchie’ Smith formed Young Heart Attack who aren’t very good at all. ‘Rock and Awe’ almost didn’t happen, that’s one ‘almost’ that you’ll wish had been a ‘definitely’ if you have had the misfortune of hearing this rockist nonsense. Go and find some Sixteen Deluxe, you can get their records cheap on eBay and ‘Backfeed Magnetbabe’ is a classic.
Erstlaub, ‘On Becoming An Island…’; “comprised of one single 43 minute drone piece” says the press release. “YAWN” says I.
A selection of cover versions by Adem y’say? Called ‘Takes’ is it? I see. Should be shit, but isn’t cos Adem is great and makes every song his own. An acoustic take on Aphex Twin’s ‘To Cure A Weakling Child/Boy Girl Song’ is especially beautiful. This one’s getting ripped to the iPod….
Crikey, here’s THREE singles from Tunng spin-off The Accidental! ‘Knock Knock’/'Brave New World’ on Static Caravan is bleepy then scratchy, then sounds like Tunng, whereas ‘I Can Hear Your Voice’ and ‘Wolves’ (both on Full Time Hobby) sound like a less electronic……Tunng. In a word? Tunng-ish.
Finally there’s Pixelh8’s ‘The Boy With The Digital Heart’, a fab slice of 8 bit chip-pop on Hidden Youth Records. Yeah, this is good so you should go an buy it. Another one for the iPod I think.
And that’s it, I’m out of here. BYE!
Alex Botten
//Alex Botten