Owner: Other People Hate It URL:http://paperslutisindie.blogspot.com Join Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:28:52 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: If music is your thing and context is what keeps you busy, head here. An album review blog with MP3 samples for your reading and listening pleasure. Site statistics:Click here
Chan Marshall And Life As We Know It 2007-03-06 12:20:00 And on today's show we have...You Are FreeCat PowerIt was late 2002 when a friend handed me this mixtape that had, apart from some Live and Better Than Ezra, this version of Oasis' Wonderwall by some woman. Now don't go "blasphemous!" on me, I didn't know better at the time. This acoustic recording, though of bootleg quality, made the Oasis hit seem thoroughly uplifting in a "smoking kills you, but so does gun running in Ethiopia" sort of way. It was like a Wonderwall reprise, only, on tonnes of Valium. Beautiful.Under the moniker Cat Power, Chan Marshall
has successfully managed to do something very few artists can claim to have done - stayed true. It sounds terribly cliche but Dear Sir could well have been her latest record. There has been the obvious progression as an artist - the slightly 'bigger' sound, the collaborations and all the frills that come with being one of the most popular indie rock ladies. But inherently, she's still the same woman who sang "Keep your guns hom
Damien Rice And Lisa Hannigan 2007-03-03 11:30:00 And on today's show we have...Live From The Union ChapelDamien
RiceI don't know why, as an artist title, the name of the Damien Rice
crew and band per se is just 'Damien Rice'. Okay so he writes the songs, but seriously, it's Lisa Hannigan
who has the class as a singer. That is not to say that Rice himself is a poor vocalist. As an Irish troubadour and perhaps the vanguard of the now mainstream folk 'scene' he's quite qualified as a singer. But somewhere in the middle of Live From The Union Chapel (at the song Then Go to be precise) you realise that there is a definite problem in the balance of power.As the name suggests, this EP was recorded at London's Union Chapel in what seems to be a pretty intimate setting. You can picture a small room, without too many windows and just about a hundred people seated comfortably in lounge chairs. Rice and Hannigan take the stage side by side backed by a string section that includes a few violinists and one lady on the big bass. For a live
Phoenix And Not Air 2007-03-01 07:16:00 And on today's show we have...It's Never Been Like ThatPhoenix
Phoenix are a French alt-indie band. Phoenix are not Air. Phoenix are not Daft Punk. They're way cooler.Phoenix areThomas Mars (vocals)Deck D'Arcy (bass)Laurent Brancowitz (guitars)Christian Mazzalai (drums)Given their success with their single Too Young (featured on Shallow Hal and Lost In Translation) and also subsequently the success of the 'other' big French indie act, the pressure on Phoenix to deliver the goods with INBLT was high. The record was apparently recorded by the Versailles foursome at a studio in East Germany. The distance from home has, fortunately for them, paid off.Mars is careful. The album's not loud. It doesn't beg or shout for your attention. It's brilliant spring listening at its best. The melodies are contemporary and not though it's obvious that Phoenix has tried to loosen up, they're still as intricate as ever. The levels are just right, and there's absolutely not a single wasted note,
The View And Continued English Fascination 2007-02-28 12:54:00 And on today's show we have...Hats Off To The BuskersThe ViewThere's a certain indie-garage stereotype that one associates with British bands. You know, the thick accent, coupled with the drunken driving charge right after being caught for possession of whatever's hot these days. Kyle Falconer is every bit Pete Doherty as he is Julian Casablancas. And though The Strokes are fascinatingly American, The View are simply Brit.The lazy swagger and roll of tongue, the cheeky tambourines, the rhythm based riffs, it's all there in Hats Off. But what's it with The View? It's not fluke that all, and I mean ALL, their tickets for their UK headline tour sold out within an hour! Technically speaking, they're not even from England (but when has that ever made a difference). These Scot indie darlings are the current NME hype, and though we all love the NME, there's always a pinch of salt to remind one of what one really wants to listen to.The View aren't thinking too big with Hats Off. You' Read more:English
Kaiser Chiefs And Rubay 2007-02-24 15:40:00 And on today's show we have...Yours Truly, Angry MobKaiserChiefs
I can't get the words Ruby, Ruby, Ruby and Rubay out of my head. Though somehow, I'm not altogether convinced that I want to.The Chiefs are back in their sophomore attempt. Of course the weight of expectation wouldn't be too high? I mean, it's not like Employment had like eight singles or anything. And it's not like I went through the last five months humming "Na Na Na Na Naa". Okay, I did. So basically, KC has a lot to live up to.YT,AM is not as catchy as Employment. Maybe it's the Kaiser fatigue, maybe it's too much Maximo Park. Maybe the songs just aren't that catchy. Which is not to say that have too. "We are the angry mob, we read the papers everyday" is every bit as stadium as "I predict a riot"; but somewhere along the line Ricky Wilson forgot to reinvent his band. It's something that's going to catch a lot of bands out this year if they're not careful (Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother, er... Maximo Park).Whe
Axl Rose And Black People 2007-02-24 12:26:00 NME has the bestest artist pics ever.Here's Axl singing 99 Problems.Bitchin'. Read more:Black
Liam And Who's Big Mouth 2007-02-24 11:35:00 NME reports that Liam (Gallagher, obviously) was involved in a rather violent tete-a-tete with a photographer. The photographer of course claims that he was five meters away from Oasis' lead singer at the time of the alleged punch-up. Also fortuitously present at the scene were Liam's wife and his five year old son Gene.One can't wait for Gene to grow up. Not least if he's listened to any of Oasis' catalogue post The Masterplan.Why Liam? Whhyy? The above picture was clicked after just before NME lost it's chief photographer. Run now Gene, while you're still young and impressionable.Watch: When Liam Gallagher AttacksOn today's show we'll probably have the new Kaiser. Read more:Big Mouth
Klaxons And Other Loud Noises 2007-02-23 13:38:00 And on today's show we have...Myths Of The Near FutureKlaxonsI'll be honest. I like NME. And they like everything. I haven't read a single review that was under 7 of 10. And ever since they gave Klaxons 9, I'd been waiting to get my hands on this baby. Oh man is their website trippy.Heralded as the new wave of new rave, the weight of expectation on MOTNF was high. And fortunately, I'm a sucker for opening tracks. So Two Receivers had me at hello, though admittedly I thought it was the opening to Sick Sad Little World (Incubus). And though it's not really a 9 of 10 track, it's got enough spunk in it to ensure a good start to the album.From then on, it's a roller coaster ride through, well, most places in South England (okay so they're from London), some places in Morocco and wherever else there's a party with alcohol punch and fruit. Golden Skans, with it's floaty ooo's and aaa's is psychedelic pop at its best with its druids and whatnots. Somewhere in between Franz Ferdina
Laura Veirs And 2005 2007-02-22 18:49:00 And on today's show we have...Year Of MeteorsLaura
VeirsRarely does one listen to something and immediately know that the rest of the year is going to be just peachy. There's something about Laura Veirs' unassuming way of constructing a song out of what seems like a dead end that made Year of Meteors my soundtrack of 2005. Obviously, it didn't help at all that this was the first piece of her work that I was listening to, but I guess, in retrospect, that wouldn't have made a difference anyways.The effortless, flowing movements that don't demand your attention but make their presence felt nevertheless put together the tiny details that collectively make the listening more worthwile than anything else you were doing. In Magnetized she puts together the eternal sunshine of a simple folk guitar and the picture of love in turmoil in almost Cat Power-esque exquisiteness. Which is not to say that the creation is more inspired than original. In Spelunking she tries once again to oversimpl
Adele Bethel And Scottish Accents 2007-02-22 18:12:00 And on today's show we have...The Repulsion BoxSons And DaughtersAdeleBethel
could well have been a waitress at some small pub in Glasgow where they served drinks at night with a round of community singing around a piano and a guitar. It's really that simple with Sons and Daughters, like the songs on The Repulsion Box wrote themselves after a particularly good night at Smith's Beer and Chips.Their inherent folk-iness (or beer buzz as I'd like to believe) sets them apart from a tonne of other Scottish
bands who're trying too hard to be Britpop, 10 years too late. Scott Paterson (second vocals) adds a bonus range to their songs that would've been good enough if it was just Bethel singing. And the unavoidably catchy thump, thump, thump is just irresistible. They had me at just Bethel's divine Scottish accent. And it's just the same when she lets out this mirror-shattering screech like on Gone. There's a certain predictability to what they do after the first few songs but that's Read more:Accents
The Kooks And Pop Goes The Weasel 2007-03-16 15:02:00 And on today's show we have...Inside In/Inside OutThe Kooks
The Kooks have balls. Call it the brazenness of youth, or Brighton, there's no denying that Luke Pritchard (please, please refrain from Star Trek jokes) and his just out of jumpers band of merry men... boys, are a confident bunch. Inside In/Inside Out is more than just a debut album for The Kooks. It's the sign of big things to come from a band that has already sold over 1.5 million copies of a record that was released just over a year ago.Frankly, the UK is just bursting at the seams with a wave of new, post-Britpop, not-Coldplay bands. The View, The Fratellis, The Horrors - all ascribing to an urban sensibility with the disclaimer of heavy accents, FOUR-chord riffs and enough innuendo for you to maintain your very own dictionary of metaphors and narratives. And where one band becomes 'cliche', another becomes 'revival'. It's a confusing scene that could do with a little shake-up once in a while. The Kooks manage to fu Read more:Weasel
Arctic Monkeys And My Favourite Worst Nightmare 2007-03-19 15:17:00 And on today's show we have...Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm NotArcticMonkeys
"Hey, have you heard the new Arctic Monkeys
record?""No, why?""Don't. 'Cos nothing could beat the old one."With only a few days to go before Favourite
Worst Nightmare
gets into the hands of millions of drooling teenagers and a few more before it gets onto store shelves, it's a good time to take a look back at what was in fact, the Godzilla of record releases last year. Barry Gibb once said, and this was sometime at the height of his band's career, "We're so overground, we're underground." From nobody to number one in six months gives the Arctic Monkeys every right to be the over/underground darlings that everyone and Pitchfork have an opinion about."Don't believe the hype" says the piddly little boy that Alex Turner is, before his band launches into a tribute to Lurch... er, Peter Crouch on television. With an average age of what seems like 15 and a few months, the Monkeys have managed to Read more:Favourite Worst Nightmare
Love Of Diagrams And What? 2007-03-20 12:21:00 And on today's show we have...MosaicLove Of Diagrams
Love Of Diagrams are an indie-post-punk-no-wave (phew!) band from Melbourne. Absurd genre classifications aside, they signed on Matador last year and Mosaic, their sophomore effort, was released on the same. "Good going Australia!" you say? Unfortunately, there's very little substance here worth your praise, and for that matter, your time.The trio, led by the particularly stingy Monika Fikerle, find their feet in an angular and choppy riff driven Rock that has the possibility of being unique but sadly ends up sounding like a bargain bin imitation. Like an Electrelane on a Sonic Youth hangover, Love of Diagrams do exactly what one would expect of an angular, bass heavy act. It's sad given the fact that there are times on this record where you can see them taking an unexpected turn, but like a smarting slap on the face by some moderately hot chick you flirted with at a bar, they spill the beer and you're left wondering what all the
Recommend Site To A Friend
