Indie in Summer

That special day, when we had nothing to eat

2010-07-25T02:25:00.008Z

OH no i didn't. Oh yes I did. Four years later and I've got the itch to start posting again here on Indie in summer. Well it is summer...I don't know what brought it on but something made me log in and read through some of these old posts.

Reading over bits of posts like this one on Devendra Banhart's show "Devendra said hello and introduced himself and his band as "Hairy Fairy". The boys are all very hairy indeed, with their beards, moustaches and luscious long hair. One of the guitarist boys and the drummer were a little less hairy than the others, and took turns wearing a fake beard."
Or a comment left by Shane: "Fuck Off. You had Richard Parry for a guest? You should have given him the bed." on my Bell Orchestre post - where for some reason I neglected to mention that Richard sat up with me and my friend Daniel that night in the kitchen, flossing his teeth before us as we sat and chatted, and turned down a bowl of homemade ice-cream.

I thought it was sad that I wasn't keeping track of my concert attendance anymore. So...

I'll start with a gig from this weekend. On Friday I saw Achtung Hans playing at Grüner Salon. It is a beautiful space, small with mint green walls and mint green velvet drapes onstage, antique chandeliers adorn the ceiling, there are mirrored walls and beautiful cut glass in the doors and windows - it's a gem. The show was mainly a goodbye gig for Honey and the Greek who are leaving Berlin for New York, and I was djing in between bands. I had no idea who Achtung Hans were, but I was really happy when I saw that I recognised nearly everyone who had scampered onstage, just as friends of friends so I can't take credit in the "oh yeah i know them" sense, but you know what I mean. The whole crowd pushed forward to get close to the stage then, which was a telling sign since everyone had been hanging back towards the bar all night - alot of people had come to see these guys play. A five piece who are not afraid to make good use of a melodica, shakers, tambourines, clapping - and when they brought out the Ukelele - that was a crowning moment.
I was kind of mind boggled and remember thinking - is this twee-wave??! They have two lead singers, switching up between a boy and girl (sometimes she was busy playing the melodica, or he would sit down to take a break, or they would sing back and forth together). I don't know anything much about them, but I've got a fever to find out more. I will try and get a CD from them as I would love to play their music on the show, stay tuned! Their myspace page doesn't do them justice at all, but is still fun to listen to.

Achtung Hans on Myspace

It's good to be back!

i moved!

2006-06-15T00:10:00.000Z

Almost Tropical.

see you there!

xo
elizabeth.

With Hands in Pockets I Search For Rockets, That Might Light Up the Sky

2006-05-19T15:35:00.001Z

It is a sad thing that I just haven't had time for my blog in the past couple of weeks. i had a pseudo day off work today sitting at home waiting for my fridge to be delivered (YES AFTER TWO LONG MONTHS I HAVE A FRIDGE NOW!!! COME TO MY HOUSE AND ENJOY REFRIDGERATED FOODSTUFFS!!!!) and seeing as im too poor to go and see Final Fantasy, i have some time this evening...

So, Berlin has had some lovely guests in the past weeks. Ed Harcourt, Grizzly Bear, Black Wire...OMG GREAT GIGS.

Ed Harcourt made me sad. Probably because I love his music so much. Sometimes, especially lately, i feel like a fickle music fashionista falling in love with every new band. It is nice to have a stack of albums from the same musician. Albums that i bought too. Its nice having the cd covers.

His gig was performed in front of a select few in Magnet. For one of the songs which he played on the piano, he had to sort of play standing up as he was leaning towards his old-fashionedy microphone for some parts of the song. I'm not sure why but this singing/leaning forward into an old-fashionedy mic...really affected me. Swoon, thud. (Yes, i was very aware of his beautiful, amazing violin playing wife standing several feet to the right playing her heart out.) He did alot of fun loop tricks, setting up beats and little guitar hooks before launching into the songs playing live on the piano. he even had this little...thing..which played a song as he rolled a piece of paper through it. That was looped too. After the show he explained slightly bitterly that his record company in Germany here weren't really looking after him very well (during the gig he wondered aloud if anyone from BMI Germany was there and then said he didn't really care..) They had not done any promotion for the tour or lined up any interviews or anything for him while he was here. I feel bad for not shouting about here and plagueing him for an interview. Although we had a very brief chat after the gig it would have been amazing to interview him properly. Though, i am sure bloggers isn't what he meant when he was talking about interviews..still, I felt bad. The next day he said he was going to be playing in Hamburg, and was very excited indeed about visiting a store that specialises in wierd old antiquey musical instruments that noone has heard of.

I have the set list rolled up at home (how much does a set list with the edward harcourt's notations and also chicken curry stuck to it go for on ebay?) but i cant remember exactly how it went. I was disappointed that I didnt hear some of my favourite songs..But he did play "Apple of My Eye", which i think is the first song of his i ever heard, and i remember falling in love with it instantly. He did play some brand new things off his new album out soon, soon.
The opening act was Sandy Dillon, who seemed as though she had been dragged up from the depths of the Mississippi to perform for us that evening. She took to the stage like a carnival performer, her eyes peering out at us impishly from under her blonde fringe, her smile crooked as she sang. Her slight frame and angelic features belies her deep, throaty voice. The songs and voice were so similar to Tom Waits (and guess who came on the soundsystem after the show?) though sometimes she sang softly and sweetly, it was mostly this gravelly harsh bellow..which just seemed such an unlikely voice from this waifish blonde who i couldnt tell if she was 30 or 50 years old..Before each song she would tell a little story, "My mother always says to have 50cents in your pocket. She calls it "mad money". This is a song about mad money." or "i had the worst dream ever last night that i lost all my teeth...Then I found out that everybody has this dream - it's a universal nightmare!" Her drummer looked strangely familiar. It was Harcourt, in disguise in a baseball cap and t-shirt.

Oh god. I just read this on his myspace page.

Berlin! I like Berlin. Walked about three miles with Gita and Fiona into the area where it used to be east Berlin and all the artists etc squatted and secretly created and live un-oppressed lives or something..Bought some military hats and a russian sailor's top! very turbonegro. Played drums for Sandy tonight which was a blast; the gig itself was wonderful - probably my favourite of the tour. I expect I made an extra effort as a result of the night before. Josh Pearson from Lift to Experience turned up and we all played songs after the show and left the venue at 6 in the morning. At this point I was in a pretty good mood and I think I got to bed by about 10.00am. Watching the sun come up indeed. Whilst listening to SLAYER. Hmmmm.

Did he really stay there til 10am? oh jesus. He was walking around a bit afterwards but I really didnt think anything else would happen. We left before 1am. Heart..break. Bleed A River Deep indeed..

This Could Be Love, Because.......

2006-05-04T09:47:00.001Z

I've had the time of my life.

I had a life-changing experience last night. At the last minute I decided to go to a gig. The picture I saw which prompted me to head out depicts two members of Datarock in their red tracksuits doing front-wheel wheelies on their bicycles. The band from Norway is on tour, bringing along their hometown friends, Ungdomskulen, undertaking the Dirty Dancing Tour of Datarock, and last night they stopped off in Berlin to play the Lovelite and wow us with their hairy chests and energetic jogging on the spot.

This gig was..amazing. Both bands are from...Bergen! (But of course. Brilliant Bergen. What are they putting in the water?! Hometown of Erland Oye, Sondre Lerche, Annie...) First onstage was Ungdomskulen. They were like a cross between DFA 1979 and Hot Chip. This band had some seriously harcore fans in attendance. There were three boys, front row and centre giving it everything they got. They even managed to attempt possibly the smallest crowd surf of all time - two of them holding the other up. The lead singer tried his best to deliver a real rock n roll moment, and performed a rather ungraceful swing-my-guitar-around-my-head and just about made it, his guitar falling awkardly back in front just in time.

When I arrived, i couldn't help noticing the big mad tourbus that was parked outside the venue. Sure enough it got a mention at one point during the gig. "YOURE THE BEST AUDIENCE WE'VE EVER HAD!!!!", screeched the lead singer of Datarock. He looks like a '70s porn star, and sings with a rich, scratchy voice. Standing there with the zip of his glorious red tracksuit half open displaying a lovely hairy chest, fag in one hand, beer in the other, the whole ensemble was complemented nicely by his mullet. "Well, last night we played to twenty people." he said, a bit sadly. "See our bus? All that, and ten of us and our crew...for twenty people....Anyone seen Spinal Tap?" Then the wrong backing track was lined up on the drum machine. (For the first half of the show they had electro beats, and then they borrowed Ungdomskulen's drummer for the rest of the gig.)

For the last couple of songs Ungdomskulen joined Datarock onstage. They joined in on the drums, did some lovely backing vocals and danced funny in their red tracksuits. At one point the lead singer said, "everybody DANCE!" and then they played a song, "Molly", about their love for Molly Ringwald. The Lovelite pretty much turned into an '80s school disco then. Especially when they played their outro song. Yes it was, "I've Had The Time of My Life" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. The band came offstage and did '80s dancing along with everybody else.

Attack, Attack, Attack

2006-04-30T06:25:00.000Z

It has been a pretty f-ing cool week behind the scenes here.

Tuesday, I went to Save the Cake and set up a dj spot for a future date there at West Germany. GogoRomance & Almost Tropical, May 9th, West Germany, Skalitzer Str. 133.

Thursday I found out I got an internship with the management of Chicks on Speed, working with their new artist, Planningtorock.

Friday i had a rendez-vous with Simple Kid.

Yesterday was my birthday.

Tonight, if I've recovered from it all I might make it to see the Organ.

Fucking hoorah.

Oceans Won't Freeze So Loosen Your Heart

2006-04-16T18:40:00.000Z

I had STARS in my eyes on Friday night. They came from Montreal and brought their friends Most Serene Republic with them. I am very glad I bought the tickets beforehand because it totally SOLD OUT. Outside Magnet people were plaintively calling out to those going inside, asking to buy their tickets. Gigs don't often sell out in Berlin..

MSR were in the middle of their set when we arrived, it was quite obvious they were not German and were in fact marvellous Canadians. There were seven of them onstage, with a girl on lead guitar who was sharing vocals with the crazy red headed frontman. He was very nice and full of energy. While in Berlin he ate some Pizza. He was very impressed by the box his pizza arrived in, he brought it onstage to show us. Sometimes they reminded me of the Postal Service, in a musical way. Oh and he was beatboxing.

When STARS came onstage everyone was incredibly happy to see them and those up the front were lucky bastards, im tall enough but i was on the tips of my toes most of the time trying to see. There was a line from a song that was something about smoking too many spliffs. I never noticed this lyric before. Maybe it was a new song. It reminded me of a story one of my flatmates, Geeta Dayal had told me, back in September when I had just arrived in Berlin. Aw. In a previous existence, Geeta used to book bands, one of them being STARS. She told me a story about Torquille. It was one of his first gigs mabye and he was so nervous she had to take him by the hand and give him a joint to smoke so he could calm down before going onstage. He was rather gregarious on Friday night so I guess he's been working on his stagefright. "This is a song about fucking and death...You like that, right? C'mon it's Berlin." It was sad that they didn't play, "What the Snowman Learned About Love". Maybe they just dont play it live, they didn't at their gig here the last time either. Towards the end of the show when they played "Calendar Girl" it was as if Torquille was trying to look each person in the audience right in the eye. Every time he sang the words "I'm alive" he searched the crowd with his eyes, pointedly looking at each person. He practically scolded us for cheering for an encore. "An hour and half of music..I mean, c'mon!". My favourite song, "Elevator Loveletter" was introduced as written by Amy on a popsicle stick. It reminded me of how i discovered them, listening to the radio late one night, i heard that song and scribbled it down on a scrap piece of paper so I wouldn't forget.

Most of the time during the gig I was standing there with tears in my eyes and my hand on my heart. It was just one of those great nights. I even got to dance and play pool with Robbie! I was at this gig with some friends who had never heard the band ever before, and they really fell in love with them. Its a testament to the kind of music that they make. It was so great to see STARS having a show all to themselves, compared to the last time when they were playing one night of Popkomm with four other bands. Amy looked like she was having lots of fun, she makes funny guitar faces. I am sad that i got distracted and didnt get to the merchandise desk in time to buy a pretty bag.

..Kept Us Awake With Wolves Teeth, Sharing Different Heartbeats in One Night..

2006-04-07T13:22:00.000Z

Last night the Knife played an amazing show.
They were wierd and strange and everything they played in their short set comprised of totally different versions of the original, apart from a new song which I think they left alone. I recognised "Heartbeats" and "Pass It On" but i dont know what else they played - it was hard to tell because nothing was familiar! Except when Karin sang, because she did keep the vocals the same. The music was just completely not the same. I had been wondering before the gig what her voice would sound like - it's really great, especially when its not being manipulated electronically.

One of their Myspace pages claims they "refuse to play live" , and i heard that they really don't like touring, so this was a special gig. One of four i believe. it sold out, and people were being taken off the guestlist there were so many trying to get in. i had this feeling that i'd never ever get to see them play live, and i still feel like i haven't. It just wasn't a typical gig experience i guess. Maybe they play these different versions of their songs because it disrupts the expectations of the crowd completely. It was kind of a strange feeling: to be so familiar with these songs and expect to hear them at the live show..but it didnt work that way last night. i didn't feel cheated or anything, i still liked what they did, really liked it. If anything i admire them even more, i guess the way they manipulated all the songs in such a way - or rather just played them in a completely alternate fashion, it wasn't like remixes, these were completely different sounds - shows how great their music is, if they can change it around so much and still have it sound great, on the first listen, live.
It was more like some kind of performance art i feel like. The stage was set up with slim rectangular lights and macabre dummies with huge heads upon which monstrous faces and skeletons were projected. One of the dummies robotically winded a handle, as if a music box, the other one set between Olaf and Karin loomed over the stage with two heads. The visual effects were gorgeous - quirky animations and unsettling imagery. Olaf seemed to be banging an electronic drum thing. I guess the rest was laptops hooked up to booming speakers. Kind of like a really fucking cool dj set. A gauzy see-through black curtain was hanging in front of the stage, so it caught some of the projections - like dripping blood, stars and cool linear formations. Karin and Olaf's faces were painted in ultraviolet stuff that made them appear to have no features. Sometimes they looked like aliens, or monkeys. Then the lights would change and you would see Karin smile or Olaf take a swig of beer. They kept the songs short and did not come back for an encore.
Of course, we got stuck beside some boys who insisted on attempting to do raver-dancing despite the fact that the Maria was packed so tightly. They caused a bit of a ruckus, but it was kind of funny. They were wearing sunglasses and waving their arms about like sweaty '90s ravers.

My friend's friend was in town for a visit and came out with us to the gig. The last couple of times he's been to Berlin were to play with his band, eh, Maximo Park. This time though, he's not in Berlin to work, just on a little holiday while band mates do other stuff, visiting girlfriends etc. Maybe its kind of obvious, but he seems totally different when he's standing one foot away than when he's a hundred feet away onstage performing. He's just like, a person. Who likes to visit cool places and go to good gigs. Hanging about in Berlin for a few days, wandering around the city, meeting up with friends, worrying that the crowd would get crazy, taking pictures of himself in front of the Berlin wall, not staying out too late so as not to be too tired for more roaming the next day. Bless.

Some music related stuff that came up included mention of a recent side project he's involved with called, i think, Meet Eric Roberts. It doesn't seem to be too serious an endeavour, nevertheless Paul said an NME reporter turned up at one of their tiny gigs in his hometown, so maybe there'll be some more news about that soon. Upcoming MP dates include a very special acoustic set in a small turret which is part of the remains of the city walls in Newcastle. (hope i got that right). The space only holds about 50 people and is apparently quite internationlly known as a venue for poetry readings. If the shiny glint in Paul's eye is anything to go by it seems like the band is really looking forward to it. After the gig we went to Monster Ronson's for some rock n roll Karaoke. Guess who took over the microphone? Ah, rightly so. He does a very good Bowie impression.

Tomorrow night it's a toss up between the Paddingtons at Magnet supported by Five!Fast!Hits! or Dirty Pretty Things at Postbahnhof.

Noise Noise Rock and Roll and Something Else Too.

2006-04-01T10:38:00.000Z

Last Friday I moved house. For some reason the hardest part was getting everything down the 5 flights of stairs at my old place. After all the packing and carrying, I was pretty damn happy to finally be in my new place..and those worries i had about going to see unknown bands were easily overcome by "WOOHOO I MOVED TODAY I WANT TO CELEBRATE!!!!112" excitement. So i totally went to see the The Noisettes and The Rifles at Kalkscheune. With my flyer it was only 6 euros in. I like that. It was my first time at a gig there, but it felt eerily similar. (Mirror balls, red velvet...Is it owned by the same people as Magnet?). A really big crowd turned out for this gig including a guy who was disco dancing in a wheelchair (not the same guy i mentioned sometime before. this dude was probably 50 and took over the floor before much people had turned up yet. he ran over my foot later on while waiting for the Rifles.)

The Rifles came onstage and incited absolute mayhem in the crowd, for some reason. Me, I was falling asleep. I escaped the mosh pit but had to keep going further and further back as it just kept growing. Once or nine times I was really tempted to just leave, I was dead on my feet probably after the mad day i'd had, but also probably cos the band was a bit boring. And there had been a long wait for the gig to actually get started. So, im not sure if it was my tired state or the fact that maybe the band just is a bit same old same old. The very last two songs they played in their encore were definitely the best of the night.

Oh, i came across this. it think it explains better than i can how i feel about the band's music:

Oooo this shimmers, glitters and gapes with the yawning hole of shiny mediocrity. What’s-a-happening, there’s a black hole in one of the biggest music cities on this planet and it’s sucking the point out of everything; or at least sucking everything to a point where the urgent need to do something all your own seems to have been lost. The Rifles must have been kicking back waiting their turn while Oasis ransacked the mod revival for ‘inspiration’; ‘cept they’ve skipped the initial crime-spree kicks and bad-drug adrenaline rush of 'Definitely Maybe and jumped straight to the jaded nonsense of that awful fourth album.

Found here.

They told the crowd we were better than Munich, and that this was only their second gig outside of London. They were really excited and happy that people were going mad. Im glad they couldn't see me...

The Noisettes were actually on first but i feel like they should have been the main band on this evening. I want to finish this post on a positive note so I decided to write about them last.

So, imagine if bambi was a young black woman wielding a bass guitar...that's Shingai, the frontwoman of The Noisettes. She's...??!! Hard to explain. She came onstage in a bolero jacket and black suspenders, knee length leather trousers, sparkly lederhosen, one silver eyebrow and one chandelier earring. One or two of her curls were dyed bright pink or teurquoise and her eyes sparkled with intense energy. Her performance is very theatrical and her face is so expressive and animated as she sings, its hard to take your eyes off her. Before they'd got through their second song she had kicked off her shoes, i wonder by the way she moves if she spent some years as a dancer. Even doing rock n roll stage antics she looked lithe and graceful. Dropping to her knees, kicking her leg in the air and leaving it there, or hanging it over the end of her guitar, jumping up on speakers...Her voice is amazing and beautiful and its a shame because her mic didn't seem to be loud enough. She looks at odds with the rest of the band, the two boys whom she introduced as Wednesday and Friday. I am sure they have a real names and i hope they know how lucky they are to have Shingai because she really makes the band. I have no idea how to describe their music. That's probably a good thing. I stole a poster. I really hope they come back!

Here is a good link to an article/interview on them.

The Knife are playing this Thursday. Deep Cuts broke my heart last year in uni and this year in Berlin and now I finally get to see them live, !!! It's going to be an amazing show. I just know it.

Tell Me Your Stories

2006-03-29T12:07:00.000Z

So i got my craptop fixed today and one of the first corners of the INTERGLOBESPHEREOFLOVE to which i scurried was Tom from Black Wire's diary-not-blog-because-that-sounds-like-an-australian-toilet. He is funny.

i feel uninspired to write much about the Horror the Horror's gig last Saturday. its not a good feeling. i just did not enjoy this gig that much. Normally i feel this great transfer of energy when i go to a good gig, like i've recharged my batteries. Live music really affects me. Im always in a stupor after a really good gig. But this time...Maybe it was just me? In front of me was a row of headbangers having a grand old time, and sort of behind me were three transvestites jumping up and down to every single song and shouting the words...or maybe just shouting words, i think they were shouting in German... One of the headbangers looked so wasted i really thought he was going to keel forwards and just puke all over the lead singer's new-looking loafer shoe things.

So, THTH have like, four really good songs. And then everything else kind of runs into eachother. Their good songs are really good though, thats what is kind of sad about them. One song in particular was introduced as "our best song!" and then, "it's the next single!" but it really wasn't their best song, which in my opinion they had played two songs before that one. i tried looking at the set list to get names and such but failed. I didn't like the lead singer. Whenever he talked it was insincere bullshit like, "you're so beautiful"...blah blah. It was not very convincing. Maybe he thought it was very rock and roll and ironic. One of the lead guitarists was interesting. He had a facial tic and was sharing the singing duties sometimes, though his voice wasn't that good...he made funny faces (not related to the tic) and moved in sync with what he was playing and i found myself watching him alot.

Towards the end the lights totally went out..Twice!! It was pitch black and the band kept playing. That was exciting. Maybe I wasnt the only one feeling a little disillusioned at this gig. There was clapping for the encore, but probably not too much. The first thing Lindstrom said when they came back onstage was "is that all you got?...we were going to play more anyway. so HA!"

Ok so he didnt say "so HA!". I'm sure he wanted to.

So this wasn't the best gig. I've been pretty lucky so far whenever i've taken a chance to go to a gig of a band that i didn't know much about. now im afraid! there are two dunno-really-who-they-are-but-i-want-to-go-see-gigs this week that i was planning to go to. now im not sure what i will do.

Take My Shoes Off, And I Will Throw Them In the Lake

2006-03-20T20:25:00.000Z

This weekend I was spoiled rotten. the Futureheads and Bell Orchestre were in town. Luckily enough I bought my ticket for the 'heads last Monday because it totally sold out! It was my first time queueing for a gig at Magnet. There were alot of chancers waving their tickets around trying to get ahead in the line, which was quite cheeky. Some people just barged their way through and up to the front. Oh well. It was really crowded and we did have to forgo our lovely front row places when everyone starting going berserk once the band came onstage. Moving just a few rows back was alright though, there was space to dance and it's always good when there's less risk of getting trampled. Arriving in the middle of support band, Winson's set there were a couple of noticeable things to em, note: first of all, they were kind of good. Second of all, the drummer was non chalantly eating an apple and playing a set of mini drums. The lead singer at one point dived into the front row and crowd surfed, but unfortunately everyone moved at a crucial moment and he plunged straight to the floor. He looked slightly dazed when he clambered back onstage, but in the bar later on with a beer in his hand he looked in one piece.

The Futureheads' set started off with "Decent Days and Nights" and continued in a frenzy of songs from their first album: "A to B", "Robot", "Carnival Kids", "The City is Here For You To Use", "First Day", "Meantime"...it was kind of surreal hearing "Hounds of Love". I've achingly loved this song for so long, it was almost too perfect. I was afraid to hear their new material, I'm still not sure about "Area". But the unfamiliar tracks they played, I loved. One in particular reminded me muchly of the Cars. I think it might have been "Fallout". They finished the night with a bloody great performance of "Man Ray", which sounds so great live. There was no encore, though looked like it might happen when it seemed like the roadies had come onstage to tune up the guitars.

This was my first time seeing Futureheads play. I loved Barry Hyde's jerky movements. I loved his little brother Dave's intense robotic scary-face drumming, i loved the sincerity in Ross Millard's eyes as he sang and played and I loved Jaff's harmonising. This band got skillz.

They were very thankful, and apologised for not coming to Berlin sooner, this was the first time they'd ever played here. I bet they will play a Postbahnhof gig in the not too distant future.

On Sunday night at the Roter Salon, Bell Orchestre came to visit. This gig was just what I needed. Upright bass, French Horn, Trumpet, Violin, Xylophone, Typewriter, Keyboards, Drums. The five people in this band are just amazing. I already expected Richard Reed Perry and Sarah Neufeld to be amazing seeing as their "other band" is Arcade Fire ( he as a multi instrumentalist/producer; she as violinist). The chemistry between Sarah and Pietro (on French horn) was intrigueing. She charged at him as she played her violin and he layed his head on her shoulders in the final denouement of one of their pieces. "Throw It On a Fire" was amazing live. "Recording a Tape (Tyewriter Duet)" was beautiful and quirky. Drummer, Stefan Schneider, came forward and sat in the centre of the stage, tapping elegantly at yes, a typewriter. It was a shock to hear them say that they hadn't been able to hear themselves for the crowd talking during that show at their previous gig in Italy. Richard said, "it was interesting playing that song angrily, though." Last night in the Roter Salon it was pretty much absolute silence for the whole gig. For their encore they scampered back onstage and played an Aphex Twin cover. WOAHZ.

The star of the night for me was Stefan Schneider. He has an elfin face with high cheekbones and pouty lips. His almost pointed ears and choppy haircut, plus his white outfit, gave him the appearance of some enchanted little pixie from a fairy tale. It was kind of sad seeing him later on, in jeans and a t-shirt, looking more like a normal person. He had me totally goggle-eyed for the whole show: he's unbelievably fast on the drums and did this cool thing that I've never seen before, playing with two sticks in each hand. Sometimes, Richard told me, he even plays with four.

Last week or so, the band sent out a plea on Myspace for help with accomodation, so i volunteered and ended up having Richard as my guest. After the gig, I asked him a little about both of his bands, Bell O. has been a project of his since school and we won't see Arcade Fire for a long time. The new record is coming out next fall (or maybe they will just start working on it next fall..) and they won't tour again until it has been released. Arcade Fireonly ever played once in Ireland, at the Electric Picnic Festival last summer, which i missed. Richard said it was one of the greatest shows, his eyes lit up as he talked remembered the experience. It was one of those times when the band played really well together, and they found everyone so warm and welcoming and were amazed that so many people were so excited to be there to see them. "Though", he added, "that doesn't always make a good show". Bands often say that about playing in Ireland. Yay! I asked what his favourite song was to play, and he actually said he goes between really hating and really loving each of their songs. Right now, he is feeling tired of the current Bell Orchestre material, but they have written some new stuff, and there are only 5 more dates left of this European tour.It was kind of a surreal night. After the gig we headed to White Trash for some drinks and chats with himself, Pietro, Kaveh and some other people who had been at the gig too: Kaveh was astounded at a young girl who had travelled 6 hours from Munich to come see them..there was also a guy who had come from Prague. Richard flossed his teeth and admitted that Bach is his favourite composer before laying his weary head down on my old-fashioned-y couch.

Deadly gigs.

This Old Room Feels Like an Overcoat

2006-03-15T19:10:00.000Z

Last week the Grand Festival came to Berlin for the first time. The aptly titled 3 night event took place in three different venues, starting on Thursday night in Magnet with 8 Ball and Channel One opening up for David Kitt. He has been a longtime favourite of mine. Ever since that one time I saw the video for "Song From Hope Street" on No Disco. Kittser came onstage by himself in a bright pink t-shirt and began the set with his ipod. He told us that it had been a while since himself and his bandmates that night had played together, so they joined him onstage one song at a time. By the end of the night they were five. Keyboards, drums, three guitars. IT WAS DEADLY. It was so great to see him live, i think it was one summer at Witnness that I saw him the first time, and about 2 years ago at Queens Uni. This gig in Berlin was probably the best of all. He played his Thin Lizzy cover of "Dancing in the Moonlight", "Long Long Stares", "All Night Long", "House With Trains", "Song From Hope Street", "Into the Breeze", and some new songs, the one in particular which stuck out for me was "Dont Fuck With Me". Kittser gave us one encore and finished off the night with "Headphones", which I had been waiting for all night long. This is one of my favourite songs and one of his oldest, it is deadly he still includes it in set lists. His onstage presence is warm and friendly, he clapped when we did and smiled and laughed alot and said "cool" after each song in that lovely Dub accent. By the end of the night with a full band behind him he was really rocking out. He was a sight to behold, stamping his feet and shaking his leg a la Elvis and throwing himself about with his guitar. I'm glad he had Ritche Egan playing with him because I wasn't able to make it to see Jape the next night at Intersoup. I heard that the band were doing their bestest to keep up the Irish nation's reputation as incredible boozers. It was an intimate crowd at this gig, and it seemed like everybody was Irish. The atmosphere was different to a usual gig there, there was more hollering and lepping about.

I made it to the last night of the festival then on Saturday for Twin Kranes and The Things at White Trash. This gig was bleedin' massive. Before it, I wasn't familiar with these bands at all, so I was really excited to check out some new bands from Dublin that I didn't know about; I wasn't let down. Neither was the rest of the crowd - at one point there were 5 fellas throwing themselves across the dancefloor like a game of pinball. Lead singer Neil strutted around onstage in full glam: short waistcoast, tight jeans, white face make-up, black lipstick and heavy eyeliner. Their songs were heavy with dirty guitars and sexy lyrics. Neil growled goodbye, saying "Get fucked, go home, roide yer boyfriend." An italian instrumental band called Mashrooms (from Italy) were the very first band. They had a violin player - is that why they were included in the line up? They had a powerful sound and gave us a pretty short but intense performance. Their drummer is cool.

Eh, this post is kind of crap. I'm still recovering from 24 hours on the go yesterday. ASLjuirjdasld.

I Even Fell For That Stupid Love Song

2006-03-03T06:45:00.000Z

I should have known today would be great when i woke up this morning from a dream where i was having a bike race with frontman of Editors, Tom. I'm not exactly sure who won, but we went for a milkshake after.

So, I haven't been able to afford to buy a cd this year, yet. Any money I have is going on gigs. And apart from the odd song from the odd blog, i'm not much of a downloader either. On this great day, 02/03/06, I received a flipping deadly stash of albums, from the likes of :
Archie Bronson Outfit, Arctic Monkeys, The Television Personalities and the soundtrack of a german film - Knallhart - that i haven't seen yet, but has some real good music in it by the looks of tracklisting [the Kills, Go! Team, Sons and Daughters, ...Trail of Dead, Clearlake, Test Icicles]. Joy! I hope nobody wants to talk to me about anything during the next few days, i'm not taking my headphones off. Plus i've lost my voice anyway...

....Rock 'n roll karaoke is a pretty damn good way to finish off a day that started and continued like this one. Don't tell anyone but i sang "Papercut" and "Since U Been Gone". Also "Celebrity Skin", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Touch Me", "Hard to Explain", "Just What I Needed", "Unconditional", "Swallowed", "Goldigger" and "One Thing". Monster Ronson's Sing Inn is where it is at. Lubbener Str. 19, Kreuzberg. the Ca$h Money Party djs were in charge of the dancefloor. Private booths mean that you, yes YOU, and as many of your friends as you can fit in there are in charge of the mic.

Schneider TM is having a secret little gig at Magnet tonight. That means Friday.

Oh My God, March

2006-03-01T21:49:00.000Z

3rd - Arctic Monkeys - Postbahnhof
4th - ~~The Fight + Cigarette~~, Bastard (...poor man's no doubt + english girlie good charlotte respectively. maybe not for me. they have nice posters though.)
5th - Maximilian Hecker plays Bob Dylan in White Trash..what the f..?
7th - Two Gallants, White Trash
8th - Louis XVI, Magnet
9th - Irish Festival: David Kitt, 8 Ball, Channel One, Magnet.
10th- Liars, White Trash
18th- Futureheads, Magnet
19th- Bell Orchestre, Roter Salon
25th- The Horror The Horror, Mudd Club
29th- Delays, Magnet

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny

2006-03-01T15:06:00.000Z

Jason Collett is kind of amazing.

He came to Berlin for a date in the Roter Salon last night to showcase his new album, [Idols of Exile - out March 10th]. The live performance was pared down to just him and his guitar, with occasional back up on percussion and horn. His beautifully crafted songs with witty, touching lyrics and thumping yet gentle acoustic guitar fall together perfectly. The fact that he's singing about being a wasted teenager perhaps - "puking out the door with your pants around your ankles" - is a nice contrast to the pretty tunes and sweet guitar. He is a gifted musician with close working relationships with alot of other fantastic musicians [Broken Social Scene, Feist, Calexico] but he's also a married man and father of three. You really feel the richness of his life coming through in his music, which holds much more sway than expected from the simple set-up of one man and his guitar.

There was an intimate crowd attending the event, it was easy to get up the front and there was just enough people to keep it cosy, and also quiet. The Roter Salon was a charming venue for this showcase. As Collett stood, tall and skinny underneath the large glass chandelier, the soft lighting and opulent red decor enveloped him in a warm glow. Collett is so charming onstage, telling stories and giving the crowd some banter. He had good material to work with though - as he got up onstage he had been handed a non-alcaholic beer with "Fun" written on the label, and although somebody's handy repeatedly interrupted the performance throughout the night with that signal interference, Collett just laughed it off as part of the performance, the "german techno" element. He reminds me not a little of Josh Ritter, the way he tells a story and has that instant connection with his audience. During the show he invited Feist up onstage for a beautifully charming duet of "Hangover Days". There was a real chemistry between the two, and was one of the most memorable songs of the night for some. Martin Wenk from Calexico joined in on several songs with "vibes" and trumpet. I never saw the Xylophone played with a violin bow before. It was wow.

Though it's hard to imagine summer right now - it still being so bloody cold. Below zero temperatures, bitter wind and snow are keeping even springtime at bay, let alone summer. But listening to Collett play last night i definitely got that summer feeling. "Sunny, sunny, sunny"..i can't wait. When he comes back it'll be to play in the Postbahnhof, I just wonder if his performance could get lost in such a big venue. We were lucky last night.

Collett's warm, familiar and often fragile vocals tackle stories set in basement apartments and high school dances, about drinking Southern Comfort behind the shopping mall and finding solace in a mix-tape. But the thing is, this isn't Collett's youth alone-we're all either carrying the scars or still making the wounds-and his personal self-reflection produced an album so precise and relatable as to almost make you miss drinking a mickey in the 7-11 parking lot and passing out, naked, on a neighbor's lawn. Almost.

So says his record company, City Slang. Stream the album here.

Don't Look Now But I Lost My Shoe

2006-02-26T22:49:00.000Z

In case i forget:

-~~this Friday~~ TONIGHT! Jason Collett has a showcase at the Roter Salon. It's invite only, but my lucky star came through and I get to go. I'll find out definitely on Tuesday but it's looking good.
-Two Gallants are playing White Trash next Tuesday, March 7th.
-Louis XIV shall be hosting a night of sexy rock at Magnet the following night.
-March 10th The Liars play White Trash
-i have drum practise tomorrow at 4 o'clock.

You're So Pretty I Could Talk to You All Night

2006-02-24T17:32:00.000Z

Last night worked out really well. I was really excited about this gig which was sort of showcasing these up and coming bands. From what I'd heard I knew I was going to like them alot. First on was Field Music, who played some very lovely and very charming songs. This trio hails from Sunderland, and at one time or another the line-up has included Barry Futurehead and Tom English from Maximo Park. Well, last night it was brothers Peter (who used to be the Futureheads drummer...) and David Brewis who swapped around on drums and vocals, with Andrew Moore on keyboard. The last song of their set was the one that stole my heart. "Pretty". It's a really gorgeous song and is free to download at their site aswell as some others. "You Can Decide", highly recommended. I'm not sure, I'll take a guess that it's Peter, in the photo. he's so skinny, and his trousers are so high. You just want to take him by the hand and bring him home and give him a cup of tea. When he sings he stands on the tips of his toes.

Here's some interesting things that MaximoP singer Paul (who isn't too flattering on contemporary bands) had to say about them:

"It's like chamber pop. It is brilliant orchestration. There are string quartets on more of the album, but all the songs are in crazy time signatures. It's really sweet music, like Big Star and the Beach Boys. Some people wonder why Maximo Park brought this band on tour with them. They made one of the best British albums any band has done. When they play live it is quite different because they swap instruments. They have a younger drummer now since Tom left. They are quite genuine people. There is not much that in music I suppose.

Next up was My Latest Novel, who are just amazing. Their music is so powerful live. I nearly died when they played "The Hope Edition", that violin just kills me. This band has alot of absolutely fantastic songs and there's so much happening onstage, there's alot to take in. I found myself constantly hypnotised, whether by lead singer Chris Deveney as he gripped the microphone and stared piercingly into the crowd, or their guitarist who looked as though he was going to rip the strings right off his guitar he was playing so ferociously. Each member seems to work independently, and by doing so brings their own intensity. I felt like their personalities and characters really shone through as they played.

While they were playing, it struck me that My Latest Novel are the first band I've seen who manage to keep the depth and sincerity of their songs while adding a little bit of twee gloss and sparkle. That sounds funny. I dunno how to explain it better..the xylophone or mini keyboard blow-y thing didn't take away from the power that their songs have. You weren't thinking "aww" but "OWWWWWW THIS HURTS". I've never seen a xylophone so fiercely pounded before, either. They put so much into their songs, especially "The Reputation of Ross Francis"...and finishing up their set with "When We Were Wolves" was almost too much.

Er. I came across someone with a link to the whole of their new album, "Wolves". It's not the year of the dog, it's the year of the Wolf.

So then Tilly and the Wall came on and were really fun and I like them alot even though the tap dancing girl is kind of annoying. There i said it, i'm sorry but she kept reminding me of some little kid going "look at me everyone! look what i can do!" Maybe just cos im learning the drums, and the distinct absence of one (they totally disassembled the kit that the two previous bands had been using..) and blatant celebration of that fact may have pissed me off..on..some..level. But that would be really petty and small-minded of me. Okfinethen. She had a nice t-shirt and must be very fit. I kept trying not to get distracted by her and focus on the rest, especially the two main singers who were doing an amazing job of singing their gorgeous songs. One covered in tattoos with a bull-ring through her nose, the other looking like Chrissie Hynde's gorgeous younger sister. Then what looked like two absolute stoner boys on keyboards and acoustic guitar. Their songs were really pretty, they played alot of new material, one was practically a Spanish flamenco and I wonder if they have alot of country music influences going on in there too. My night had already been made though, I was under the spell of My Latest Novel and found it kind of hard to shake off. I really enjoyed their set anyway, I just think I was in the wrong mindset for it after the heartwrenching performance I had just seen. The whole tap-dancing thing is a pretty damn origional idea, and it did sound quite cool.

AH

2006-02-23T18:12:00.000Z

On the off-chance that anyone reads this in the next hour or so, I have an extra ticket for tonight's label festival that i really need to sell! Tilly & the Wall,My Latest Novel and Field Music @ Postbahnhof, 9pm. Let me know if you're interested! It cost me 12.50. Tickets are usually 2euros more expensive on the night so you could save a couple if you haven't already got yours!

All I Really Can Tell is, I've Been Hit

2006-02-22T15:33:00.000Z

I like We Are Scientists. That's why i went to see them last night. Even though all these stupid blah things happened like it was bitterly cold out, and my friend couldn't come, and the ticket was more expensive than advertised. Blah! i happened to arrive at Magnet in plenty of time; there was no support band, though, just a really bad mix cd playing while we were waiting for the band to come onstage. It was getting closer to an hour after the show was supposed to have started; each time another crap song came on, cries of outrage would erupt from the crowd. Finally a techie popped up onstage - i actually thought some fan had decided to get up there and start playing the drums to amuse us all, ha ha!

Everyone was cheering and clapping for them to come out and finally around 10pm the three dishevelled and hairy young men emerged from the side door to great whoops of delight. There was a big group of really excited (young) fans in the front rows and Chris Cain shook hands with each one and said hello, making sure to look them in the eye, from behind his googly glasses. He laid down the gauntlet and told us that the kids in Colon the night before were crazy and we'd have to work hard to live up to them. I think the crowd had no problem responding well to this challenge. People were fighting to get to the front and go crazy.

Their set was short and sweet. My favourites were definitely "It's a Hit" and "the Great Escape". They just make great music for jumping around to, even if the lyrics are a bit sad. They have such a big sound, like there's a secret guitar player and extra set of drums being played out the back or something. I was totally mesmerised by Chris Tapper's drumming all night. By the end of the show his sticks were totally splintered and his shirt was absolutely soaked through.

Too soon, Chris announced that the next song would be their last and apologised for We Are Scientists not having a vast repetoire. I wondered about old songs.. i was really hoping to hear "Selective Memory", but they didn't play anything old at all. I found out why from Michael Tapper - he appeared in the main bar after the show and I took the chance to give him a quick spanish inquisition. I was eager to talk because I was supposed to get an interview with them yesterday, but it didn't work out. Actually my first impulse was to thank him for a deadly show, I spent most of the time watching his fancy drumming.

This is going to be all "and then he said and then i said." sorry. ill try and come up with some good synonyms. i hope i remember everything. the gig finished right at 11, and since it was the Tuesday night rock bar, it was just in time to avail of free beer + tequila. Oh, i availed plenty.

Michael explained that their record company had arranged for them to spend the whole day doing interviews - i asked him how they stay sane, and he admitted to me that they don't. They just GO CRAZY! The most difficult part, he said, is being away from home. Especially for Chris, who is a dad. I asked if they were working on any new stuff at the moment, but there is no time for that with this crazy touring they are undertaking. What about other people's music? The Liars. They are his favourite band, listening to them alot.

We talked of course, about that night's show. The band felt bad that the crowd waited so expectantly for an encore and never got one. Once they had finished playing and were gone backstage, they could hear everyone clapping and hollering for more..The crowd didn't give up because the crap mix CD didn't kick in and the lights stayed down. The band was backstage feeling bad and wishing the soundsystem would come on so we'd realise there would be no encore. "You don't do encores?".."We just don't have that many songs." "What about Selective Memory?!!" "We only play new songs..i.e from the album or b-sides." Aha. Not only do they not really even like that song, it's the song which Michael himself dislikes the most. !!! Er, I've been totally addicted to it for the past age. (it's really good!)

So there we were, standing on the edge of the dancefloor. An Arctic Monkeys song came on as we were talking. Michael was all closing his eyes and singing along. Apparently they had an awesome time on the NME tour with them, the W.A.S boys are quite sad now that it's over. He related the awesome experience of witnessing the thousands of fans singing along to all the words of "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor" - Alex Turner just stopped to let them take over. Ok, i know everyone sings along at concerts, it sounded better when he explained it. On the W.A.S tour blog there's also a funny account of one of the boys going crowd surfing during the Monkeys show. I love hearing stuff like that. The band is now on their Continental Clampdown Tour, "during which we take a closer look at this 'Europe'." When they were in Berlin last, they played Rosi's. Michael was like, "i loved that place. i want to be there right now. are they partying there?" [Yes. 'was like' is totally a good synonym.] He informed me that they will be playing a gig in Dublin in April. They'll be somewhere else in this 'Europe', this gig is an extra stop-over, to play in Whelans. That will be special! I'd love to see them play there. I might try and make it.

What else? I asked about his drumming. At Michael's school they had a good "band" programme; basically each kid had to pick out an instrument. Because his surname was Tapper, he picked the drums. Ha. Any tips for an aspiring drummist? "Learn all the beats to our songs." The man is a demon on the batterie. [that is not red-eye from my camera, you know.] He is a man, too. "I'm older than I look." "28?" "Yep." He let me know that as they have a day off today, him and Chris planned to go to their record company's office and get someone to show them around. When i heard him say the office is in Kreuzberg, I was happy. That's my hood. I was even happier when he said, "I want to move to Kreuzberg. I'm gonna look for a place to live tomorrow. No just kidding. No but I really want to live there. It's the coolest place." Maybe he was just pulling my leg. Oh god. Flashback. I totally showed him the photographs I took. He was very polite and said, "awesome!..ah, it was smoky!" I was like, "yeh. and your techie dude was sitting right under the smoke machine for the whole show!...eh, why was he huddled in a corner onstage for the whole show?" Never seen that before, thought it was a bit mad. "Cos he's our only techie. we need him." I guess Magnet is just too small, there are no side wings. You can just about see him in one of my "awesome!" photographs. Poor chap.

Michael was very nice and charming and interesting and easy to talk to and though I was nervous i think it was a nice little exchange on the whole, helped along the way undoubtedly by my free beer + tequila sodden braincells. I hope i got everything right..another deadly gig. Woo!

Plans.

2006-02-20T19:36:00.000Z

This week is going to be a bit ALOT fun. Indeed. Probably cos i can make it to see this cool exhibition before it finishes on Friday.

And also probably cos
We Are Scientists are playing Magnet on Tuesday night. And even more probably cos on Thursday there is a label festival at Postbahnhof. This looks to be a hoot.
Tilly & the Wall,My Latest Novel and Field Music are the three bands lined up for this event hosted or arranged or organised or whatever by Cooperative Music - Home of Independent Music (labels: Bella Union, Memphis Industries and Moshi Moshi). Ticket is only 10E. And the flyer is totally cute. I've been hearing various different pieces of information about tap dancing, the drummer from Maximo Park and various members of the Futureheads being involved. Who knows what the night shall bring! I'm excited.

What Happened To Our Heavy Metal?

2006-02-19T00:41:00.000Z

This dude was so hard to catch.

Who - Will Get Me To A Party? Who - Do I Have Yet To Meet?

2006-02-16T23:27:00.000Z

It was riot and mayhem at the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah gig tonight.

The support band came onstage and made everyone have a great time with their great music. Not only did i not miss them, I arrived 10 minutes early. I had time to leave in my jacket, get myself a beer AND get in the second row! Dr. Dog. Who the hell are they? I dunno, but they are the total opposite of their unimaginative crap name. i think i fell in love to "Wake Up" which is totally available for download at their website or their myspace. Though the live version is faster and noisier than that. This is not their website. This is. There's four songs for downloadin' there. Fetch! Sorry, ha ha! I have to say, those mp3s are nice but they aren't as energetic and noisy and full of harmonies and deadly guitar hooks as the live versions. This band sounds like Brian Wilson's neighbour's kids when they stayed over at Neil Young's house this one time and Beck came over. One of them was wearing the exact same sunglasses i had when i was 9, circa 1992. You know, with the neon pink...what's the word for part of the glasses that sit on your ears? I have to quote this. Just have to. "Seems sure to attract a rabid cult following." - New York Times. HAHAHA. Yes indeed, i totally agree.

We did not have to wait long for CYHSY to come onstage after the opening act. Well, the balloons had to be set up first. The stage was decked out in silver balloons. (~~"By The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"~~) "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away" started off all the craziness. It is a great opening song. Instantly there was pushing and shoving and jumping and alot of clapping. That was me, i clapped alot. And tried not to fall over. Well, i did last about a half an hour in the mosh pit. But I was getting totally trampled, and it was hard to take photographs. They played a new song that I loved, but it got no introduction. I think it had a line that went, "I've been waiting for your call..I've got a blister on my forehead from leaning against the wall." Right after that Alec Ounsworth said, "that was new. this is new aswell. it's called Satan Said DANCE!.." and i was the only one that went "WOOOO!". But people caught on pretty quick. It was so great to hear this song again, I LOVE IT.

The band seemed kind of sad and frosty at the beginning. Apart from the tall one with the shiny golden locks. With his floppy hair and tambourine and big smile. Gosh.

I think his name is Robbie Guertin.

They were getting such a great reaction though, they were ALL smiling by the end. Even AO, who even kept saying "thank you". The crowd was so into all the songs, not just "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)". Their last gig here in December was in tiny Mudd Club. This time around the Postbahnhof was all filled up with mad, clapping, people. And they knew all the words. "In This Home on Ice" and "Is This Love" just brought down the house. I was beside two of the funniest dancing boys ever. They looked like they were having conniptions and if they didn't get to kiss Alec Ounsworth, they would just die. Clap Your Hands..finished off their main set with "Child Stars" and since the house had already been brought down, the sky fell in.

There were two encores. And then the lights came up and the background music started again. BUT THEY CAME BACK FOR ONE MORE SONG! And brought Dr. Dog with them! Omghootenanny.

What a deadly gig.

Clap your hands!
When I feel so lonely
Clap your hands!
When I won't do nothing
Clap your hands!
When I have no money
Clap your hands!
When it don't seem likely
Clap your hands!
Are you up to something?
Clap your hands!
Where's my milk and honey?
Clap your hands!
When I just look funny
Clap your hands!
I just wait, a while

You're My Favourite Waste of Time

2006-02-15T10:53:00.000Z

An Arab Strap gig is kind of a fitting affair to attend on the eve of Valentine's day. They paid a visit to Berlin on Monday night; Magnet was totally packed out by around half past nine when I got there..yes i missed the support band. Everyone was quite happy that Arcade Fire was being played while we waited for the band to come onstage. It was hard to move..or avoid getting pressed up against the people around you in a rather familiar way. The crowd still tried to dance along despite the total squish, but most people ended up sort of hopping up and down on the spot.

Arab Strap have these intoxicating songs that you just get lost in. I loved when their songs kicked into the upbeat ending: the crowd, drawn into the realm of seedy affairs and jilted lovers that Aidan Moffat depicts so well in his gravelly voice, would be lulled out of their stupor and liven up. People seemed to enjoy just shouting "MALCOLM!" at random intervals. My favourite song was probably "New Birds". 1998. Most of the time each song was introduced not by name but by the year it was from. "19..what the fuck?...98? Ooh that was a lawng time agoo." I felt kind of disappointed when it was over. The ticket was quite expensive, i'd missed the support band, Arab Strap didnt give us much talk and I was waiting for "Love Detective" all night, but it never came. You can never count on anything when you go to a gig though, I know that..They did play two decent encores and finished with a cover that I can't remember. "Malcolm hates it." It was a lovely gig.

FUNNY:

AL: Why do you write these sort of lyrics?

Aidan: I just write to piss off my girlfriend.

AL: The lyrics seem like a diary.

Aidan: I never kept a diary. I like to think of the album as a diary. Just key events. Just what I'm mulling about at any given point. I like to mull. That's something I'm very good at.

Malcolm: Some journalist described it as picking scabs once.

AL: But from what part of the anatomy?

Aidan: The brain. A scabby brain. I don't care what anyone says. Doesn't matter.

Found that here.

You Are The Most, You're So Rad, You're So Fresh and I am Glad

2006-02-14T19:53:00.000Z

February 14th. It's that time of year again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEZER! The big one four.

Woohoo!

Everybody listen to Animal Parade! Kind of like Willy Mason.

Kind of like love.

Animal Parade, live in Berlin:
Hotel Bar, 28 February 2006.

The End Is Here In Noises

2006-02-09T13:00:00.000Z

Went to a deadly gig last night. It was great, in a we-dont-really-know-our-lyrics-or-have-that-many-songs-to-play-
but-can-make-alot-of-noise-and-go-mental kind of way.

Test Icicles.

As part of their Boa V Python tour they played a show in Magnet last night. Woahz. Had i been in the form for it, there were some good opportunities to speak with the band last night - dudes were hanging about in the crowd when we walked in, talking to fans and looking belligerant at the merchandise desk. I sort of walked into Sam, who didn't seem to know where he was going, his hair was obstructing his view. He has alot of hair...I wasn't feeling very sparkly last night though, still kinda recovering from the late night on Tuesday. I should have saved myself for Test Icicles! This band demands energy. Literally.

They came onstage and didn't quite look like the band i'd heard about. Grey cardigan? Anorak? A t-shirt with a husky on it? ..At first the crowd seemed nonplussed. Devonté asked, "how are you? y'alight?" and "what do you kids do for fun?" and finally, "em, are you excited about the world cup?"...it was a painstaking effort to get some reaction. Sam was hurling insults at the crowd alot, Dev was telling him to say sorry alot.

The dynamic onstage is a wonder to behold. The boys swap the microphone around alot, everyone has a go - "oh, it's my turn to sing now then..?", they freestyle on the keyboard - "that sounds really fucking good, keep doing that!" (upon discovering a science fiction-y sound effect, which appeared on nearly every song thereafter.) I did see Sam play his guitar with his teeth. Or try to. There were alot of snapshot moments, like when Dev was jumping up the walls, or when Sam fell over and all you could see over the tops of people's heads was this sepulchral arm shooting up in the air (sort of like that scene at the end of Carrie when the arm reaches out from the grave...) Or when Rory was just being there on stage, he kind of looks like Johnny Rotten with that new haircut.

It took a few songs, but the crowd did start going mental, eventually. The best song of the night was "Circle, Square, Triangle" even if Sam forgot most of the lyrics. The crowd really went crazy. Though they had been jumping around alot already, this song really set it off. "That was the peak", Sam said. After spending a few minutes faffing about onstage wondering what to play, God was even called upon to intervene.."we would play longer but...we've no more songs", they ended up doing a cover of a song by the Go Go's. As it bounced around the room thanks to extra reverb on the mic, "Belinda Carlise -isle -isle -isle" was a name i hadn't imagined hearing a member of Test Icicles say at the gig.

It was bad form to just do nothing on stage for a while, which they did. People started shouting "boring!" and Dev warned against anyone coming up to them after the show to say "that was a shit gig"..My friend pointed out that this may have been in reaction to the crowd seeming ambivalent at first, though they did warm up to the Icicles eventually. The band finished up their set by making noise for ten minutes. Well, Rory and Sam scarpered, leaving Dev like a hunched scientist over the keyboard and his guitar. Sam ran through the bar making "magician fingers" in people's faces, then they left. My one regret from the night is that I have no photos. As they wandered through the bar on their way out my friend suggested shouting "hey motherfuckers!" and taking a photograph..I totally should have. I didn't particularly want to be in the picture myself - i went to my first gig when i was 11, since then, i've only ever asked for a picture twice. This one time at Oxegen, when I went over to say hello to Shaun Christensen as he was hanging out by himself, smoking a cigarette down beside the crowd after Stellastarr* had played. And this other time after seeing the Future Kings of Spain play a deadly gig. Myself and my friend ended up chatting with them for a while afterwards (nicest band, ever!)...a photo seemed inevitable. I dunno. I'm bad at stuff like that though, I hate asking for a picture.

the support band was deadly. The Taste.

After reading up a bit on Test Icicles i now know that Dev injured his foot quite badly on a shard of glass during a gig last year, "i just walk a bit different now"; Rory has joined a choir, "it's a 15 strong vocal crew. It's gonna happen." and Sam was born in Miami and grew up in Australia, his accent is funny.

I wonder if they will get a drummer, and if it will make things even more crazy on stage. I hope so!!

Motherfuckers! Indeed. I would very much like to see them again, they're a really fun band to see live, i was laughing alot. Plus, it does make a nice change from recorders and glockenspiels. We all agreed it was a not unsimilar experience to being at a band's practise. Which is kind of cool when you think about it. Test Icicles play like nobody's watching.

You Knocked On My Door And My Whole House Fell Apart

2006-02-08T07:43:00.000Z

I got a heads up from a friend about a good party so I ended up in West Germany for the night: "5 euro or roll the dice and pay what it lands on. Plus free cake and a band." So, wondering about the cake, and the band, i got there by around midnight. I probably lost ten minutes trying to find the way in. i arrived at the right street address, but ended up wandering up some random stairs and parading around an abandoned courtyard wondering where the fun was. ("Beat It" by Michael Jackson was playing in my headphones, I really thought he was going to jump out from behind a wall and start moonwalking around me.) Looking around a corner I thought, this must be it when I saw that poster stuck on a door.

I rolled a five at the door, and when I got inside the band has just taken to the stage. They were like this 60's outfit. With a banjo, double bass, saxaphone, fancy drumming and rock and roll teurquoise guitar playing.

Snippets of lyrics that i caught:

"..like a love shanghai.."

"..my heart has rusty hinges.."

"..you knocked on my door and my whole house fell apart"

" you wanna stay up late? i've got days and days of tapes.."

"repitition. repitition. repitition. repitition. repitition. repitition."

I tried to find out who they were and asked the drummer. They might have been The Jimmy EEojodadjisad Incarnation. They might have been anything at all. I don't know if I wasn't hearing properly because I'd been standing beside the speaker for most of the show or because they just have a really complicated name. Encores went on and on and on on. First just Jimmy, (Timmy? Tammy?) then Jimmy and the bassist/banjo player, then the bassist/banjo player took over the singing as Jimmy clambered behind the drums to rock out there for a bit. It had been jazzy drumming until he got his hands on the drumsticks. He played like, BANG BANG ROCK AND ROLL. Then the drummer came back and there was a 10 minute excursion called "Reincarnation" (see last lyrics snippet.)

Previously a doctor's office,West Germany is another "home-made" venue, like Mama's. Most of the ceiling tiles were gone, you can see a little in the photograph how parts of the wall were ripped out. Mattress pinned up against the window, etc etc. Thankfully the police didn't come and bust it up. Tonight was a Save the Cake affair. There was free cake, I had some of the last slice of strawberry cheesecake, ha ha! The place was decorated beautifully with "baking art". Huge cupcakes were hanging from the ceiling, and adorning the walls were a series of oil on canvas: blender, cupcake, spatula, mixing bowl..I signed up to get notice of future Save the Cake happenings, I want seconds!

After the band 2 djs took over and played some very fancy tunes. Like the Sonics, Rolling Stones, Temptations. I swear, i had just thought of the Slits' version of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" when that older version came on! I also dropped my beer by the coats while attempting to shimmy along to it. They will be back again in a few nights time, this Friday in Sherriff Teddy's. From what i saw they were mostly working with vinyl. I didn't get his name, but one of them told me that next time, if i pass him the cd inconspicuously, he might play Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" for me.

SHOW YOUR BONES

2006-02-04T00:36:00.000Z

This is probably the best thing i've read all week!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs New Album

We have a title for the new record... SHOW YOUR BONES. It's coming out on March 28!!! Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket. Maybe there is some of that electric current flowing through the tracks of our album illuminating us from the inside out for you to laugh at and cry to or fry to. Or not.

[posted 1/26/2006 U.S.A.]

The album is getting a UK release on 27th March. One week before that the single "Gold Lion" is gonna come out. I'M EXCITED!

There is this one band, The Kooks. And there is another band, The Books. Kind of spelled the same, but pronounced different...unless you're from inner city Dublin. Or Manchester. I think. Well, they're both playing Berlin this month. The world has turned and left me with three bands to pick between for the night of the 18th. Calla, the Figurines and the Kooks shall all be taking to various different stages across the city - at Knaack, White Trash and Magnet respectively. I don't know how I'm going to pick between all three...Although, I have seen the Figurines before...and the Kooks is a very cheap door-charge, plus a free drink. But dammit, I hate choosing. Free drink, eh?.. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC YESYES.

The Books play the Volksbuhne am Rosa-Luxembourg Platz, 12th February.

Why Is The Bedroom So Cold?

2006-02-01T21:19:00.000Z

I've said before, this is no mp3 blog. Cept, i was just chopping up vegetables in the kitchen, listening to Jose Gonzalez do a cover of Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart"...it may have been the onions making my eyes stream, but... He mentioned something about a Joy Division cover. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" no less. Yeh, yeh, Nouvelle Vague, U2+Arcade Fire. His version is haunting and powerful and it just made me stop. He said it could be found on some Swedish website, so I don't think he'll mind much if it can now also be found on this music blog.

So, here.

It's taken from a live show, it's a little scratchy, he speaks some Swedish and there's rapturous applause.

Jose Gonzalez seems to be the perfect anomaly. His parents fled Argentina and 2 years after their arrival in Sweden brought him into the world. He used to play bass in a shouty/jumpy-aroundy band. Um. Bands. That is, one punk/hardcore band Back Against the Wall and one indie rock affair, Only If You Call Me Johnathan. When the Knife released Deep Cuts nearly 3 years ago he picked up on "Heartbeats" immediately, including it in his set list at a show only three weeks later. Of the Kylie cover he says, "underneath the pop and happiness is a great song."

The picture is from last June, when he played in Whelans to a couple of hundred people as part of the Budweiser Rising Festival in Dublin, opening up for Buck 65. While he played, it was one of those gigs where nobody dared to move. Or talk. Or breathe. I'm not surprised that he says he prefers to play gigs in small spaces rather than large ones, though he still played support to the dalai lama in a football field this one time.

"Hearbeats" has been a huge "hit" for him in Ireland. People just totally fell for him. Swoon, Thud. Last night he played to a packed out 10,000 full crowd in Dublin, opening for Bell X1.

You've Cried Enough This Lifetime, My Beloved Polar Bear

2006-01-30T18:08:00.000Z

This weeks Gigs-That-I-Missed: Hot Chip and Open Prison. I'm getting used to it now, almost.

February is going to be fun. Look!

08.02 Test Icicles Magnet
13.02. Arab Strap Magnet
16.02. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Postbahnhof
18.02. the Figurines White Trash
18.02 Calla Knaack
19.02. Diamond Nights Magnet

For the past few days I have been listening obsessively to the MSTRKRFT remix of Bloc Party's "Two More Years". I found it here, after being pointed in the right direction by mister fancypants . I can't get enough of this song. Just! So! Good! That was last Thursday - imagine my delight when I went out dancing that night and it came on! I was not really into the origional version much - when I heard it first it sounded to me like a lacklustre copycat attempt. Loving the remix so much has definitely encouraged me to rethink that first impression.

I'm at home in Ireland for a few days, I was missing ham sandwiches and tea. Plus, my dad built a dancefloor in our back garden so we could rip it up till all hours in celebration of my sister's 21st birthday. Karl who normally djs at the Funk Up spun alooottt of great records for us - one in particular - "Going Nowhere" by Cut Copy, which was actually the song that started off the night's dancing. I was in the middle of talking to someone and rudely abandoned them to run over to the decks and ask "WHO IS THIS?!?!?!" I was very happy when I found out - I've loved "Saturdays" for a long time and Bright Like Leon Love is on my list of "To-Get" albums, along with eleventy bajillion others...I'll have to bump it up a few places. Their website is all kinds of RAD.

I'm definitely turning on the radio tomorrow night between 7-10pm cos Tom Dunne is talking to Jenny Wilson. I saw her at Bastard supporting Architecture in Helsinki, SHE IS GREAT! I have a good excuse for sitting in hugging the radio, I'm dying of the evil killer death flu (well thats what it feels like) and alot of late nights out from the past week have finally caught up with me.

Another first impression I have since deviated from is that which I was holding against the Arctic Monkeys. I can't remember what song it was, it was quite a few months ago, but I remember thinking, "absolute claptrap!" Apart from "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor" being the best song ever, dancing to "When the Sun Goes Down" (not, "The Scummy Bastard Song"...) might be the best dancing ever.

i hope i actually get to go to a gig sometime soon.

Apparently Glamorous

2006-01-22T23:42:00.000Z

HOT CHIP January 26th, the Water-gate, maybe 8pm.

There is a band called The Dirty Sweets. They're based in Galway, in the west of Ireland - oh, a rich musical territory! But, The Dirty Sweets don't sound Irish. They are doing their own thing. It's like how I feel about the Chalets: it's quite rare to have a band like this - never mind that the very Irishy words "pot" and "kettle" are in the title of one of their songs (which i can't stop listening to) - THEY'RE AN IRISH BAND THAT DOES NOT SOUND IRISH. That's deadly.

Download that song, Pot Calling the Kettle Black and more here.

This band makes music that seems to have an old-fashioned, haunting quality. Sort of Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey...and someone else I can't quite place. I'm glad they list early '90s indie pop as an influence, cos when I listen to them, it's like that hazy summer back in 1995 again, when the cassette in my walkman was always playing some scratchy mix of songs i'd recorded off the radio from Menswear, Echobelly, Gene, Elastica or Suede. A bunch of well known (in Ireland..) music industry people - djs, musicians, record industry types - were asked for their tips for 2006 and The Dirty Sweets were tipped by Jenny Huston, one of the cool indie rock djs on the Irish national airwaves. This is quite an endorsement. Swit swoo!

I found out about them because their new synth player, Leon is from my hometown. I don't really know him, but..There's a well established dancing party that happens in Sligo, called the Funk Up. This one time last summer on the dancefloor, i had requested some Arcade Fire, but the dj was reluctant: "Only about 5 people will dance!" he said. "Yeh, but they'll be 5 great people" i replied. Anyway, Rebellion (Lies) came on, and the only people ripping it up were me and my friend and Leon and his friend..so, he must be alright.

In Other News-

The Future Kings of Spain have told us the names of the songs on their new album! Yay. But like, dudes. Some musical accompaniment to the lovely titles would be wonderful. Anyways, here are the exciting NAMES! Oh wait. I've lost them. Another time then. No, wait here they are.

Chemical Burn
Disappear
Guess Again
Kick In The Teeth
Lost And Found
1981
One More Mistake
Syndicate Our Lives
This Is The End
This Song
You Dream In Solid Gold

Future Kings of Spain are similar to Biffy Clyro, I think, in that they can can make these really sweet, catchy songs with infectious melodies and jangly guitars but also loud, shouty songs with infectious melodies and dirty guitars. The new album is called Nervousystem and the first single to be released will be Disappear . I am excited. They are an amazing band to see play live, I wonder if they'll come to Berlin?

They are also AN IRISH BAND THAT DOESNT SOUND IRISH. Actually now that I think about it, Ash are in this strange little group too. So we have Ash, the Chalets, Future Kings of Spain, The Dirty Sweets.

The Chalets were on Morning Becomes Eclectic! Hooray.

Sad News: My Morning Jacket have had to cancel their gig here at the end of the month. Well, the whole tour has been cancelled. Jim James might have pneumonia.

A new Maximo Park song A19 is kind of boring. It's "not about a girl for once" said Paul. Maybe that's why. Maybe cos it was during a live-from-Spain-broadcast-on-the-internet thing that i heard it on. Regardless, definitely looking forward to hearing more new stuff.

I find it kind of wierd reading music blogs. I only started recently. I mean, I've never relied on them for finding out about new music...Anyway, at themodernage there is a fabulous account of the Editors rocking NY, with fabulous photographs aswell. I'm so jealous and also sad. they are not coming back to Berlin in February as Tom told me. There seems to be a ton of dates here there and everywhere. Except here.

i read a crazy thing the other day. the same producer worked on "Silent Alarm", "A Certain Trigger" "the Futureheads" and "Capture/Release".

Hrm.

It Took Me All Night To Get You But I Got You

2006-01-22T00:42:00.000Z

Last weekend i went to see The Chalets. During the week beforehand, I found myself trying to explain to some people what they sound like, and ended up comparing them with bands that I have since found most other people have aswell - Le Tigre and The B 52's. Ne c'est pas? Like a Sunday morning in bed, Ireland has been such a warm and cosy nest for the sad and lonely, heartbroken, distraught, miserable singer-songwriter for a long, long time. But the Chalets are telling us, “You've got no time!”. There's no time for morose moping anymore! It's kind of nice to have a Irish band shaking things up for once. They're like, air the place out, shake off feeling down in the dumps and rip it up on the dancefloor, rih? The band has been described as “twee pop”, but I feel that that is only an element of what they do. As written in a message to the band on their Myspace page, “pop isn't always a bad word”. Indeed. But, their racy lyrics, killer guitar riffs and pounding danceable drumbeats make them deserving of a much broader description than that, which indicates to a much greater extent the rock and roll flair the band has.

The possibility of success in America seems more than likely for the band, especially since one of their deadly songs Sexy Mistake has appeared more than once in episodes of some hit show on the telly over there apparently. (i dunno, ich habe keine television..) It's probable that across the water people will be wondering what the band is going on about when they sing "So you can get your hole" or "get out of my kaks" but they can probably guess. And surely Theme From the Chalets relays a universal experience, everyone has been to a party and muttered these same words in their friend's ear, or under their breath or to the geeky boy in the corner:

boys: Let's fix some cocktails and make them so strong
girls: Let's not get too drunk but we'll play along
boys: Let's put on FM, sit back and relax
girls: You must be joking get out of my kaks
boys: Don't think it's working their coats are still on
girls: Just five more minutes and then we'll be gone

In the week running up to the gig, I heard the Chalets on German radio for the first time: No Style was getting airplay on Radio Eins – the lovely & amazing indie rock / alternative radio station here in Berlin. Some of the other music on rotation at the moment on the station is from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Knife, Ryan Adams and Stars, which reflects the esteem in which The Chalets material is being received with. Recognition is coming from all sides - Steve Lamacq playing No Style as his single of the week upon its release last September, and with their upcoming tours playing alongside Art Brut, the Kaiser Chiefs and We Are Scientists on the agenda the band are soaring at a steady 500 hundred miles an hour towards achieving massive success in 2006. (haha, sorry! i could not resist that.) Vote The Chalets. No, reallyVOTE FOR THE CHALETS! They are up for awards and stuff. They are included in the category for Best Irish Band at the Meteor awards on February 2nd this year.

So, the gig. It took place in Magnet which is a small venue in Prenzlauerberg where I've seen some great/great/goodish shows recently from American Analog Set, The Go! Team and The National respectively.

The support band, which hadn't been advertised, was slightly nondescript until their last song when suddenly they came alive in a blaze of electro rock glory. This served to liven everybody up a bit in preparation for what was about to come. The crowd was a bit random. There were a lot of pot bellied lank-haired middle aged men wearing Hard Fi t-shirts and then gangs of young obsessive set-list grabbing girls wearing t-shirts of bands that haven't been invented yet. Plus a load of young ones from Oireland. Which I think was a surprise for the five young ones from Oireland who had come to play.

Around midnight The Chalets emerged from the crowd and sauntered onstage to hearty applause. There were lots of “Vielen danke!”'s to the crowd for the warm welcome, and then ripping straight into the music, got on with the show.

Theme from the Chalets, Sexy Mistake, Got No Style, Nightrocker, Red High Heels, Feel the Machine, Two Chord Song, Fight Your Kids, Kiss Chasing, Gay Holiday, Check In all made it onto the setlist. Occasionally I've noticed that German crowds can remain quite stoic and unresponsive at gigs. However, as the glockenspiel tinkled alongside the vocal harmonies between the boys and girls, shoulders jutted and hips swayed - the temperature rose quickly. “I feel like a roasting turkey”, said rosy-cheeked Peepee. The band wasn't afraid to joke around a lot onstage, in particular about casserole (“auflauf” in German). “It's on menus here everywhere!”, they exclaimed unbelievingly. Songs were introduced as “Where's the Auflauf” and “the Auflauf Story” - this steaming dish is obviously something that has influenced the band muchly during their previous tour stops in Hamburg and Dresden. Peepee and Pony were a pair of steaming dishes themselves. Their flawless complexions, expertly applied eyeliner and lusciously shiny hair teamed with some very stylish outfits no doubt was encouragement enough for a rowdy member of the crowd to shout, “GO ON YE GOOD THINGS!” at them. Their faces lit up - doubtfully at the “compliment”, but to discover some familiar folk in the audience. “THAT SOUNDED IRISH!” they squealed happily. The band seemed very relaxed, more so than the last time I saw them live - when they played alongside Art Brut and the Rakes as part of the Budweiser Rising Festival last June. Even just looking at what they had chosen to wear, it seemed to me that they weren't trying so hard to be kitsch (and ending up seeming too gimmicky.) They were still dressed up to the nines - not in costumes this time, but fancy outfits nonetheless. In German there is a word to describe girls who know how to dress, which definitely applies to the girl-Chalets: “stylies”. The boys were also very smartly dressed in tight t-shirts and skinny jeans, instead of the suits and leopard skin ties. With the glitzy guitar riffs and luscious bass licks from Enda and Chris teamed with Dylan's tight and fast drumming the crowd was really bopping from the word “auflauf!” Coming back onstage quickly for an encore they claimed to have nothing acceptable enough left to play, but left us wanting more with Michael Kelly.

This is kind of minging, but after the dancing and singing along during the gig, when it was all over and we were hanging about wondering what to do and where to go, I was really thirsty and didn't really mind swigging out of Peepee's bottle of water which had been left discarded by the microphone stand, mostly full and very irresistible to my parched throat. Some German fans pushed me out of the way to get at the setlists – it was lovely of course to see that an Irish crowd had come out to see the Chalets, but Irish fans are a given. They have loads. It was cool to see the Germans fighting over the souvenirs from the night and chatting excitedly about the gig (the Irish had scrambled back to the bar).

I hadn't expected to have a chat with Peepee and Pony, but as I was on the way out I saw that the girls themselves were manning the t-shirt stand, I went over to say hello and thanks for a great gig. They were excited to meet a fellow Dub - “THIS GIRL'S FROM FOXROCK!” - they probably didn't expect any Irish people to be there, well it being a Berlin gig. I realized my preconceived notion that they wouldn't be friendly people, because I found myself surprised at just how sound the two girls are. They wanted to know some good flea markets to check out the next day on their day off and myself and my friend tried to persuade them with the aid of dodgy map to come out for the night instead of sloping off back to their tour bus. Peepee asked how long we'd be hanging around at Magnet, and I regret now not staying behind a bit longer to make sure they found their way, I think I missed a shiny golden glinty mirrorball opportunity to go boozing with the Chalets in Berlin.

i have no photographs from the show that night, but Abstract Boy has!

funny, ha ha!

2006-01-20T19:37:00.000Z

Today. I was perusing Myspace. I was on Final Fantasy's page and there was a message posted from "Owen from Final Fantasy" and this is what he wrote:

Hey, this is Owen from Final Fantasy. I don't know who set this Final Fantasy Myspace up.

Whoever it is, YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE.

No, I'm kidding, you're not. What could I do, anyway? Send you an E-MAIL? Write a SONG ABOUT IT?

In other words, carry on. Me and Leon are four days away from completing "He Poos Clouds", which is quickly becoming known as "The Career Suicide Record" or "The Hilarious End Of Final Fantasy". If you enjoy the feeling of being duped, you'll love it.

Bye.

apart from Matt & Kimm's Silver Tiles, i keep going back to listen to Final Fantasy's cover of This Modern Love, for just ~~one more~~ nine more listens. My god. I'm calling him Final FanTASTY from now on. Yes i am. The message was posted under the name Germans. That's a funny name for a band. The closest i could find to it on AMG was "German Boys" under the genre, "holiday". !!!

I Aint Sayin My Goodbyes

2006-01-20T12:02:00.000Z

This isn't meant to be an mp3 blog at all at all. But I am too poor to go to gigs this week!...this month. i still feed the need to update my blog despite the lack of live music. Pang. If i could have gone out, i would have had to pick between Super 700 and Black Wire last night, couldn't believe that both their shows were on the same night. Im not familiar with either bands' music, but I just had a feeling that Black Wire would be great. And I've heard a few good things about Super 700. They will look after your bunnies, and also have been working for a long time with Gordon Raphael on their new album. Swit swoo! Anyway, in the end, I decided to buy some groceries instead of a ticket to a show. Sometimes it's nice to eat, y'know. I tried to convince myself that they will be back around Berlin again soon. It seems to be that bands really like playing here, alot of them seem to come back within 2-3 months to play again. Coming back for more next month are Editors, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Test Icicles & We Are Scientists. Fun.

Since i got all hooked up with the internet last week I've been trying to remember all the music i've been wanting to search out and catch up on and ended up downloading alot of f-ing good stuff. Like Wolf Parade, of course. And Matt&Kim, of course. A song of theirs, Silver Tiles is available for download right here. Can't. Stop. Listening.

!!!!

Today i did remember this one song in particular that i wanted to find. Hard Fi's version of Seven Nation Army. i recorded it off the radio sometime last year & love it lots. So i stumbled upon this crazy thing. Ok it's not so crazy. But it's kinda funny. It's this family who make a weekly podcast of music & chat. Music like the Shout Out Louds and ...HARD FI! One of their podcasts from last October includes the unique cover of the White Stripes' song on it, so i downloaded it. Ok. This cover version is actually on Hard Fi's EP. It was a live version that I heard on the radio that one time, and the lead singer was doing this raucous howling. Unfortunately there's no raucous howling on the EP version. i can't seem to find that live version anywhere. it's oodles better. I found the plain ol' EP version on the podcast from 23.10.05. Right here at Positively 10th Street. Sometimes, families make me want to puke, but Hard Fi is the 2nd track in.

So. i still might go and see ADULT.tonight. I found another mp3 of theirs over at CallMeMickey where there is a biglonglist, and alot of mp3 tracks of bands playing SXSW. Hand to Phone. It's creepy.

omg im late for drum practise!

Gimme Something Cheap / Not Enough Sleep

2006-01-16T20:34:00.000Z

I'm still not recovered from le week-end. the Chalets charmed the kaks off Berlin.

This Friday night at the Maria is the venue for an ADULT. show. A few weeks ago whilst perusing a local publication (go on, guess..) the picture + accompanying blab about the band -- "..as Berlin is suffering from a lack of 1980s inflected electro pop [is it? really? hm.] we should be thankful that ADULT. has arrived to fill the niche." -- caught my eye, so i cut it out, stuck it up on my calendar and sort of forgot. Today i arranged to meet up with a friend later this week, so i go to scribble it in on Friday 20th January and what do i see there? A nice black & white rectangley picture of a boy and girl sellotaped on there. So. Let's see.

They are from Detroit. Apparently they tried to keep quiet about who they really are. Who else is from Detroit? Brendan Benson, for one. Detroit Cobras (oK, i'm just guessing that one...) hm. Ok, Who else is from Detroit and tried and sort of succeeded at keeping quiet about who they really are? Yeh. But this is good. (I'm pretending that i don't know Eminem is from Detroit.)

ADULT. is three people with a lot going on. While Kuperus and Miller run the seminal Ersatz Audio label, show their paintings and photography and restore historic homes in Detroit, Consiglio participates in several other music and performance projects such as the art-cum-theater collective Perfect Wieners and Butts and Ersatz Audio's own Tamion 12 Inch.

That was interesting. And a little scary. Taken from their label's website, Thrill Jockey Records.

I believe the updated version of the band is now back to the origional line-up of just two. Alison Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller. Alison is also a photographer. She took this, i like it alot.

here is Alison talking about her photography and ADULT. music:

".. well I think that there's a lot of weird anxiety in our music and I think there's an awkwardness and I think that my photography is very awkward. I think that the lyrical content of our songs could have double meaning, and I think that my photographs have a lot of double meanings. It's like you're kind of just giving the viewer, almost like a still, and you don't know where the story is going, and Our music is like that as well where you don't really know where the end is."

Their new record called "Gimmie Trouble" was released last October.

I only have a couple of mp3s to go on, and one of those is a remix. i do feel intrigued enough to check their gig out, but it all depends on how much currency i dispense this week.

oK. mp3s.

Insound has one and epitonic has two. The it-was-new-in-December-2005 single In My Nerves is Here. It's totally on the first page of artists under "A".

Nite Life and some remix of Flexidisc are right here. Both good! Even the remix! Before you can say "this is soo electroclash" your shoulders and hips will be doing jaggedy '80s moves. And your hair will get poofy.

So ADULT. are noisy. I like it alot. i can see (hear) that her voice might probably get annoying if you listened to it nonstop for like, an hour. should just about make it through the gig. Oh! Kesseteens are supporting. And some djs after too. Show starts at 9pm.

Being broke is really spleening me. i could not afford the ticket/u bahn trips to go see Black Wire tonight. Boo.

Let's Dance Just For Tonight

2006-01-11T20:54:00.000Z

Tuesday nights at Magnet are just a little bit too much fun. FREE ENTRY before 11pm. FREE BOOZE from 11 til midnight. A VERY HOT DANCEFLOOR. Kids in Turbonegro t-shirts ripping it up to 50's rock 'n roll. (Which was funny because alot of people were wearing "Chuck Taylors" converse trainers on their feet -- the choice shoe for any discerning raging teen of the 1950's.) Boys swaying and girls jumping to Bloc Party, Elvis, Maximo Park...My favourite songs to dance to from the night had to be: Deceptacon, Pin, I Only Want You, Sheena is a Punkrocker, Hard to Beat, Boys Don't Cry, Michael, I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor...and lots more that are buried somewhere underneath my boozy tequila brain cells. The dj cleared the floor with Goldigger -- oh well, there was more room for us. The star of the night was the boy disco dancing in his wheelchair. And also the fox we spotted loping across the tram tracks at 4am.

Richard Hawley's new songs from his new album Coles Corner are getting lots of airplay on the radio, which is fantastic. Swoon. When i get enough money, I think this album will be my first music purchase of 2006. I CANT WAIT!

There is a reason why having a radio in the kitchen and being able to tune into Radio Eins is so sacred to me right now. At the moment I have no boombox in my bedroom, so the other day when i wanted to listen to some music, i turned to my laptop. And it just died. So then i got out my cd walkman & adaptor (to conserve batteries) but oh, the plug broke. There is still a metal prong stuck in the socket somewhere. So then i found some batteries, put them into the walkman. THE EARPHONES FELL APART IN MY HAND. Someone up there...The laptop is at least working again, except the internet is completely kaput. So, i cant download anything or listen to any music online. Which is really f-ing shabby. I can't afford new earphones either.

Ok im going home now to listen to my laptop.

..the Irish Keep Gate-Crashin..

2006-01-09T22:01:00.000Z

TEST ICICLES -- 8TH FEBRUARY 2006, MAGNET.

This weekend the Chalets are coming to town. I hope they put on a good show. They are getting airplay on super cool Radio Eins -- breakfast and dinner just wouldn't be the same without that radio station. In fact, i just wouldn't have breakfast or dinner without Radio Eins. (Tune in at 97fm!) Over the weekend they did a Best Of Popkomm 05. I heard some Elbow and Hard Fi and some crazy band that did a cover during their set of "Maniac" and had a song called "1000 Sparks", i think. I don't know who they were???!!! Anytime i turn it on its always My Favourite Song. Today, bizarrely, I was thinking that I had never heard them play any Arcade Fire, and then BLAM! THEY PLAYED THEM! "NEIGHBOURHOOD # 2 (LAIKA)"! The "CD der Woche" (guess what that means) this week is Ryan Adams' "29".

I'm so ashamed. Yesterday, in my kitchen making toast, I dashed across to the radio to turn up the volume when Koufax came on. It was their song, "Isabelle". I thought it was Ed Harcourt! I hated this band when I saw them during Popkomm, for that very reason. They are totally ripping him off! I notice he is not mentioned in their band links on their website. Motherf.ckers. Oh, two of the Get Up Kids are in the band. I still hate them.

So I've been losing sleep over thinking about my favourite songs, albums and gigs from last year. I guess cos i've been seperated from my music for so long, and it's only in the past 2 weeks that I've gotten to hear everything again. And it freaks me out how all the gigs/festivals all meld together in my head into one big hootenanny, can't remember where, when...That's why I started this blog, so I could keep track. Anyway, how could i forget some of my really hot favourites from last-year-i-cant-believe-its-over???!!! Like, the Departure's "All Mapped Out"..or the Rakes "Retreat", or the Prodigy's "Hot Ride", or "Fuck Forever" from Babyshambles, orororor...

She Don't Think Straight

2006-01-06T21:37:00.000Z

I should have done a Top 20! er, 21!...23!..Fuck it, 312!

What about,

the Greatest - Cat Power

Hard to Beat - Hard Fi Oh, you said it boys.

If You Want - Tom Vek

One Thing - Amerie

Blood - Editors

In the Morning - the Coral

Cold Hands - Brendan Benson

E-Pro - Beck

Dance Me In - Sons & Daughters

First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes

Shine a Light - Wolf Parade

Graffiti - Postcard of a Painting

STARS - Your Ex-Lover is Dead

Ok I'll stop now. During 2005 I was addicted to these songs. Still am!

Black Wire. Who are they? I don't know. So i looked around for some information. They are funny! And photogenic! And supported the Cribs! And playing in Berlin next week! I have no idea what they sound like. I am there.

Next month when We Are Scientists come to Berlin to play a gig, I might get to chat to them. That would be one thousand nine hundred and forty 3 kinds of class.

Why Won't You Listen, When I Stomp My Feet?

2006-01-05T21:35:00.000Z

Today was freezing. But I really wanted to check out this exhibition. Never mind that I'm too broke for a U-Bahn trip (and not enough of a chancer to chance it without paying....when sober.) 2 listens to "Funeral" later and I arrived at the gallery. I got to wander around the place totally by myself.

So I have been thinking about my favourite songs from last year. 2005. I couldn't help thinking of gigs instead. So it's a mix of gigs & songs. Hurrah! In no particular order, because that would take me another year. It's already January 5th! And sometimes I just couldn't whittle it down to one song.

Don't Save Us From the Flames / I Guess I'm Floating -- M83. I love M83.

All That You Can Do / Where The Humans Eat -- Willy Mason. Track number three and also the title track of Willy's debut album. Nobody else wrote a song about their greedy cats in '05 (i am glad that the photos i took at this gig are somewhere where i can't get at them. terrible. swooshy. can hardly make him out for the blurs.) The Sugar Club, Dublin January 2005. I hadn't started this gig-blog thing at the time I saw him play. He was drunk on guinness and stuffed the venue out completely. People were sitting on eachothers laps and stuff.

At The Hop -- Devendra Banhart. Nobody else made a song as sweet and lovely and singable as this in '05...maybe in '55. 29th July, The Village, Dublin.
(really bad phone photo from the gig. you can just about make out the big hair.)

Goodbye Little Rose -- The Little Flames. A stomper. Noone else made a song like this in '05...maybe in '65...

Slow Hands / Evil -- Interpol. I can't pick between these two songs. so HA!
(Oh. Another terrible photograph. Olympia Theatre, Dublin. April 6th '05)

Rebellion (Fire) -- Arcade Fire. The intro to this song kills me..who am i kidding, this whole album kills me.

Plans / This Modern Love -- Bloc Party. Like Eating Glass was on repeat for a long time, though.

Why Do You Love Me -- Garbage. Lovelovelove. (Ooh. in 2006, watch out for a band called Lovelovelove. Electro, maybe. Ssh!)

Satan Said Dance! - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Obviously going to keep the dancefloors filled this year.

Heartbeats -- The Knife. This song cuts deep. Cannot wait for a live show. Can. Not. (Feel lucky in a way though, have seen Jose Gonzalez & Jenny Wilson, both Knife-related artists. Yes. )

Did i do 10?

So. I'm indecisive and take terrible photographs!

Brendan Benson LIVE @ Mudd Club, Oktober 25th 2005

2006-01-02T20:00:00.000Z

This month is going to be strange. I always find the new year strange anyway. I don't know why, it's like that little change in the last digit of the date is kind of this undeniable sign that time is slipping away and you're forced to reassess your life and how it's going and where you want it to go and who you want to go there with. Or something. So, there's like no gigs for the next two weeks. So here i am stuck with the new year shakes, wondering "what am i doing with my life?" and the sad answer is "not going to any gigs." which is tough when your life IS going to gigs. What am i going to do? Well, until January 14th, stare longingly at my ticket for the Chalets and wish that time goes by faster. Hot Chip and My Morning Jacket aren't coming til the very end of the month. Also at the end of the month is the "Long Night of Museums" when all the museums stay open til 2am and there are free shuttle buses to take you wherever you want to go. I can't wait for that! No - but - really - i cannot wait! Anyway, here are some of my photographs from that great Brendan Benson gig from back in Oktober '05. BACK IN OKTOBER '05. ??? !!!

border="0" />

HEYWAITAMINUTE

2005-12-28T22:13:00.000Z

Today is a good day for finds. I found converse trainers for only 28 yoyos a pop. 2 pairs of nice new shoes later (1 pair white high tops, 1 pair black not high tops) im at home on the internets and look what i found:

THIS! (Clue: We Are Scientists)

i'm halfway through "Inaction", from 2003. i keep going back to..well, all of it. but especially

Bomb Inside the Bomb which is a track from Safety Fun and Learning (in that order), 2002.

and

Secret Handshake and Selective Memory

[cliquez the links pour ecouter aux chansons!]

dudes. I had no idea this band has been around for the past few years. I thought they just exploded out of nowhere.

KABLAM!..plop = We Are Scientists.

But, no. Hurrah!

But Who am I Fooling, I Like Airline Food

2005-12-24T01:27:00.000Z

I just loved the latest email update from the Strokes. It was quite fabulous. I dunno, its like getting the news from home. There's mispellings, nicknames and warm sentiments.

So, First Impressions of Earth will be released in Germany (..& Austria & Switzerland) first, swit swoo. (is the title alluding to like, the meteoric rise of the band from the success of their last two albums and now like, they've crash landed back on the "workd", with this new album to show for the experience. ??? !!! ("meteoric rise" surely must be the most cliched music review phrase, EVER, probly.)

Though, I'm not yet sure if i'm buying this one. I was taken aback to learn that the Juicebox single is their first no.1 ever -- for some reason I thought surely they would have had one before now. Ryan wrote:

"THANK YOU to all the fans in the U.S. who have given us our FIRST #1 in... well.... basically anything!"

So their first chart topper is from this strange and unfamiliar sounding troisième sortie..not even Last Night? Dudes. Maybe theyve had European no.1's? I dunno. My very first memory of them is from a few years back. There's not much to it, and it sort of correllates slightly to how im feeling about First Impressions of Earth (though i started liking Juicebox after seeing it liiiive.) So, this one day I came home from school & flipped on MTV. There was a sepia toned video for some song at which i grimaced, switched off the television, turned on my heel and stomped out of the room. Modern Age! Wow. I cant remember how long it was after that that I became a fan. I'm guessing that Last Night got me. Got me good.

I like this paragraph from Wikipedia:

The Modern Age (EP) was released in 2001 and sparked a bidding war among record labels, the largest for a rock and roll band in years. Subsequently, The Strokes became the subject of enormous hype, causing a great divide amongst rock fans, albeit mostly hipsters and independent magazines, as to whether they were the saviors of rock and roll or simply a bunch of rich kids, with cool names, ripping off the Velvet Underground.

I've lost my Room on Fire CD...sometime / somewhere when i was moving house one of those eleventy gajillion times in the last few months -- Portstewart to Portrush; Portrush to Dublin; Dublin to Limerick; Limerick to Sligo; Sligo to Dublin; Dublin to Berlin...which is total pants because I love listening to the music of a band whose gig I've just been to. I was dying to put it on and relive their show at Maria. But, no. It's wierd, I lost the album cover when I moved home from France in '04...now I have nothing.

I have been thinking that I have had a pretty fucking great year. I wish I was one of those people who could keep track of ticket stubs, concert photographs and other mementos. I have such a jumble of music memories, it's a mess! Some pictures & tickets end up blu-tacked to the wall, or glued inside notebooks, others left in piles here and there...Deliberating over my favourite albums from the year, a rush of memories from gigs went through my head instead. I started remembering way back in January for example, the Willy Mason gig in the Sugar Club in Dublin. (where's my ticket stub from that night?!) It was oversold. That venue is small enough, and seated, and the seating is quite spaced out too -- plush red velvet couches & stools. Once those places were taken up people got comfortable on the stairs (tiered seating = lots of stairs) the place was jammed. I was lucky to get a ticket for that one. That's one thing I love about Berlin, sometimes even at the last minute for a show it's always possible to get a ticket. I used to be buying tickets for gigs in Dublin months in advance.

Being broke has meant that I don't have a very up to date stash of new albums humming happily in my boombox. I haven't had any downloading facility for the last few months either; I've been relying on Radio Eins to keep me going while I'm broke & spending my cash on shows instead of CDs. The last three neu albums I bought were from the Cribs, Kanye West and STARS...although, I lost Late Registration in an apartment move -- Prenzlauer Berg to Kreuzberg..got to stop doing that, fuck!) I've missed out on alot of others, though in most cases -- Beck, Devendra Banhard, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Editors, Brendan Benson, the Go! Team -- at least I got to see the show. I haven't even got Bell X1's new album, Flock. That hurts. I was hugging the radio in the kitchen when their new song came on the other day. Le sigh.

Why Won't You Come Over Here? We've Got a City to Love

2005-12-22T13:10:00.000Z

It's not even up on their website yet, but We Are Scientists are coming back to Berlin! I have been very reliably informed (email from Chris -- bass guitar + backing vocals) February 21st at Magnet.

I'm going to be so broke in the new year. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are coming back to Berlin aswell -- 16th February at the Postbahnhof.

Plus, the date for the Chalets might actually be their support slot for Art Brut.

Swoon, thud.

Holiday Girl (Don't Die Just Yet)

2005-12-21T00:31:00.000Z

In case I wasn't already excited enough to be getting back to Berlin -- 10 days! 10 days! -- i just found out about some rather splendid upcoming gigs. Hurrah.

Arab Strap 13th Feb Magnet
My Morning Jacket 31st Jan Magnet
The Chalets 14th Jan Magnet
Hot Chip Jan 26th the Watergate (DFA party with Delia and Gavin and Tim Goldsworthy and Tim Sweeney, apparently.) ***

Ooh, I'm really excited to see Arab Strap play. Coincidentally, last night I was told the Chalets are coming to Sligo..I couldn't quite believe it, Sligo has been a very singer/songwriter town as far as gigs go -- David Kitt, Jape, Mundy, Josh Ritter.. But now the Chalets are going to stomp all over those whiny boys. Even better though, they are also coming to Berlin! I saw them play before at the Bud Rising Festival in Dublin last June, supporting Art Brut and the Rakes. The girls are kind of annoying but I like the music alot.

***I recieved this date directly from Hot Chip to my inbox at Myspace. They also are considering sticking around to do a dj gig on the 28th aswell. Hurrah!

I've Been Hit, I've Been Hit, I've Been Hit

2005-12-20T02:13:00.001Z

I missed out on We Are Scientists when they came to Berlin to play at Rosis, a little over a week ago. I remember seeing a flyer on the ground somewhere or a notice in Zitty or something and their name caught my eye, but i didn't pay any more attention. AND THAT IS REALLY BAD BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY GOOD. It's A Hit, Great Escape, Nobody Move, Inaction = great songs! And dammit, their upcoming tours are only in America and the UK. Their website is fun. I've just watched the video for "Great Escape" probably ten times. Talking about the director of the videos, Chris added "the good parts of the videos are always his idea...damn him."
Damn why did i miss that gig? Fuck.

O! The Irony! Download "inaction".

"Not Shy" -- I've been listening to this record a bit alot these past few days. I bought it last May when I was just finishing up at uni in Northern Ireland (where there are loads of great second-hand stores.) The album is by Walter Egan & was released in 1978; apparently one of the songs on it, "Magnet and Steel", was a hit -- according to his official website:
"Twenty-five years later, Walter's signature song is a staple on the radio, and can also be heard in feature films and on television."
Stevie Nicks sings on alot of the tracks, Lindsey Buckhingham and Mick Fleetwood also appear on drums/guitars, so the sound is very Fleetwood Mac-y. Whatever about "Magnet and Steel", there are two really great songs on it. "I Wannit" and "Make it Alone". They're making me feel like it's summer and not winter. Which is confusing, but good.

Open Mic night was on tonight; it was strange. It used to be on in my favourite bar, but now...well, the bar is all changed and stuff. There are some new owners or something, and they just went and ruined the only good place to go dancing / hear live music. Fuckers. They left the dingy furniture but took out the circle bar; changed the Funk Up to the Shindig; instead of Open Mic night taking place in the small and intimate cosiness of Bar Eile (a smaller bar-space adjoinging the main bar of the Garavogue) it now takes place in the main bar area. Which is pants because however difficult it sometimes was to keep a small roomful of people quiet when somebody was braving the fairy-lit stage, now it's absolutely impossible. The Funk Up has been moved downstairs too. Which is wierd, because upstairs is mostly dancefloor. But downstairs is mostly seating -- albeit with a bigger dancefloor than upstairs...it's just wierd. Didn't stop us though. Oh no. Saturday night, Karl C played Amerie, Nerd, the Doors, White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Talking Heads...

I mean the positive thing about these changes is that more people can dance, and more people get to experience Open Mic night. But i know performers will be put off because the small and friendly atmosphere of Bar Eile is no more. Though it was nice the way they crowded comfy couches around the stage. And well, nobody cares about their dancing when they get drunk enough so im sure the Funk Up will continue to be the funnest dancing on a Saturday night evereverever. I thought I wouldn't even get to go to ONE Funk Up while i was home, but it was on at the weekend! and there's another on Stephen's night! Usually its only on the first weekend of every month, all special like. Coincidentally, this evening at Open Mic as i was recoiling in horror at the photographical evidence of our dancefloor hooliganism from Saturday night, local hero / singer/songwriter Wayne O'Connor was singing a new song about being drunk and looking stupid, with the repeated, damning line, "the state of you." Ha HA! Other notable performers from tonights Open Mic were Anthony Mannion (lovelovelove his "Stiletto" song) and Billy "the voice" (from the Deadflags) -- fulfilling a sort of dont-get-off-the-stage-yet-! request, he sang "This Charming Man", some people prefer it to the real thing.

I'm just pissed. I miss Berlin really bad. I can't stop listening to one of Cat Powers new songs, "the greatest", which is so fucking sad and beautiful. I've been home nearly a week and haven't found somewhere to practise drumming and my favourite bar is all changed. Boo.

The Strokes live at Maria, Berlin; 12th September 2005

2005-12-17T15:51:00.000Z

awesome photographs by Drea Augustin

Hanging Around, the Streets of Your Town

2005-12-15T23:15:00.000Z

JUST got home from Berlin a few hours ago. Opened up my mail. First thing was the 2 invites to the Future Kings of Spain party last week, that i missed.

Le pang.

Second thing was a mix CD (YAY GURI!) so the Von Bondies C'mon C'mon was the first thing I listened to. Then I flicked through the small stash of vinyl I have here, and decided to put on a Billy Holiday record. Kind of suited my mood. It was the first piece of music I bought in Berlin, back in June when I was only in the city for barely two days. Le deuxieme pang avec le grand sigh.

OK I AM GOING TO HAVE A REALLY GOOD TIME AT HOME FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS AND NOT JUST BE SULKING BECAUSE IM NOT IN BERLIN GOING TO SEE THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS AND STUFF. NO.

Even Though It Was Only One Night, It Was Fucking Strange

2005-12-14T14:57:00.000Z

There was no massive queue outside the Maria, and inside not too many people were hanging out in front of the stage yet, so by about 8pm I was there, with a glass of wine in my hand, standing in a good spot. Me and my friend stood about six rows from the stage, expectant smiles on our faces as we waited. The music on the system was some dreary tuneless noise that I didn’t recognise. It made waiting harder…The band were due to come out and play at 8.30pm but that time-slot came and went, with only a haze of smoke engulfing the stage. I was already in awe. The microphone stand that was only a few feet away seemed to be ten feet tall, and Fabrizzio’s drums appeared to be absolutely massive.. I had this image of a giant sized Julian, Nikolai, Nick, Albert and Fabrizzio taking to the stage and blasting us all away. Last time I saw them was summer 2004 at Oxegen. Memories of that performance filled my head before this show at the Maria.
-Nikolai wearing a groovy ‘70s headband, standing practically offstage, facing to the side for the whole show.
-Julian mumbling incoherently in between songs (and during songs too) inaudible words, so you get confused and can’t sing along properly, and laugh alot.
-Fabrizzio & his red Coke t-shirt.
-Albert tripping over a wire and falling onto his back, but not missing a note and not stopping his playing to get up either.
-Nick, just being cool and gorgeous, leaning back with his foot planted on the amp as he delivers those killer riffs, a skinny rock star vision.
The place filled up, apparently only 350 tickets were sold for this gig, im pretty sure everybody turned up, and then some. Suddenly the music was tuned out, the Strokes came onstage, the crowd erupted into an out of control mess and there was a frenzied surge towards the stage. Myself and Drea managed to get out of it in one piece, but I saw others being dragged out unconscious. People were emerging from the mob looking drained and dazed. Not put off by this, as many as escaped the frenzy went right into it, eager to sacrifice themselves. The energy the Strokes invoked from the crowd was phenomenal, everyone was drenched in sweat and the Maria became steaming hot. People seemed to calm down a bit after the first few songs..but throughout the gig the crowd was just riotous, especially when they played an oldie.

So, Nikolai was all facing the crowd, it was nice to actually see him. Julian was skinny and bedraggled, his singing was the best I’ve ever heard it. Sometimes he was singing with his eyes tight shut and his fingers drumming together frantically. Dude needs a tambourine! I remember his chit chat in between songs was hilarious that time at Oxegen -- I mean, unintentionally so. His mumbling could be percieved as nervousness, but I think he really likes communicating with the crowd, at least showing that the band is aware that all these people have come out to see them. Several times during the gig at the Maria he ran around the stage as if to go over something with the others, they did some unplanned songs; requests that fans were shouting up at them, like Last Night. He said they hadn’t planned to do it, but somebody asked them, so. Once, Julian’s mic stand accidentally fell towards Albert, but with a deft arm movement he was able to deflect it, just as they finished up a song. Their music sounded really bang on tight and dancing to it was irreresistible!
The difference between the old and new songs was so clear to me, although that is probably just because I’m not very familiar with their new material yet. First Impressions of Earth seems to have a new sound that makes a definite break from the similarity that connected their last two albums.The mix of old & new covered “Juicebox”, (which sounded so good live) “Razorblade”, “15 Minutes of Pain”,“Take it Or Leave It”, “Last Night”, “The End Has No End”, “Soma”, “New York City Cops”, “12.51”, “Hard to Explain” (lovelovelove)...and more new songs that I dont know the name of, and some old songs i have left out im sure..it was such a good show. The band came back onstage for an encore and played an extra four songs. Julian thanked Berlin for the warm reception, muttering something about being chased down the street. I think its cool that the band got to spend some time actually hanging out in the city, instead of just arriving to play and then leave. Even if they got chased by crazies.
Practically all the dates of their upcoming European tour have sold out. I’m not interested in that tour anyway -- the Strokes will be playing a lot of major cities in a lot of big, charmless venues – arenas, halls and domes. This gig in the Maria was special.

Photographs soon!

Darling, Your Head's Not Right

2005-12-13T13:12:00.000Z

In my last post I made a mistake. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's album is actually just being released on vinyl on January 24th next year. It's already been out for ages. And as 2005 draws to a close this album is sitting prettily on many a shelf, it's being shuffled through many an iPod -- it was the number 1 seller at Insound this year. No news as to a new album release date yet. Their eponymously titled debut album will be released in UK and Europe on January 23rd. THATS WHAT I MEANT TO SAY, NOT THAT THEY DIDNT EVEN HAVE AN ALBUM OUT YET. Cos they totally do. Just on the other side of the world. I did this before, I got all excited back in October for the new Stellastarr album that was out since the middle of September. I would like to say, sometimes i get confused. However, im afraid i'll just have to leave it at i get confused.

Last night i went to see the Strokes. I don't know how to put it in words yet.

Imply The Other Guy, and Scandalize the Lion

2005-12-09T17:45:00.000Z

Le Strokes, LIVE! @ Maria am Ostbahnof this Monday. Like, in 3 days. I GOT TICKETS! Normally, I am not the type of person to go and queue for hours for music tickets. Music is my life, but im not fanatical like that (oK. had i known in time, i would have done it for Radiohead when they did that small venue tour around the time they released Hail to the Thief.)However, yesterday I popped into the ticket shop and enquired about this secret Strokes gig happening next week. I found out that a) the tickets were going on sale at 9am today b) they would be only available at the shop and c) alot of other people had been asking too. I figured that no Berliners would be camping all night in front of the shop, and lucked out when this morning i got up at 7am and traipsed down to the ticket kiosk on Oranian Straße, where there were only about 30 or 40 people that had shown up by that time. 2 hours later the queue behind me was hundreds full.

When I was deciding whether or not I should go to this gig I was thinking, "Pah. It's only the Strokes." But then i was also thinking that it would be a bit fun to see those shiny NY boys in a small venue for a relatively small price (23€), and that argument won over. I've only seen them once before, the summer before last at a music festival in Ireland, when they put on a really good show and ever since I've wished to see them play somewhere smaller -- where it isn't raining and there is no stink of port-a-loos. They are indeed embarking on a European tour after this string of "secret" dates, but they will be playing massive venues. I have been assured that it will be cosy at the Maria.

So, last night I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The Mudd Club is quite tiny, and was filled up to squish capacity. There was no support band, and by the time the band came onstage it was after 10.30pm (doors had been open at 9) and the crowd seemed pissed. Nobody clapped or said yeah much at first. The band -- or maybe it was just their singer-- seemed blase about this gig (in comparison to the last gig i saw at the Mudd Club, which was Brendan Benson. he had an awesome support band and seemed so happy and excited to be playing that show in Berlin.)I dunno, that was my impression anyway, that this was no big deal. I thought it would have a bad effect on their performance but they played really well, so no it didn't at all.

They played several new songs, which i thought was funny because they haven't yet released their first album, i believe (new release date January 24th). The song which stuck out the most for me from the setlist was one such brand new track, "Satan Said Dance". I'm singing it all the time, it's so catchy, i think this is what the crazy Germans call an "earworm"..it is going on the best-song-to-dance-to-ever list along with "House of Jealous Lovers". I cannot wait to hear it on the dancefloor! hopefully some night soon. Their singer's voice is scratchy and high and strange. He sounds like he couldn't give a shit when he's singing, but the sweat that broke out and trickled down his face sort of gave away the energy he was putting into the performance. Plus the throbbing vein in his temple. At times, their music reminded me of the Pixies, Talking Heads and Devendra Banhard.

Slight digression -- I see from their website that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is playing a New Year's Eve gig with the National. I actually went to see the National last week or so...it was a strange gig. I'm not sure why exactly..the crowd was totally into them and knew all their lyrics, but none of their songs were familiar to me. Before the gig, I had this notion in my head that they were an Irish band. When i saw the fiddle player onstage, i was even more convinced. But they are totally American, squeaky voices and everything. Sometimes they reminded me of Bell X1...who i love. But I dunno, I just wasn't into this band. Their support that night was Film School, who i did like, quite alot. They hung out in the crowd when the National took to the stage, I wish i had talked to them, they seemed cool and approachable. But i just ogled..So anyway, that is interesting that those bands are gonna play together.

Back to last night's gig: My first bad experience at a show here in Berlin happened to be last night at this Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show. There was this one dude who was creating havoc, all by himself, lurching backwards and forwards with a beer bottle in his hand, pushing and shoving everybody and yelling really loudly, especially when they played "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)". The crowd was already so tightly packed that his violent behaviour was being inflicted on alot of people. It was a horrible feeling to be pushed around like that, i was holding onto a shelf trying to keep myself from falling over, so frightened that my busted leg would get kicked or something. He wasn't just jumping around having a good time, but was really aggressive and violent. He was totally oblivious to everyone staring angrily at him, this goonish smile never left his face. He nearly caused a big fight to break out among the 4 or 5 guys who were around him but he seemed to disappear after a while and the show was too good to be spoiled by one drunk asshole. Funnily enough, I spotted this guy ahead of me in the queue for the Strokes tickets this morning, beer bottle still embedded in his hand. I wanted to go over and stamp on his foot or something.

I should go and see Stereolab tonight, but that might cut my food budget in half for my last few days in Berlin before going home for Christmas. Tomorrow night is J.R Ewing at Pffefferbank with the Locust. I'm excited, and probably scared a little.

Tonight I am missing a big party in Dublin. Future Kings of Spain are having a big mad party to celebrate the completion of their new album Nervousystem. This is an exclusive opportunity to hear the new album first hand, but it’s not an album launch – it’s a party, they said. The band are gonna be playing the new stuff, and the djs after will include the new stuff in their sets. I was invited, but im sort of in Berlin and not Dublin so...that is sad and terrible. I love this band! I did a good thing though, and passed the tickets on to some appreciative souls. I hope it's a good night. Can't wait to hear their new stuff.

if you look here that is what my right leg looked like when i got run over in September. Like, totally.

'82

2005-12-05T17:02:00.000Z

Last night I had a real treat. At a vernissage I attended last weekend I was introduced to Max, who it turns out makes electro music. A couple of nights ago i recieved a rather exciting text message from him that said:

ON SUNDAY: Brand new show, brand new tracks: Max Krefeld & guests live @ Club Mama, Alte Schoenhauser Str.39, 10pm. LETS DANCE."

So the gig was last night in Mama's, a sort of venue. Only sort of because the place is actually an apartment that has been fixed up as a performance space. Mattresses are held in place against the window in an attempt at soundproofing, a pole-dancing pole marks the centre of the room, and there are several massive old fashioned televisions set up with Pac-Man, Super Mario and Sonic nintendo games (that you can actually play!). The makeshift bar --serving punch & beer -- the seating area and dj spot take up most corners of the room, and the art fixed to the walls lends the chipped plaster a little dignity. Fearing that the party would be busted up early on and move somewhere else, we arrived on time, the gig was supposed to start at 10pm, so we got to see most of this being put into place. Apparently Mama's was moved to a different venue before and has only returned to take place at the apartment again since about a month ago. The turnout was still pretty good, the room was packed.

The performers arrived late, around midnight, and finally began their set, to everybody's delight. Max makes catchy electro music and last night he had two different vocalists --Mario and Isaac -- singing (live) on his tracks. Mario opened up with his song, "'82" which he wrote himself, and which he told me is a lovesong about travelling back in time. I liked it immediately. Isaac was up next. I remember a line from one of the songs he sang on, "I am so afraid of you / I don't know what to do" repeated over and over. The way he sang, and the lyrics of his songs seemed dark and sinister, in contrast to the blips and beeps and melodic sound of Max's electro beats. Unfortunately only four songs into the set the police arrived, there must have been 15 of them. Only about 40 of us. Really, it was a private party, alot of the people there were friends of the boys doing the show. We were turfed out of Mama's into the freezing cold where the police wouldn't even let us huddle together on the pavement outside the building to wait for everyone else to make it out, and i think they threatened us with some fairly serious charge though my German does not yet extend to angry-german-policeman-vernacular. I wish i had some photographs, alas no. Maybe next time.

Still waiting for the Strokes to announce the date & venue of their "secret" Berlin gig. How secret is it exactly i wonder? It's definitely sometime after December 9th, which is the date in Sweden...and it better be before the 15th, the day i fly home for Christmas.

I Wrote My Feelings Down in a Rush, I Didn't Even Check the Spelling

2005-11-29T12:38:00.000Z

Maximo Park / 26th November 2005 / Postbahnhof

Tom English - Drums
Paul Smith - Vocals
Archis Tiku - Bass guitar
Lukas Wooller - Keyboards
Duncan Lloyd - guitars

Once again, i was running late for a gig. Me and my friend were scurrying towards the Postbahnhof when we heard Paul's distinctive singing and broke into a run to get inside. I've been to a few gigs at this venue now, and usually there is still a crowd of people hanging out at the bar during the show, watching it on the screen there i suppose (WHY?!!). At this gig, there was nobody who wasn't jam packed in front of the stage. it was CRAMMED full in there. Maximo Park had the place in riots. Their set was intensely loud, energetic and surprising. They played everything, plus new songs, "I want you to leave" & "Wasteland" (on a new Warchild album). My music is still in storage back in Dublin, so I havent been able to listen to "A Certain Trigger" for a few months now. I had forgotten how much i totally love the album, totally as in every single song on it. Maximo Park don't do filler. Graffiti, I Want You to Stay, Once a Glimpse, I Kiss You Better, Postcard of a Painting, Now I'm All Over The Shop, Going Missing, The Night I Lost My Head, Limassol, the Coast is Always Changing...they saved "Apply some Pressure" til last and their new stuff went down really well. Paul Smith doesn't stay still for one moment, his feet hardly touch the ground as he spends most of the time in the air, and by the end of the gig he looked so exhausted, pale and drenched in sweat, I felt exhausted just watching him. Lukas Wooller becomes an extension of his keyboard when he is playing, his fingers never leaving the keys, plugged in almost, he dances in jarred, robotic moves, cutting the air with his free hand and stamping his feet on the ground.
After the show, Lukas came down to the bar and I was lucky to get a chance to talk with him. When I first heard Maximo Park i knew it was a different band to the Futureheads, but at the same time i was astounded at the similarity in sound. At the time I didnt notice that the media had picked up on it. But since then I guess things have changed, Lukas said the media would love the bands to go at it with eachother, but the situation is quite the opposite actually. I asked him about it saying, obviously there were differences between the two groups, "well, we have a KEYBOARD." he pointed out. I hadn't meant to put it so simply. The difference in vocal techniques and lyrical content is very distinct, the Futureheads take an abstract approach in their lyrics, where Maximo Park seem to prefer a narrative. So I was standing there beside Lukas and thinking of the video for "Hounds of Love", and there is nobody running through the forest with a keyboard. Who came first, the Futureheads or Maximo Park? If you work it out tell me what you find.

That was Saturday night. The GO! team played in Magnet on Sunday. This venue is so tiny, and the Go! Team are SO BIG. They have two drummers, three guitarists and their amazing singer/mc dancing like a go-go girl for all she's worth. the GO! Team are making music that sounds like something from a long time ago. I suspected alot of sampling when I heard them first. But it's all live instruments and vocals at the show. The more shows I go to here in Berlin, the more I realise that the crowd loves to get involved. The Go! Team really like to get everyone to take part, giving the audience words to shout so we could join in on the new songs, they had us chanting, waving lit up phones & lighters, everyone was dancing, jumping, clapping and singing along, everyone knew the words. The new songs they played were taken up immediately by the crowd. Especially "Doin it Right". Their set seemed a little short, but all the good ones were in: Ladyflash, Everyone is a VIP to Someone, The Power is On, Huddle Formation, Junior Kickstart, We Just Wont Be Defeated, The Ice Storm (a b-side). There was one song that one of the drummers came out to sing, in the sweetest voice. The rest of the band left the stange and she was left with two of the boys on the keyboard. It was beautiful. Coincidentally, the Go! Team have contributed to the Warchild album aswell, with "Phantom Broadcast".

I don't know what this support band curse is that i have, but I fucked up on the way to both these gigs, distracted by a vernissage on Saturday night and misled by the door times, then the U-bahn got the better of me on Sunday, so I missed Her Space Holiday. I caught the last few minutes, it was a good five minutes.

After this weekend my hearing is fucked, my heart is beating really fast, my wallet is empty and im still hungover. I'm out.

The Strokes Set to Play Secret Gig in Berlin!

2005-11-26T14:18:00.000Z

Albert Hammond Junior-

"We'll do eight new songs and leave, just like how it was with the first record, with no one knowing any of our music. We thought it would build some excitement,"

Neverevereverdid

2005-11-20T17:35:00.000Z

Architecture in Helsinki are crazy bastards. 8 of them stomped onstage brandishing trombones, trumpets, those little keyboards you blow into, guitars, tambourines..in other words, lots of shaky, bangy things that make ALOT of noise. Making alot of noise i believe could possibly be the ethos of this band. Though it must be said that they also know the charms of subtlety, see: the clarinet, hand claps and mouth pops (y'know, when you blow your mouth up with air, then pop your finger in the side of your mouth?!) The stage was pretty small, they played in Bastard. It is a pretty cool place, as i have found most music venues in Berlin to be. Dimly lit by an assortment of old fashioned light fixtures and with walls papered in colourful images, though it is a small place, the ceiling is high and so you get the intimate feeling of the small venue, with a big sound assaulting your ears. AND WHAT A BIG SOUND THIS BAND HAVE! After they tromped onstage, they had to find somewhere to stand that wasnt taken up by cables or the drums or either of the keyboards. i mean 8 members yo, on this tiny stage. While they were grabbing instruments and arranging themselves everyone clapped and cheered to welcome them and then waited for the show to begin. SUDDENLY, there was a blood curdling roar that seriously must have shook the foundations, which turned out to be the band, all of them screaming terrifyingly into the microphone, saying hello to us or something. A typical Aussie greeting perhaps?

Their bio is pretty fantastic to read. Here!

The main singer-boy (there was a main singer-boy and a main singer-girl, he yelled alot and she sang sweetly) towards the end of the show took to the centre stage and seemed as comfortable there as if he was in front of his own mirror (up until then he had been kind of hiding at the left hand side of the stage...It was quite odd to hear this massive voice seemingly boom out of nowhere.) He sinously wrapped himself in the microphone lead, and there was not so much yelling, as he actually has a delicate voice that is strong even when he's hitting the high notes. He also has a massive head, and sure enough he addressed the crowd and asked if anyone there had the same surname as him, something terribly complicated and German. He said, "as you can see, i have a very German brow. Are there any Hefiansalodowieqwegers here?", or something like that... The band came back onstage twice for us, by the second encore they had run out of songs, so they did some rather fantastic covers. "Love is the drug" by Roxy Music and "Living Without You" by Randy Newman.

I think they have two albums, "Fingers Crossed" and "In Case We Die". I had never heard anything by them before this show, and can't give a setlist here. IT WAS REALLYREALLY GOOD THOUGH!

The support was from Jenny Wilson, who seems to be some crazy, French lady. Ohnowait, she is Swedish! She sang these mad, electro-pop songs. I got the impression that she probably owns the whole Human League back catalogue. She wowed us by tapping on a little wooden box along to the beat of her music for the first song, but then her guitar came out. (i haven't seen one of those wooden box things that you tap since my junior infants classroom. yay!) She had her sister onstage playing electric guitar aswell, and...i don't think it was a backing track, i am sure it was something else..a little gadget that had all the music of her songs, except for the guitars on it. What is that called? i saw her sister switching tracks each time.

Anyway, this lady really grabbed my attention. Now i find out she has worked with the KNIFE! I simply must get her new album, LOVE AND YOUTH. I must have it, yes i must. From the lady herself:

"LOVE AND YOUTH contains 12 songs/short stories with ingredients as: Nosebleed, love, fights, despair, the awful schoolyard-blues and - of course - sex! Drumbeats's next to electric guitars, dramatic & beautiful choirs, vibraphones and acoustic guitars."

Thank you Jenny wilson, you are probably crazy and i thought you were French but you are Swedish. I should have known, French girls don't smile as much as she did for us in the Bastard that night. (Plus, see how pretty she is! - main picture.)

While this unbelievably cold winter is just beginning, I am lucky to have a stack of good books as my excuse for staying in under the covers. The last three books i happened upon have turned out to be the best books i have read in a long time. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by Dave Sedaris, "Razor's Edge" by Somerset Maugham and "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. For one reason and another i picked up these books. I had never read anything by any of these authors before, the cover of the Somerset Maugham book nearly put me off (Bill Murray doing his best "whats that smell?" expression..) and since the Virgin Suicides is one of my favourite films evereverever the chance to read something by the man behind the book behind the film is a treat i could not pass up. English books in berlin are either overpriced imports- albeit as part of a usually good selection to be found in most bookstores- or eclectic and musty collections on sale in the 2nd hand bins at flea markets and also bookstores. I can't believe my luck, and now that I've discovered for myself three new writers that i thoroughly enjoy, i can look forward to hunting down more of their works...It was wierd, in the Dave Sedaris book, he is the main character and it was all about him. In the Somerset Maugham book, the story was from the author's point of view also. In "Middlesex", Jeffrey Eugenides description of his main character pretty much matches what he looks like, though they have different (but similar) names, and its obviously not about his life.

I just finished reading "Middlesex" a couple of days ago, so it was kind of cool that i came upon this interview: Jeffrey Eugenides being interviewed by Johnathan Safran Foer.

Tonight: Decemberists.

Do You Realise, That One Day Everyone That You Know Will Die.

2005-11-18T21:00:00.000Z

i have to run away in a minute to see Architecture in Helsinki, so i wont have to time to go over this and check for spelling mistakes and stuff like that. OK? a funny thing happened the other night when i went back to see "Fearless Freaks! The Improbable Story of the Flaming Lips". First of all, it was actually on. I used my free ticket and bought a huge box of popcorn. This time the theatre seats were teorquoise, and full. Within 2 minutes of the film starting, i knew it was going to be GOOD. and it is great. The bit i cant forget is the 5 minutes spent on Steven Drozd shooting up heroin. Or rather, telling Bradley how he got addicted, and what his life is like right now, broken up with longterm girlfriend, wasting every cent on heroin, worrying everyone to death that he will die. they left out the actual injection. i was squirming in my seat hoping they wouldnt show it. this part of the film made me cry, whereas i couldnt help smiling madly at the rest of it, beaming at big shiny Wayne Coyne with his mad hair and rumpled, blood stained suit. That was another unforgettable piece. he related seeing a photograph of miles davis this one time. Miles Davis was doing a concert, and before he went on he stepped outside for a smoke, whereupon a policeman beat him over the head. A photographer took some great photographs of Miles after the incident, and he happened to be wearing a yellow brazer, which showed the blood up real good.

Oh, i really i ahve to go soon.

When the film was over everyone started clapping. This was good, I totally wanted to clap, but i also wondered why..Til the director stepped out in front of the screen! He was there to answer questions and talk abuot the film. He seemed kind of nervous, and i couldnt think of anything to ask, so i tried to look reassuring if he happened to look at me. Other people asked interesting things like, "did you diret steven in that part where he shoots up?" and bradley answered something like, "no. i was nervous going to see him. when i got there he said, "you gonna ask me questions?" and i didnt know what to say. I thought it was going to be really awkward, but then after a few minutes, i realised for him this was a simple activity like making a cup of coffee. It was pretty gruesome, there was 45 minutes of footage of Steven trying to find a vein..in his arm, in his foot, in his hand..he was bleeding."

I learned about the Flaming Lips' feature, something about aliens..and that the singer of Mercury Rev used to be in the band. I think the Flaming Lips don't know how great they are.

Novembre, C'est Chaud

2005-11-16T16:11:00.000Z

Fri 18th Architecture in Helsinki, Bastard Club 10pm.
Sun 20th the Decemberists, Magnet 21h.
Mon 21st, Rufus Wainright, Kesslehaus, 8pm
Weds 23rd Misty's Big Adventure, Roter Salon, 10pm.
Thurs 24th Nada Surf, Kalkscheune, 9pm.
Sat 26th, Maximo Park + New Pornographers, Postbahnhof, 8pm
Sun 27th, the GO! Team & Her Space Holiday, Magnet, 9pm.
Sun 27th I Am Kloot, Postbahnhof.
Mon 28th, Anthony and the Johnsons, Folksbühne, 9pm.
Mon 28th, Teenage Fanclub, Postbahnhof.

Last night i tried to go and see "FEARLESS FREAKS! The improbable story of the Flaming Lips"....but it all went totally wrong. It's showing at the Eiszeit cinema, but they had some shitty DVD copy of the film or something, and it wouldn't start. Then it did start, but it kept stopping. So they moved us to the other theatre, for more of the same unfortunately. After about 30 minutes of this they gave up. We all got our money back and a free ticket. So i'm gonna go back tonight and see if i can see it.

Someone Said They Saw You, In The Night And On Your Own

2005-11-14T16:46:00.000Z

Last night the Editors played a fucking great show. They cut me up and put me back together.

It was only a short time ago -- at the beginning of September -- that they were here taking part in the Popkomm festival, playing a show with Stars and Supergrass. That night they were given a slot pretty early on in the evening, which confused me into thinking that they weren't that well known here yet. Maybe it was just that there were 10 other gigs on that night of the festival, because even that great line-up didn't really attract a full crowd. However, last night I was reassuringly proved wrong, with a really great turnout for the last gig of the band's European tour. The standout tracks of the night for me were: Bullets, Munich, Blood, All Sparks, Fingers in the Factories, Someone Says, Fall. I was smiling the whole night, and once brought to tears. Playing Munich and Blood one after the other is almost too much, and the chorus of Fingers in the Factories really riled up the crowd. Tom Smith's crazed is-he-going-to-throw-his-guitar-at-us-or-isnt-he-antics on stage were once again in evidence. Often times he would come right to the edge of the stage and just stare out at everybody, it was a little disconcerting. Usually it seems like musicians do their utmost to avoid letting the crowd know that they know there is a crowd watching them play. Chirs Urbanowicz's seemingly cool and detached appearance was broken down when they played Munich, he was actually sweating. He also nearly smiled during the encore.

The special guests were the Howling Bells, a four piece rock group, i think from Australia. Their debut album was produced by the "Coldplay producer" Ken Nelson, swit swoo. I really liked them, alot. They have a very cool website. They have listed influences that range from Sigur Ros to Beetle Juice. So yeh, I don't know what to say about them, but they are good. Their lead singer is this tiny, gorgeous girl, Juanita Stein, with a voice that was kind of scratchy at first but when she warmed up, it was powerful and strong. The rest of the band sing along to all the words, even those without microphones, with their eyes closed, which I always think is a good sign.

After the gig there was a huge queue for the cloakroom, the merchandise desk, and the toilet.. The only place there was no queue for was the bar. I decided that instead of standing in a big crowd of people for half an hour waiting for my jacket i'd order a glass of wine and hang around at the bar for a bit. Which was fun because there were lots of interesting people about and the dj was really good. Then I decided I would like to buy a pin, so I went over to check out the stuff they had on for sale. You had to buy a t-shirt to get a pin, which was pretty disappointing, but I happened to look down and found one on the ground. So I went back to the bar and sat down. I had bought my ticket at the door on the way in, and it was just a crap little square card with the name of the club hosting the night on it, no mention of who was playing that night or anything. While I was sitting at the bar, I noticed that Tom Smith, the lead singer of Editors, was talking to some fans so i scooted over to say hello and he fixed up my ticket, signing it with "Tom" and "Editors" (no THE..) During the show, he had asked if anybody in the crowd had been to see them at their last show, during the Popkomm festival. Noone shouted back, but im sure there were plenty of people who had been. Then he said "Good, it was really fucking bad." I asked him why he thought it had been a bad show but he just said, "ah, it wasnt so bad. things just werent going well." I came back to see them because of that show, whether or not he thought it had been bad, it made me want to come back for more. He said they would be back in Berlin in February, which is not too far away at all.

As the sun goes down on a broken town
And the fingers bleed in the factories
Come on out tonight, come and see the sight
Of the ones you love and the ones you love
And you
Keep with me, keep with me, keep with me, keep with me

..and the last kiss had a foolish cause...

2005-11-11T01:00:00.000Z

On a whim yesterday i decided to go and see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I could blame it on the U-Bahn, but once again i arrived late, and so missed most of the set by the wonderful Gliss. They are dirty rockers. The lead singer moans breathlessly on just about every song, waving his arm in the air flamboyantly and swinging his guitar along to their awesome dirty rock. The drummer slumps and hides behind her poker straight blonde hair, a brief glimpse of her pale face reveals no expression, but her eyes close and her head falls back as the denouement of the song crashes upon us and her intent is clear.

BRMC announced themselves with a short slot by lead singer (or co-singer?) Peter Hayes who by himself recieves a huge welcome from the audience. He delivers a full sound, playing beautifully on the harmonica and guitar, the plaintive country sound conveying a depth of feeling sometimes a whole band is not capable of. It's only my third time there, but I have never seen the Postbahnhof so crowded, the place is really packed. As Hayes finishes up the last of the songs he will play by himself, the three other members of the band arrive, more noisy applause and hooting. They launch into their set and the response is almost instantaneous. This is my first time at a gig in germany that i've seen jumping, moshing, crowd surfing and such rowdy behaviour. I'm not really into mosh pits. It might be cos of that one time I got kicked in the head. Or that other time my leg nearly got bent back the wrong way. Anyway, right now the injury on my (same) leg has not yet totally recovered from the bike accident, so im sort of keeping myself safe, just to the right of the unpredictable crowd that sways en masse randomly this way and that. Its obvious that the band like to have this affect on their fans, and sure enough, bassist Robert Turner smiles down at the crowd and yells into the mic "this is the best fucking time we ever had in this city!" He likes to stand right on the edge of the stage, with his leg raised and his guitar pointed to the crowd, a mass of arms reaches up to him. From where im standing it looks like hes playing on top of the crowd. The drummer Nick Jago knows the right way how to make alot of noise and his pounding batterie more than once steals the show. By the end of the night he has thrown two sets of drum sticks into the crowd, and faked a stage dive.

Songs like, "Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)", "Aint no Easy Way" and "Spread Your Love" are undeniably great, but more than once I was bored, anxious for the next song, and even thinking about leaving, which is very rare for me. It was a shame "At My Door" was left off the set list...Seeing how much they were getting out of playing the show, plus the fact that they left "Spread Your Love" until the encore kept me rooted to the spot though, and i did stay until the end.

Walking home along the East Side Gallery, and across the beautiful Ober Baum Brücke, it didnt matter that i kept taking the wrong turns, so my 10 minute walk home turned into an hour long trek. BRMC have infectious energy, and with my ears ringing i made it home, and fell into bed happy to have felt the force of it.

You're Like Me, We're The Same

2005-11-10T14:13:00.000Z

Brendan Benson is a band, so Brendan Benson says. And that band is made up of himself and his merrymen. I learned recently that in the studio, Benson does everything himself and he also produces for other bands (Blanche, the Greenhornes)which is wow. I also heard something about himself and Jack White making an album together next year. Very wow indeed, !!! I was at the Hurricane Festival in June and managed to be up early enough to catch his performance, he was on first that day. The band had quite a short slot and sometimes it just seemed like something was missing from the songs. The gorgeous piano on "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" was totally lost in the festival setting, it just seemed to take something away from the music. So i was really excited when I found he was coming to play in Berlin, I knew it was going to be a great show.

Benson came onstage and greeted the crowd with "yeh! this is a proper fucking berlin gig!" He seemed pretty happy to be playing in the city. The show was on at the Mudd Club, which i only managed to find by following some people I thought were going to the same show as me. At the end of an alley and past some scaffolding, down some rickety stairs and through a door with a cracked pane of glass leads you into the Mudd Club. Its really small with a bar running along the left hand side wall, and a seating area on the other side. Kitty Wu were onstage when I arrived, they were really great and I wish I knew more about them!

Normally I like to watch from the side, but somehow on this night I ended up in the very front row for the main attraction. Being so close was slightly unnerving, but also quite thrilling. I was overcome with dodgy impulses like taking pictures of Benson's trainers...And unfortunately I sneezed at a rather quiet moment at the end of a song, whereupon Benson looked down and said "Bless you...uh, gezundheit." It seemed like the set list was the best combination of songs ever. "good to me", "cold hands, warm heart", "folk singer", "gold into straw", "spit it out", "alternative to love", "between us", "im easy"...Then something strange happened. During the encore a man came onstage from the side and got the bass player's attention, they huddled in what looked like a serious conversation. The police had arrived! Benson & his Merrymen were making too much noise. They looked so sad. Brendan said, "we have to quit". Everyone roared, "NOOO!". Then someone down the back shouted, "PLAY ACOUSTIC!", so that is what they did. The band wasn't sure what to play though, so they turned to the crowd for inspiration. Someone shouted "YOURE QUIET!" and so we got a strange sort of acoustic version of it. Kind of ironical.

I would love to see them playing again, its a pure joy to watch them perform.

Tonight: The Arctic Monkeys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Mirror Kissers

2005-10-24T18:30:00.000Z

At other music blogs, you could (if you're quick enough, yo) download gorgeous out of print Miles Davis Quintet music, or not even in print yet material from the Strokes, or "The First Day of My Life", (swoon, thud) if you wanna. However, here, um, you can hear about something that i heard about, and maybe live vicariously through my blog to experience the thrills and spills of all shows i go to! Wee! Lucky you.

(Evannah, was that you who left me demented multiple messages a few posts ago??!! Dude! Hollaz at my twin.)

Stellastarr* HAD A NEW ALBUM OUT SEPTEMBER 13th, 2005. Almost 2 years later to the day that "Jenny" was released we are getting new music from Shaun "wierd voice that doesnt match his pretty face" Christenson and his boys and girl. You can sample some new songs at their site. Go!

The Cribs say, "Take drugs, don't eat, have contempt for those you meet." Normally, I would not take such advice. However, these boys play the violin, they embellish their loud, in your face, punky tracks with the recorder and in their liner notes, thank Edwyn Collins for the "help" with their debut album. Swoon, thud. I am in deep smit with this record and find it hard to remove from the stereo. I am sure having a song on the O.C has not done them any harm, I just hope people look past that "hit" and don't think of them as a one hit wonder, they have alot more to offer. The New Fellas takes no prisoners, yells in your ear, "YOU'RE NOT ALL THAT, YOU ARENT ALLOWED TO SAY YOURE BETTER" and in the same song the humble recorder is allowed to handle the breakdown, before a slamming drum shake-up. WOAH! They might like us to think that they are well 'ard, but then we are not fooled, there are hand claps and "la la la la's" a plenty on this record.

They wear their influences on their ripped stripey sleeves, and have definitely upped the ante with lyrical content that taps straight into what we're all thinking.

Sufjan Stevens Steals Our Hearts

2005-10-20T18:45:00.000Z

Sufjan Stevens and the Illinoisemakers = quite possibly the most fun band ever. These boys and girls, six in all, wearing bright orange and navy gym class/cheerleader outfits (complete with sweatbands) bounded onto an altar bedecked in trumpets, banjoes, drums, keyboards, a piano and guitars, jumping around and smiling like mad. They had a cheer choreographed for every song, and there was even a human pyramid at the end of the evening, !!! This was all slightly at odds with the venue, the dimly lit church, the Passionkirche, complete with a massive gleaming organ in the background.

So this is the WEST COAST TEAM SPIRIT! tour which Sufjan & his crazies have embarked upon. This gig attracted a big crowd, the pews were packed out and people were sitting on the floor. Before each song, Sufjan talked a little about the city he would next sing about. Then, after the "history lesson", he would plant his hands on his hips and yell, "oK!", a little uncertainly at the rest of the troupe and they would all perform a cheer before going into the song. Too! Much! Fun! This one time, something technical went wrong onstage, and instead of standing around making small talk, the band stayed in character and all started doing clumsy warm-up stretches til whatever broke got fixed. T'was a sight to behold.

The crowd demanded an encore by pounding on the floor with their feet and slamming their hands on the balcony wall, and we got the Illinoisemakers back for a few more songs from Seven Swans and a few solo turns by Sufjan.

now i know how to pronounce his name properly, and i have learned lots of little bits about Jacksonville, Decatur, Metropolis..

C'mon Now Sugar, Bring It On, Bring It On

2005-10-17T20:17:00.000Z

Brendan Benson is coming to town. Okt 25th at the Mudd Club. Dirrrrty.

LOVE.

The past few days I have spent rummaging in flea markets and shady street stalls. In Germany they have a "special" genre of music called Schlage, easy listening, i believe. SO there is ten tonnes of those records everywhere, you really have to dig.

Today i even visited a plain old music store. on my way out the door, a big poster with big letters caught my eye, "DANDYS SAY SMOKE IT!". it put the song in my head straight away.

SUFJAN STEVENS AT THE PASSIONKIRCHE!!!!WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!!!SEE YOU THERE!!!!

Why Don't You Close The Door, And Shut The Curtains

2005-10-14T17:48:00.000Z

no wonder i like stripy t shirts so much, it's pirate apparel!

THE FIGURINES NEW ALBUM IS OUT NOW AND AVAILABLE IN GERMANY, DENMARK AND SWITZERLAND. IT IS CALLED "SKELETON". SO GO TO GERMANY, DENMARK OR SWITZERLAND AND GET IT. IT IS FAST AND WHINEY AND IT WILL MAKE YOU THINK, "SAY WHAT?" AND THEN WANT TO SHAKE YOUR BONES. HAHA IM ALREADY IN GERMANY I CAN GET IT RIGHT NOW IF I WANT.

There are some interesting things happening in the world. Yesterday was John Peel Day. I didn't know til it was too late...Although, for some reason I was thinking about Pulp alot. Tonight there is an Elliott Smith tribute night. I am scared to go because it is being held in a venue called "Bastard". At the moment in Berlin, on the other side of town in Charlottenberg, there is an exhibition of photographs of James Dean. Dead people, yay! Also recently was Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Audio Bullys have a lovely new song out. It is different to their other songs that I have heard. It is about looove. It has violin and tinkly piano bits. These contrast nicely with the singing: a gravelly eastender barman type voice. "Everyfing I say I say for you. Everyfing I do, you do it you". You can totally listen to it here. Lavly Jabbly.

oK, is everybody making new songs that are different to their other songs that I have heard? What is this "Juicebox" that the Strokes have made? I am not sure. I am enthralled by the duh na nuh na guitars...Julian's "fast singing" is atrocious.

OK AFTER YOU HEAR SKELETON YOU WILL PROBABLY BE THINKING, "OH JESUS, WHERE CAN I GET ANOTHER RECORD BY THE FIGURINES??!!" OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WELL, THEN IT WILL BE PRETTY EASY FOR YOU TO FIND ANOTHER RECORD BY THEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE ANOTHER ALBUM, CALLED "SHAKE A MOUNTAIN". I WUOLDNT SAY THEY WERE GOOD IF THEY WEREN'T.

People Are Fragile Things, You Should Know By Now

2005-10-10T20:40:00.000Z

Quote of the day,

bossblog, "this song just took my pants off." hoorah!

The last show i went to was about 4 weeks ago, but I got run over by a mail truck the next day so I couldn't really write up my experience of the night. I've missed an absolute tonne of shows, art brut, the magic numbers+shout out louds, tom vek....Pang.

Anyway, The Editors put on such a great performance that night I'm so happy they are coming back to Berlin, !!! (See below). The singer in the band, Tom Smith, jerks around the stage in crazy demented movements, sometimes raising his guitar over his head as if he is about to smash it into smitherines. "Blood" and "Munich" were amazing moments. They took to the stage in a line-up that went like this:

the Figurines
Editors
Stars
Koufax
Supergrass

I had never heard of The Figurines, they were an absolute delight. They have been jamming together since they were about 10 years old (seriously..) and put the band together officially in the early 90's. Imagine if Interpol made music for dancing to, like the Rapture. I see they are touring Denmark at the moment with Oh No Ono and I am Bones. Add to this the fact that the dole in Denmark is a whopping 800 euros a month, I think I want to move there.

...nah oK I'm staying in Berlin.

STARS! I can't believe I saw STARS! They are so great! They broke my heart. I was lurking sort of on the right in front of the stage for most of the night but when they came on i scrambled to the front, swoon. Sometimes Amy's voice was a bit lost, but hey. i was sad they didn't play "What the Snowman Learned about Love" but very delighted that "Elevator Loveletter" made the cut.

I don't know who Koufax think they are (Ed harcourt, probly) but their only redeeming moment was when they sang "Stepping Out", this song from the '80s. Every other song they played made me want to puke. I can't believe someone has ripped off Ed Harcourt, while he is still playing crummy support slots, and Koufax had a lovely spot right before Supergrass. I love Ed Harcourt, who does not make me want to puke, at all.

these hot dates are hot. on fire! all red and shit.

Babyshambles am 11.11. im Columbia Club
The Go!Team + Her Space Holiday am 27.11. im Magnet
The Duke Spirit am 13.10. im Magnet
Sufjan Stevens am 19.10. in der Passionskirche
Maximo Park + The New Pornographers am 26.11.05 im Postbahnhof
Editors nun am 13.11.05 im Postbahnhof
Franz Ferdinand + The Rakes am 08.11.05 im Tempodrom

Fuck Forever is the best song ever.

PS what is that Bloc Party song? something about `only two more years?´ its...kind..of..not..good...

And Through The Noise I Heard A Song

2005-10-08T20:38:00.000Z

I've been away! In a strange faraway land. I was held hostage by some toothy pirates in a cave, I managed to escape by the light of the moon twinkling on the waves rolling in upon the shore. Yarrrr.

Berlin, Berlin. So great it's the cheapest capital city ever in the whole wide world. (probly, right?).

Well, more to come soon. Hard Fi were playing tonight but i went for Indian food instead. Final Fantasy is gonna be here Monday night, I totally want to go. Hope that works out. Talk to you later.

Fell in Love With a Band

2005-09-11T13:12:00.000Z

I was so distracted by making sure the Xylophone player got a mention in my last entry about the American Analog Set that I forgot to even write about the support group that night! It was The Go Find, who are pretty good, very like the No Twist. Hurrah. There was absolutely no Xylophone last night at the Wilco show, so Johnathan Rice holds a very good chance of making it into this piece.

Johnathan Rice. I got lost on the way to the venue so I missed most of his set. The first song I heard the whole way through was introduced by Johnathan asking the crowd if they understood the term "passive aggressive", because this song was his passive agressive way of dealing with past heartbreak. "I sing the pain off my face", he sang. His speaking voice is soft, with a southern drawl, in contrast with the rather heavy and low vocal that he delivers. (well, actually, the passive agressive song was sung in the style of Johnny Cash, he told us.) At the end of his set he thanked everyone for coming and "being so damn polite" and the hearty applause didn`t stop til he came back onstage for an encore. "Lucky i wrote more than 7 songs. Um, what shall I play?" he said, and he actually look flummoxed for a moment or two trying to think of a good song to play. He was rubbing his chin, scratching his head saying, "this doesn`t happen often". He is scruffy and charming and reminded me a little bit of Ryan Adams.

Wilco are amazing. Their set blew me away. With 6 of them onstage their sound is just so powerful and they are such great musicians and work together so well. Their songs have so many stop-and-go moments and nobody is ever a step off beat. The musicianship and skill of Wilco serves as a perfect delivery to complement Tweedy's lyrics. "The ashtray said you were up all night", "His aim in life was to be an echo", "I got my name from rock n roll", "I look like someone I used to know". I kind of dont know what to say really, they were just wow.

Their set went something like this.

Hell is Chrome
Muzzle of Bees
I am Trying to Break Your Heart
More Like the Moon
Jesus, Etc
At Least, That's What You Said
Summerteeth
Via Chicago
Hummingbird
War on War
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Misunderstood
Late Greats
Sunken Treasure
Airline to Heaven
Kingpin
I´m a Wheel
I Shall be Released

I was sad they didn`t play "Heavy Metal Drummer" or even "Theologians". There were 2 encores. Throughout the night, Jeff didn`t say anything to the crowd until halfway through the first encore, when he said "hey, howya doin?". Then, "for the first 45 minutes it was just pure art. Now we can do all the 'hi Berlin!´ bullshit". He said normally they don`t say this but the crowd was the best ever. Well, they were the best ever.

dear Wilco,

i <3 you.

Punk as Fuck

2005-09-09T11:49:00.000Z

The American Analog set not only came to my town this week, they came to my neighbourhood! On Tuesday September 6th (which coincidentally was the release date for their new album in Europe) they played the Magnet Bar, in Prenzlauerberg, Berlin. It was hard to track down tickets to the show beforehand, and I was afraid I was going to miss out when I saw a big gang of people outside the venue when I arrived, but it was all OK and I got in.

It was really hot and sweaty, the place was packed to capacity probably. It was only the second night of the tour for the band, and they seemed very happy and energetic. Their set was like a hitlist of really dreamy psychedelic 70's sounding songs that you get totally lost in. It seemed like their songs had very abrupt endings - the getting lost in the dreamy pop bit is such a nice feeling and it seems like it should never end. Indeed, one member of the audience shouted "TOO SOON!" this one time when they finished a song. It's like you're dozing away a hot sunny afternoon in a hammock, and then someone just comes along and twists it so that all of a sudden you fall on your ass. Or something. They played an extra two songs for us in the encore.

The band played some older songs like "Kindness of Strangers" and also new stuff from their new release, "Set Free", which sounds quite lovely. The band's frontman, Andrew Kenny delivers each song in his soft and sad voice, and they have a dedicated Xylophone player/Maracas shaker which I have the utmost respect for. On their website some live downloads are available, "Punk as Fuck", "I Must Quit This Scene" etc etc.

I love the radio here in Berlin. I wake up and turn it on and it's Phoenix and the Knife, then I come home at night and there's a live set from Nada Surf. They played Munich last week, and as there was no stage in the venue, they clambered up on tables to give their performance. At the end of the show I heard on the radio, they recieved three encores! I hope I`m still here in November when they come back.

Art Brut are the cover boys+girl for the German Rolling Stone at the moment. It will be fun to see them again when they play here next week. The band are taking part in the Popkomm festival, which is an industry showdown, sort of like SXSW.

Upcoming Goodness: Wilco, tomorrow night!

Crayon Smith Reveals All in Just Got Back From Holidays Shocker!

2005-09-02T13:20:00.000Z

In the happy days following Crayonsmith's great live gig at Crawdaddy, I wrote to Ciaran aka Crayonsmith and asked for a little interview via email action. Here's the goodness:

(Ok, so imagine i am serious, professional journalist from Rolling Stone magazine.)

Q1. So, what is that machine that you record all the noises on?
A.Its a drum machine that I got in America about four years ago.

Q2. Do you have time to listen to other people's music at the moment? If so, what are you listening to?
A. Yeah, I just spent a week travelling around Ireland on holiday listening to Mates of State, Cursive,The White Album,Abbey Road,Pavement and Pedro the Lion.

Q3. If i said your music reminds me a little of David Kitt, what would you think?
A.I've had those comparisons in the past, as people would mention the whole "one guy with a guitar and a mini-disc/drum machine" thing.I have his first two albums and I think there's some very good stuff there. If you're told that you sound like someone who you yourself bought and liked, I guess it's a good thing!

Q4. Do you like pineapple?
A.Yeah, especially on pizza.

Q5. Where can one obtain a copy of your EP "You Get Down Here"? How long did it take to make?
A.One can obtain it at gigs.It's like a sampler kind of thing.The songs are on my debut album which I just finished but they've been re-recorded. The album took a year to make as I had to learn so much about recording and mixing and all that.

Q6. Do you write your songs from personal experiences, or just make stuff up?
A. About 95 % from experience and 5% from fictional and imaginary situations. So I dip into both areas until I have a complete picture in each song.

Q7. What is your favourite instrument to play?
A. Guitar.With different tunings the opportunites are endless.

Q8. Are you going to Electric Picnic? If so, who are you going to go see?
A. I can't afford to go!I'd love to see Kraftwerk and Nick Cave.I've seen The Flaming Lips and LCD Soundsystem before and I loved them.Oh, and best of luck to The Chalets!

Q9. Do you ever get nervous before playing live? What helps you calm down?
A. It's more of an adrenaline rush as opposed to nerves and I don't try to go against it or calm down at all.I think you should definitely feel SOMETHING before you go on stage because you're transmitting that to the audience.

Q10. Which has been your favourite gig so far?
A. Actually, the Crawdaddy one where you saw me. I don't play with a mini-disc anymore and this was the gig where I moved closer to where I want to go using drum machines, keyboards, guitar and beats and noises in between songs .I knew very few people in the crowd and the fact that by the end of the set you can hear strangers cheering and moving closer to the stage is extremely satisfying, but at the same time humbling.

Q11. It is very impressive to see you play all the instruments onstage by yourself. If you could have anybody, ever, play in your band, who would it be?
A.Oh, thanks!My friend, Ruadhan, from Hermie in Tweed is playing keys and doing backing vocals with me now and thats all I need for the moment until I feel the urge to add more people.If I was to get someone to play bass it would be Ronan Jackson from the Coldspoon Conspiracy - he's amazing!

Wasn't that great???!!! Thanks Crayonsmith! You're the bestest. Hurrah.

Don't You Remember You Told Me You Loved Me Baby

2005-08-28T21:37:00.000Z

berlin loves me. look see:

SOUP FESTIVAL!
Kreuzberg Löffelt (1)
3rd September, 2pm, Wrangelstraße

Tom Vek September 26th, Magnet Club

Supergrass, Stars, Editors 14th September, Postbahnhof

Art Brut, 15th September, Roter Salon

The Magic Numbers, Shout Out Louds, 23rd September, Magnet Club

Talib Kweli, 27th September, Knaack

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, The Cribs, 28th September, Postbahnhof

just for fun i put up a picture (that i actually took! woohoo) of the Kills from when they played a show at the Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin last June for the Budweiser Rising Festival. Anyhoo, they are pretty scary onstage. Check out those demonic red eyes! It's totally not a result of my amateurish camera skills. OK.

Wanna Disco, Wanna See Me Disco?

2005-08-25T16:28:00.000Z

Ladies and gentlemen, set yourselves on fire!

Yesterday we found an Oxfam charity shop, of course i rifled through the cds, and found one from my "youth" i.e 7 years ago when I was 16 and used to go out more times a week than i had hot dinners and dance, dance, dance. Novy V Eniac "Superstar". The video was this blonde chick having the best time ever dancing.

At the time, there were only two places that played good music. I was wierd. I was listening to Blur and Pulp at home and then out all night dancing to Delerium et al 4 nights a week. One place was a regular nightclub with a back dancefloor called The Garden, of course it had vine leaves and flowers painted all over the walls. If you paid in you could eat for free in the restaurant, that was bizarre, but good. The other was the nightclub of a hotel. All mirrors on the walls, dodgy alcahol at the bar, a shiny disco ball and fancy seating area.

..a little bit of nostalgia for 1 euro, donated to charity and all.

My legs are so dead from riding my bike all over Berlin today in search of a place to live. I got one (there's a balcony that runs the length of the apartment!) and I also got the new album from Stars. "Set Yourself on Fire". I love Stars. Who else would depict a naked chick wearing a pink balaclava and holding a blowtorch on the cover of their third album? STARS! Lovely. Ok so I love it. They haven't strayed too far from the sound of "Heart". There's more, though. More happy, more urgency, they have given us alot more with this new record. I just love the juxtaposition of Amy and Torque's singing voices. A standout track for dream days and evening sighs is definitely "Ageless Beauty". Ok they all are. It was a brave/stupid decision to leave all my music behind me in Dublin, but I had to really. There may not be logic in simply gathering another collection while I'm here. I am very happy that this album is the extent of my music collection right now. I shouldn't have written about it when I'm stil only in the middle of my first listen. but HOORAY! It's just gorgeous. Dreamy pop indeed.

Sprechen Sie Deutche Baby?

2005-08-23T10:50:00.000Z

North American Halloween Prevention Initiative.

In aid of Unicef, this project is going down with the help of -amongst others- Beck, Devendra Banhart, Jimmy Tamborello, Karen O, Feist, Buck 65 (above, albeit blurry), (Win & Regine from)Arcade Fire, Thurston Moore and Malcolm McLaren. THEY ARE MAKING A HALLOWEEN VERSION OF "DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS", YO.

You can listen to it here!

Berlin is a really good place to be next month, what with Wilco and Stars stopping by.

September 10th, Wilco @ Postbanhof
September 14th, Stars @ Maria

Buying fun beads with Le Tigre in the background is always a good time. Hooray for Tukadu bead shop in Hackesher Markt. Afterwards we stumbled into an alleyway with wooden tables taking up the space between the two graffiti-ed walls. This might be Cafe Bravo. Hot chocolate in a bowl with lots of sweet cream, outside on a bench or inside where it's dark, the furniture is antique (see 1 ornate couch and 1 white piano) and the walls are papered with magazine covers.

Wir Sind Helden. They are German. They make nice songs. Like "Gibt Mir Ein 'O'. They have a band-member called Jean-Paul Tourette. In another language their name means, "We are heroes". Hooray!

Hip Hip

2005-08-17T12:20:00.000Z

Some stupid band was billed to play with "special guests" last Saturday 13th August at Crawdaddy. It would turn out to be a very exciting night, before said stupid band ever got to the stage. It happens on occasion that the “special guests” do not live up to their lovely description, but on this night the special guests were very special indeed. (Much special-er than the main attraction, !!!) The first performer reminded me of Elliott Smith and Nick Drake- fatalistic, beautiful, and haunting. His voice conveyed pain and emotion, despite a little nervousness, quelled I hope by an appreciative crowd who got a shy smile in return for their applause. In direct contrast, next up was noisemaster Crayonsmith. He was wielding all the right tools: a noisy guitar, a drum machine, Xylophone, one of those gadgets that he could record noises/vocals onto so that it repeated while he got on with the rest. He is a fearless character, not afraid to actually look at the audience and say "COME CLOSER TO THE STAGE YOU BIG EEJITS", except he was a bit more gentlemanly about it than that.

I remember late one Sunday night on the radio a few years ago, Jay Aherne mentioned something about indie-tronica, and I believe Crayonsmith has something to say about it too. He has put together an EP called "You Get Down Here". Two of the songs he played that night, "Scarytale" and "Unnatural" are available as mp3s on his website.

The "headliners" at this gig do not deserve any space here. They trundled their way through their set like a group of karaoke singers at Vera and Jack Duckworth's vow-renewal ceremony. Life is too short for bad music, and I escaped out into the warm night. Whew.

Pirate/Jesus/Devendra

2005-08-11T15:33:00.000Z

i heard Devendra was up to no good after the show he played in Galway. I thought Joanna Newsom was his lady? Pirate to the core, Jesus would never do a thing like that. Tsk tsk tsk.

Ed Harcourt is coming to Dublin but im pretty pissed about it. He is performing as the opening act for a little popstrel that has had a couple of hits over the summer. BLEUGH! He should be the main attraction!

i should be shot, I am going to miss this years Hard Working Class Heroes hootenanny in Dublin on the 27, 28, 29 August. Boohoo. I would lovelovelove to see 66e, Betamax Format, Fred, Mainline, Me in the Park, Ann Scott and Jape. It looks to be a blast.

I'm Not That Bad...I'm Worse

2005-08-09T15:41:00.000Z

Herm (& the selves) hit Crawdaddy's this Saturday at 8pm. I'm going. Herm are signed with Catchy Go Go Records...I think, the site doesn't seem to have been updated for the past couple of months. Maybe they are away on holidays. Actually this Herm gig is proving to be rather elusive, it's not even listed on the venue website. Popping up now and then on Dan Hegarty's playlist, Herm sound different, although they also sound like Ben Kweller.

Herm @ Crawdaddy, 13th August 2005
Show starts 8pm
Adm: ???...Mysterious price. Find out on the night! Can't wait.

I'm going to Germany soon. Don't be like me and miss out on these these shows:

the Cribs, Whelans, 22nd August
Saul Williams, Crawdaddy 25th August
Jurassic 5 Vicar Street 28th August

Us Kids Know

2005-08-07T05:15:00.000Z

The 1st Saturday of every month is a special date in everyone's diary in Sligo. The Funk Up takes place, upstairs in the Garavogue bar. It's a night of possibilities, an event that brings out the strange and wonderful people, a different kind of crowd than a normal Saturday night, probably. The best spot is beside the dancefloor, at the extra large window-sills that overlook the river. You're close to all the action: you bump into everybody there, you can stash your stuff and when your favourite song comes on, the dash to the dancefloor is so close (mind the steps). There is a cosy corner with couches and chairs and tables to sit down, if you can resist the dancefloor. Tonight the mix was random and very good indeed."Need You Tonight", "Teenage Kicks", "Summer in the City", "1 thing", "Jackie Wilson Said", "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", "Rebellion (Lies)". Nobody stopped dancing when the lights came up. The music played on. Everyone clapped and hooted for more. Nights like this are special because they don't happen that often, or at any other venue in Sligo. We are lucky for this once monthly funk up. Great.

Twinkle, Twinkle...

2005-08-05T11:47:00.000Z

STARS are coming to town! September 10th @ the Sugar Club.

This is the best news ever in the whole world. Their new album "Set Yourself on Fire" has apparently been available as a US import since last March but it will get it's European release here on August 15th. Pretty soon, but not soon enough!

I'm also starry-eyed about these upcoming dates:

Nada Surf 6th September @ the Village
Tom McRae, 25th September @ the Village
Super Furry Animals, 27th September @ Olympia
Bloc Party, November 7th @ the Olympia
Sigur Ros, November 11th @ Olympia

Ouch, the Editors gig in Dublin is all sold out.

Put Me in Your Blue Skies, Or Put Me in Your Grey

2005-08-02T11:41:00.000Z

On a terribly rainy evening in Dublin last Friday 29th July, I traipsed across the city with a friend in tow and my heart all a-flutter in anticipation for the gig by Devendra Banhart in the Village. Though i know several songs by Devendra, i don't own any of his records. Yet. So i felt that going to see him live was special for me. Even though i only knew a select few tunes, they are enough for me to know that Devendra Banhart is something special, and definitely worth checking out when the chance arises to see him live.

When we arrived there was a huddling crowd outside the entrance, smoking, and also a queue for tickets. Squelching past everyone and heading inside, I hadn't expected the crowd to be so big, I was excited to see that so many people had come to see Devendra play. My expectations of the gig were that it would be quiet, i imagined that Devenrda would be by himself, just him and his guitar, gently serenading a contemplative crowd from the dimly lit stage. Well, it wasn't exactly like that. When several hairy men walked onstage and the crowd let out a joyous roar, I realised we were going to get a whole band experience- drummer, 3 guitarists and keyboards (i think) and that this crowd was good and rowdy. Devendra said hello and introduced himself and his band as "Hairy Fairy". The boys are all very hairy indeed, with their beards, moustaches and luscious long hair. One of the guitarist boys and the drummer were a little less hairy than the others, and took turns wearing a fake beard.
hee hee.

Devendra is totally gorgeous. He sort of looks like Jesus - he's tall, with shoulder length mad curly shiny brown hair and a nice beard. He also looks like a pirate, with his beard and hoopy earrings. However, the similarity (sort of) ends there, with his skinny frame, thrift store threads and child-like eagerness and enthusiasm, Devendra is really a wonder to watch perform. His unique voice and unforgettable lyrics made for a really enjoyable show for everybody there. In the crowd there was alot of smiling, laughing, clapping, singing along and hollering requests at the stage. Devendra and his Hairy Fairies played several songs from his new album 'Cripple Crow', due for release in September which has a very generous 22 songs. There were many stomping, jingly jangly tunes played that night. A good mix of the old, like "Will is My Friend" and "Little Yellow Spider" from Devendra's previous albums Rejoicing in the Hands, and Nino Rojo and the new, like "I feel like a Child", "Long Haired Child" and some Spanish songs, all featuring on "Cripple Crow". Devendra grew up in Venezuela, speaking Spanish as his first language. His artistic creativity as an artist shines through in the beautiful Spanish songs on the new album which Devendra played for us that night. They went down really well, and that new record will do very well i imagine. When he played "At the Hop" everybody sang/shouted along, "Cook me in your breakfast, and put me on your plate, cos you know I taste great". I have to say my favourite song from the set list that night was the one about the transgendered schizophrenic. A masterpiece.

A nice moment of the evening was when Devendra asked if there was anyone in the crowd who had written a song lately that they would like to share. A lucky young man was picked to go up onstage and he sang a song about being a stalker. It was a really great song, he wasn't a bit nervous and the Hairy Fairies even stayed onstage while he played, bopping along. Devendra sang along to the chorus from the wings and the drummer provided some gentle percussion.

i wouldn't do Devendra the injustice of posting up any of the photographs i captured that night with my camera phone. (em, i don't know how to anyway..) i can make out the big hair, but that's about it. so i hope you enjoy this other image of him that i stole. (see the hoopy earring?!!)

Picturing Devendra doing his out of sync shimmy onstage, with his band
all around him, singing and playing their hearts out, i can't help but have a big smile. It was one very special evening for all those lucky enough to be there that night. The band were really great and worked really well together with their pirate captain. Though it didn't seem like work at all. It was like magic.

I Hope I Can Forget You, After You Go

2005-07-17T02:17:00.000Z

Not many bands can have every girl in the crowd singing along to their "misgoynistic" lyrics,

"i beat my woman, just to keep her in line / i'd leave my woman, but she comes
back every time"

but the Dead Flags are not one of many! they are Billy "the voice" Fitzgerald on vocals, Dave "Ice" Power on falsetto background vocals & shouts and also bass, Kevin Lowry on drums, and especially for us tonight the band also featured the inimitable Johnny Fun on Xylophone (yes, that is really his name- i asked.) and a bongo player whose name i could not hear over the roar of the 100-odd ruffians present at the gig tonight. WHAT A SHOW! A regular perfomer at the 'Open Mic' held every Monday night in Bar Eile, Fitzgerald has earned himself a reputation for reputable performances, tonight attracting a full-capacity-plus-a-few-more-probably crowd to McGarrigles.

the setlist included many f$%!ing awesome tunes, including "After You're Gone", "Woman", "Girls", "Here be Love", "Best Friend's Girl" and "How Long". The wordical genius of Fitzgerald's lyrics never failed to impress, or make us all blush, rhyming "indie chick" with "my dick". Every song is a passionate testament to scorned lovers, fearless unfaithfulness and the pain and suffering and sexual encounters that boys and girls everywhere experience in the search of their own indie chick/boy. Billy doesn't have that middle knickname "the voice" for nothing. those strained neck muscles made me squirm in my seat (a very uncomfortable bar stool...but i had a great front-and-centre view, of the bulging neck muscles, yay!)

Very super opening act was Cillian O'Kelley, who is on the internets, he says. www.somethingsomething/cillianonline.com. (sorry). He says there are photographs. The crowd was lit on fire byh O'Kelly with his performance of "Mouse of the Rising Sun" and other songs, one in particular inspired by a review which reviewed Cillian as "feeling like you're being taken from behind by Salvador Dali." I could never come up with anything like that. Cillian sings, writes and plays real good. How's dat? Also, there was a song in honour of Keifer Sutherland's ability to not pee in "24", and a rather unforgettable rendition of "I'm Keeping Your Poop", originally by Hayseed Dixie. No lock of hair, or lip-stick stained coffee mug would do??...

the Dead Flags opened their set for us tonight with a short film of their shenanigans - tonight it was sort of a goodbye gig as the boys are all going off to university to forget how to play the guitar, further enhance their embittered, ironical view of the world and leave us all a bit sad that they're not around. But we have the CD to listen to, with "not final versions of the songs hence the, at times, crappy quality."

Appropriately enough after all those tales of love, sex, heartache and girl-hating, the boys finished up their set with "Love Shack" by the B52's. Bringing a gorgeous girl on-stage to help with the vocals, they got everybody up off their uncomfortable bar stools to shimmy down to their last song ever, maybe. Despite the heat (only because there were so many people!) the understaffed bar, and the disruption in the form of one drunken middle-eastern political activist, this night was definitely not dead for the Dead Flags.

i hope we don't forget the Dead Flags, and i hope that they come back to us.

The Boy Is Back In Town

2005-07-16T10:41:00.000Z

Arcade Fire have a new song, "Cold Wind", which they made up especially for the "Six Feet Under" soundtrack. I'm in love with Arcade Fire at the moment, and this one makes me swoon.

Joy Zipper have a new song, "1", and it is real cute.

Ed Harcourt is releasing a rarity/b-sides thing in August called "Elephant Graveyard".

I'm really looking forward to the Dead Flags show tonight. It will be so great to see Billy "the voice" with a full band. On the poster some unusual instruments were mentioned...

Biffy Clyro & everyone who ever played guitar with Thin Lizzy will hit the Point theatre in Dublin on August 20th. This gig ties in with, at long last, a statue of Phil Lynnott that is being unveiled on Grafton Street on the 19th. That's gonna be so cool.

(this one time in June when i went to visit Kristina in Hamburg, we walked around the city one night. One of the places we walked was through the underwater tunnel of the river Elbe, and that message was at the entrance. )

Glorious! Triumphant! Optimistic! Transcendant!

2005-07-14T16:18:00.000Z

This may have been a dream I had, last night in my bubble bath, but I swear, !!! are doing a double A-Side single, with Stephen Merrit on one of the sides. Woo hoo!

BOO! I was totally dreaming. A little scratching of the surface has revealed that they are in fact just doing a cover of a Magnetic Fields song, "Take Ecstacy With Me". Their own song on the release, "Get Up" is not too shabby.

Billy Corgan is Just Doing Guest Vocals I Swear on old Pumpkins drummer’s new album (released last January) on this one song "Loki Cat" have you heard it? It’s pretty gorgeous.
Third Wave just sent me a text message that the Hot Chip album I ordered (well they have only 1) is in! Woo hoo! Tonight I’m gonna be dancing around the kitchen to "Beach Party", probly.

Surely A.Graham and the Moment Band's song "Glorious" could fix everything that's wrong in the world?

ohmygoditshometime!

All I Wanna Do Is Ride Bikes With You

2005-07-13T14:24:00.000Z

The Moldy Peaches arrived today! (thank you Kristin!!) 2 whole cds of "Unreleased Cuts and Live Jamz" including "Lucky No.9", "Jorge Regula" and "Nothing Came Out", which are all my favourite songs. The recordings are pretty rough and crackly, with what seems like audiences mostly made up of their drunken, rowdy friends hootin' and hollerin' in the background. Kimya & Adam often giggling their way through most of the songs. I've been listening to it in the office all day, lucky for me there's noone here so I can turn it up LOUD. and lucky for everyone else that they're not here, it's pretty noisy, and full of bad words.

I have one more chance to enjoy Open Mic at Bar Eile next Monday night before I go back to Dublin. Leon said he will sing Rufus Wainright. I wonder if he will get naked and prance around wearing a purple feather boa, in a true homage to Rufus.

Ooh oooh ooh I'm excited for Sinead to come visit me in Dublin next week, !! I think I found something fun for us to do: there is a new indie pop night called Beat Connection at the Pod every Wednesday, it's free in and they mention Bloc Party, M83 & Velvet Underground in the advertisement. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME! (er, what do you think Sinead? We can discuss it with our excellent entertainment associate Mr. Beam. Hee hee)

Thanks to Donal Dineen , I don't get any sleep and there are a hundred bajillion new records I want. Like the re-released Arcade Fire EP, which i keep hearing is brilliant, sparkly, wonderful- a bit like this.How come all the good music on the radio is on in the middle of the night? huh? Huh? HUH?

It's only 1 hour til hometime. I'm meeting up with my fellow fancy office lady across town, Sarah, after work. We will sit by the river and cool off with some delectable chilled alcamaholic beverages. Yay!

I think I will start wearing a helmet from now on when i go out on my bike.

Love Is A Deserter

2005-07-12T11:14:00.000Z

UPCOMING SHOWS THAT ARE GARNERING LOTS OF EXCITEDNESS:
1. the dead flags, july 16th, mcgarrigles, sligo
2. devendra banhard, july 29th, the village venue, dublin
3. electric picnic festival, 3rd & 4th september, somewhere in a big field in the south of ireland. hoo!

something bad happened last weekend. the Oxegen Festival was on. without me. Something went wrong in the universe, on my way to buy a ticket i stepped on a twig, and on the other side of the world somebody bought the last available ticket. Now after a really sad weekend of not being at the festival/sitting around feeling really sad, [especially when i got the 'OH MY GOD BIFFY CLYRO WERE FUCKIN UNREAL" phonecall and the "I WISH YOU WERE HERE!" text message] i am moving forward [with my eyes peeled for twigs] i have got the Electric Picnic festival in my sights now. here's to a twig-free rest of the summer. then i'll get to see:
Hot Chip
Nouvelle Vague
Arcade Fire
The Flaming Lips,
amongst others

so like, yay.